C.J.W. wrote:According to Chinese sources, Incense Shop Boxing is a modern eclectic system created circa 1918 by a teacher who combined Luohan and other systems he'd studied.
I'm wondering what sources? I've read a lot about Xiang Dian Quan over the years and never seen a single mention of it being an eclectic style or having any content outside of the Luohan and medical skills taught by the supposed monk Zhi Yuan, aside from the carrying pole and hoe which were added material from the village of one of the early teachers of the style.
Xiangdian looks like old Fuzhou Luohan boxing to me and I don't see much resemblance to Zhejiang styles and even less to Jiangxi styles.
I have seen some stuff in Okinawan karate that reminds of Zhejiang stuff. But I wouldn't really posit any links to Zhejiang based on that.
From the videos, I get the impression that the Karate guy is touting Incense Shop Boxing as the "missing link" between Southern Chinese and Okinawan/Japanese arts, which is not entirely true.
It's more than just an impression, he flat out says it in his other video.
Except there is no evidence, the forms don't match, I have no idea what four forms he is talking about as there are more than four boxing forms in the style. I have found lyrics for some of them and none of the forms I found lyrics for, including San Zhan, match those found in the Bubishi.
The big problem though is despite Jesse parroting Mc Carthy with his "Bible of Karate" lines, there is no real links between the Bubishi and anything practiced in Okinawa. There is no oral tradition suggesting that it was part of the transmission of a complete or even partial style to Okinawa.
It is just a boxing manual from Fuzhou that ended up in Okinawa at some point either in the 19th or early 20th century, and from most indications by it's self and not as part of any body of martial arts.
It's strange that almost no one involved in Okinawan karate ever mentions this. But given the almost complete lack of pre 20th century martial writings associated with Okinawan karate I guess it's not so strange, everyone wants an awesome secret ancient manual and the Bubishi is their only shot at claiming one.