Traditional sports
The development of Hui traditional sports is closely related to their traditional festivals,living habits, religious beliefand recreational activities. The Hui people in Yunnan advocate martial arts, wrestling and other activities are held when celebrating their own festivals.Moreover, the Hui people can probably win support and protection from Allah since they devoutly believe in Islam and comply with arrangements, including strengthening their bodies, made by the Prophet[5], Muhammad, so that they consider the practice of martial arts as “Sunnah” (which is the way oflife prescribed as normative for Muslims on the basis of the teachings and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and interpretations ofthe Koran).
The traditional martial customs of the Hui people are also greatly connected with their historical circumstances. The Hui people’s production and daily life were characterized by social unrest and frequent wars in ancient times. For instance, most of the Hui youth were forced to join in “the Hui army in Yuan Dynasty” and “the Elite Force” (conquering and garrisoning the conquered places in Yuan Dynasty) to fight everywhere with the Mongolians. During the reign of Qing Dynasty, the Hui people, for one thing, were severely persecuted and oppressed by the ruling class. For another, frequent occurrences of natural disasters drove most of the Hui people to be in dire straits, resulting in the truth that the Hui peasant uprisings were forced to take place many times and were later brutally suppressed by the Qing Government. Instead ofweakening, the upsurge ofexternal pressure strengthened the internal cohesion of the Hui people, making them unite into one indestructible ethnic group, thereby raising their national awareness of protecting their security and development. And the harsh reality indeed compelled the Hui people to honefighting skills and build their bodies up in order to protect themselves, from which a series ofmartial arts skills were naturally derived.
In the later period, the traditional sports of the Hui people are also influenced by Han,Mongolian and Uygur sport cultures. In the long history of integration with others, the sports of the Hui have gradually produced a culture manifesting this group’s characters,reflecting their lifestyle and habits. Later, it evolves into a unique traditional culture of the Hui people as a symbol being different from other ethnic groups’.
(1) Guanniu, the Hui Bullfight
The Hui bullfight is a traditional competitive sport of the Hui people. Guan in Chinese means hurling, banging or pulling down, so that this sport is also called Guanniu. It is said that a long time ago, on the festival of Eid al-Adha[6] in a Hui village, some cattle were herded together and would be tied up by youth taking ropes. When tying up a big bull,a young man was injured by the bull and died soon, depressing villagers very much. On the same festival in the later year, a shrewd and sharp-eyed young man nimbly pulled a bull down on the ground alone, so villagers were full of praise for his brave deed, which later became a famous story. From then on, an increasing number of Hui youth expressed a relatively strong preference for Guanniu. Since then, Guanniu has gradually become a popular traditional sport for the Hui people and a special performance on the festivals.
When hosting Guanniu, organizers always pick out big bulls for using at the game. At the beginning, the bull is infuriated by an assistant and consequently rampages on the gamefield. And then the player, namely, the Hui bullfighter, just comes on the stage. Facing the roaring bull, the player strides forward agilely and seize tightly two horns of the bull with his hands, and then the head of the bull is forced to quickly turn to one side. And the chin ofthe bull is carried on his shoulders and the neck is stuck at his arms, so that the bull can hardly breathe and kneels down on the front knees immediately. The player, later, pins the neck of the bull against his hands very hard. And then through taking a series of actions such as turning, carrying and pressing, the player finally gets the bull fallen down. The whole process ofthis game is smooth, without a hitch. Additionally, the bullfight ofthe Hui people is quite different from that ofSpaniards. In the Spanish bullfight, the bulls are always stabbed by matadors using daggers or swords. On the contrary, no specific rules are required for the Hui bullfighters. In Guanniu, players do not employ any weapons to beat bulls, what they rely heavily on are their courage and power, by which the bulls are forced to fall down.The shorter the time is costed, the more exciting the game will be.
(2) Baoxiaoyao, Holding-Waist Tug ofWar
Baoxiaoyao, also known as “holding-waist tug of war”, is mainly prevailing among the Hui people living in Zhaotong, Yunnan Province. Baoxiaoyao is participated by two teams with an equal number of participants like the traditional tug ofwar; every team consists of three to seven players. Prior to the beginning ofthe game, the two teams are on the opposite positions to each other, forming two columns. The first member of the teams grab each other’s hands very tightly, and in each team, the rest ofthe teammates must hold the person standing in front ofthem at the waist one by one. A straight line is supposed to be drawn on the game field between the two teams. In the competition, each team must try its best to pull the opponent back, and the team that pulls the other one across the line can be the winner.This game is generally regarded as a competition with the two out of three victory system.A team can be made up by men and women, elders and youth or even a whole family, for which this game can turn more fascinating and entertaining.
(3) Martial Arts
Due to the feature, “wide distributing and sparse settling”, of the Hui population distribution, the Hui people has lived together with other groups for ages, learning from and communicating with others. All the martial arts they have practiced bear the common characteristics of Chinese martial arts and a certain national characteristics because oftheir unique national customs, which are also reflected in the weapons ofmartial arts and boxing skills.
The weapons of martial arts used by the Hui people in Yunnan are represented by rodheaded whip, the fighting stick ofthe Hui people, the sword ofAli and dragon-claw-shaped hook. Rod-headed whip, also known as the whip from the Western Regions (a Han Dynasty term for the area including what is now Xinjiang and parts of Central Asia), is a rod tied with a rope. At the end ofthe rope is a steel dart weighing about 750 grams. Both this sort of whip and the fighting stick of the Hui people are related to that the Hui people graze animals including horses and sheep, the two weapons are also respectively derived from the whip for tending horses and the stick for herding sheep. The sword ofAli, formerly called as “Zulefeikal”, is originated from the Western Regions, and it is said that the sword ofAli was the weapon of the fourth Caliph[7] (a Muslim ruler, especially in the past; a Muslim student in China at present) Ali. And this weapon has two blades with two edges. Some Arabic words are incised on the both blades. Dragon-claw-shaped hook, shaped like a dragon claw, is evolved from the hook employed by the Hui butchers for hanging beef and mutton.
The boxing skills ofthe Hui Muslims in Yunnan had a history going back to the middle period ofMing Dynasty and were further enriched in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Among the Hui people in Yunnan, the most popular types of boxing skills contain the quick kick and Cha Boxing. Cha Boxing, known as “Huihui Boxing”, owns smooth but intricate moves and graceful but various gestures. Its rules are the same as many traditional Chinese martial arts, placing emphasis on the requirement that personal safety is the first priority. “One-toone” contests are mainly held among the participants. It is worth noting that Cha Boxing is one ofthe treasures ofChinese martial arts.