Xiao Shizhi: showing a valiant and heroic bearing by wearing "Three Knives" hairstyle

Xiao Shizhi, a post-80s Chinese martial arts teacher in Fuzhou, recently combined Fuzhou's Three Knives, a centuries-old hairstyling tradition, with close-quarters combat to create a set of movements called “Qian Yue Zan Fa”, which is intended to provide greater knowledge of the hairstyle representing feminine strength.

Xiao Shizhi is a chief teacher in Fuzhou-based Taiji training hall, mainly lecturing on Chinese martial arts and wellness methods. “I find the Three Knives hairstyle is very analogous, in terms of the shape, to close-quarters combating tools which are characterized by stealthiness, speed and danger. Therefore, in consideration of the Three Knives hairstyle’s features, I have capitalized on close-quarter combating tools’ features, including speedy action and dexterity in evading attacks, and combined short and powerful movements such as pricking, sticking and piercing to create “Qian Yue Zan Fa”, 10 martial arts movements.

Xiao Shizhi posted videos of these movements, which were taken on December 8, 2024, on such social platforms as Wechat. Many netizens visit Xiao Shizhi out of admiration in the hope of learning “Qian Yue Zan Fa”. She is now teaching students fundamentals. Last month, she and her students wore the traditional Three Knives hairstyle to present for the first time the most beautiful Fuzhou eight trigrams boxing and taijiquan performances in the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys.

(Text by Liu Lu, and Photo by Bao Hua)