Guangxi Hezhou Hakka Martial Arts Documentary

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• published: 23 Nov 2014
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Documentary on the Hakka martial arts in Guangxi and Guangdong provinces with a focus on the martial arts of Hezhou in eastern Guangxi as well as some of the arts of the Meizhou area of eastern Guangdong. I previously posted this documentary however that version had a much smaller picture with extremely low definition. Due to the popularity I decided to post a better version. In ancient times the peoples of southern China were looked upon as barbarians by the northern Han Chinese. This coupled with the fact that the ancestors of the Hakka went south as refugees often with little except the clothes on their backs, causing them to be seen as beggars by the Southern Chinese peoples, created great tension between the two groups. So despite the fact that almost 1000 years have past since the major southward migration of the Hakka's ancestors they have retained a separate identity. This has also led to great conflict between the Hakka and the various peoples they encountered. The constant small scale warring between the Hakka and their neighbors led to the development of many unique martial arts. Originally many of the Hakka people settled in coastal Fujian province, however during the early Qing dynasty the coasts of Fujian were cleared of villages and people in order to cut off the last holdouts of the Ming dynasty in Taiwan. When this was over and the people were allowed to return many landless people flooded in to grab land in areas previously settled by the Hakka. This caused much conflict eventually prompting the Qing government to force the Hakka to relocate. Many moved southwest into Guangdong, others moved due west to places like Jiangxi, southern-Henan, and Guangxi where there were already large populations of Hakka people. In all these areas you can find martial arts practiced among the Hakka peoples. However when you talk about Hakka martial arts most people think about the styles practiced in Guangdong province. These arts still retain many of the features of Fujianese styles, they are often said to be very different from the other arts practiced in Guangdong. However in reality they have greatly influenced the kung fu practiced by all people in the area.