Mizong Quan

The origins of Mizong Quan (迷蹤拳) are difficult to establish because of the very many legends, some tracing it back to the Song dynasty (10th – 13th centuries) and even to the Sui and Tang dynasties (7th – 10th centuries).

They all nevertheless have in common a figure named Yanqing, and are connected in one way or another to the Shaolin monastery. The first reliable written traces go back to the 18th century and mention a certain Sun Tong, famous for his leg techniques.

Originally from ShangDong, he settled in CangXian county, where he had many students, among them Chen Wanshan and Huo Xuwu. Chen Wanshan founded the Wushu institute in Nanqing, of which he was the principal instructor. His son Chen Yushan and his best student, Liu Whencen, took over.

Another student, Lui Zhenshan, was appointed director of the Kungfu institute of Wanxian county in Sichuan, where he had a great many students. Huo Xuwu passed his knowledge on to his only son, Huo Endi, who founded a highly renowned company of bodyguards escorting caravans.

The most famous master of Mizong quan is probably Huo Yuanjia, the last of Huo Endi’s four sons, whom his father had kept away from martial teaching because of his weak constitution. Yet it was he who, through his perseverance and his talent, became the official successor of the family tradition (8th generation).

The particularity of Mizong is to destabilise the opponent through rapid and highly varied footwork: alternating long and short steps, backward steps and many changes of direction. The hand techniques are adapted to these changes of distance and direction, being able to strike from every side.

The term Mizong Quan itself can be translated as "labyrinth style", but a more literal translation would be "lost track style".