Chin Na - Techniques

Techniques

While techniques along the lines of chin na are trained to some degree by most martial arts worldwide, many Chinese martial arts are famous for their specialization in such applications. Styles such as Eagle Claw (Yīng zhua quán 鷹爪拳), which includes 108 different chin na techniques, Praying Mantis (Tánglángquán 螳螂拳) the "Tiger Claw" techniques of Hung Gar (洪家), and shuai jiao are well known examples.

Chin na can generally be categorized (in Chinese) as:

1. "Fen jin" or "zhua jin" (dividing the muscle/tendon, grabbing the muscle/tendon). Fen means "to divide", zhua is "to grab" and jin means "tendon, muscle, sinew". They refer to techniques which tear apart an opponent's muscles or tendons.
2. "Cuo gu" (misplacing the bone). Cuo means "wrong, disorder" and gu means "bone". Cuo gu therefore refer to techniques which put bones in wrong positions and is usually applied specifically to joints.
3. "Bi qi" (sealing the breath). Bi means "to close, seal or shut" and qi, or more specifically kong qi, meaning "air". "Bi qi" is the technique of preventing the opponent from inhaling. This differs from mere strangulation in that it may be applied not only to the windpipe directly but also to muscles surrounding the lungs, supposedly to shock the system in to a contraction which impairs breathing.
4. "Dian mai" or "dian xue" (sealing the vein/artery or acupressure cavity). Similar to the Cantonese dim mak, these are the technique of sealing or striking blood vessels and chi points.
5. "Rou dao" or "rou shu dao" (soft techniques) which generally refers to the techniques deemed safe for sparring and/or training purposes.

Chin means to seize or trap, na means to lock or break, and while those actions are very often executed in that order (trap then lock), the two actions can also be performed distinctly in training and self defense. Which is to say, a trap isn't always followed by a lock or break, and a lock or break is not necessarily set up by a trap.

There is quite a bit of overlap between chin na theory and technique with the branches of traditional Chinese medicine known as tui na (推拏) as well as the use of offensive and defensive qigong as an adjunct of chin na training in some styles.