Changjia Boxing

Changjia boxing (Chang-family boxing) is a traditional martial art of Henan, said to have been founded by the Qing-era master Chang Naizhou and rooted in the Central Plains. Uniting fighting technique with health cultivation and its own theory, it forms a complete system handed down among the people and is a major school of Henan's home-grown martial arts.

Changjia boxing stresses the balance of hard and soft and the cultivation of both inner and outer; it weighs the coordination of breath, force and body movement, transmits both empty-hand forms and weapons, and serves both fitness and combat principle, with special emphasis on grasping body mechanics and the path of power.

Changjia boxing is a national-level item of intangible cultural heritage. As a representative traditional martial art of Henan, it preserves a complete system of boxing theory and forms and holds significant value for the study of how Chinese martial arts developed.

In Zhengzhou and across Henan, Changjia boxing can be observed and learned through martial-arts training settings, demonstrations by folk boxing societies and martial-arts cultural events — a way to feel the martial spirit of the Central Plains.