Minnan in the martial arts

[Mark Yong]

The Minnan dialect as used in an area close to my heart – martial arts.

The Sao Lim Ngo Cho Kun (少林五祖拳) or Shaolin Five Ancestors Boxing is of Hokkien origin. Hence, it uses Hokkien pronunciation for its forms and movements, e.g.

拳套 kun-toh – Boxing Form/Set
兒子抱牌 Hi Li Po Pai – “Child Holding the Tablet”
三戰 Sam Chien - “Three Battles”
天地人戰 Tian Te Lin Chien - “Heaven, Earth and Man Battle”
二十拳 Li Sip Kun - “Twenty Punches”
雙掃拳 Sang Sau Kun - “Double Roundhouse Punch”
平馬戰 Pieng Ma Chien - “Even Stance Battle”
四門扑角 Se Mun Pa Kak - “Hitting the Four Corners”
雙綏拳 Song Sui Kun - “Double Banner Fist”
三戰十字拳 Sam Chien Sip Li Kun - “Three Battles Cross Pattern”
鳳尾戰 Hong Be Chien - “Phoenix Tail Battle”
四門掛掃 Se Mun Kwa Sau - “Four Direction Sweeping”

(I think the pronunciations follow 泉州 Cuan Ciu, where the founder 蔡玉鳴 Chua Giok Beng came from. Please mind the Romanisation, as I did not alter them from my source.)

Source: http://www.bengkiam.com/

[niuc]

There is 五祖 Ngor5-Chor2 temple in Bagansiapiapi, but not sure if it is related to this. The spelling indeed looks like Cuanciu variant, though 'ir'/'y' and 'er' are "merged" with 'e'. Interestingly that's how most of my Bagan friends do when they try to write Hokkien in romanization. Anyway in Indonesian, 'e' is used to spell both 'e' and 'er'.