Eagle Claw

Ying Zhao Pai
(鷹爪派)

Chan Tzi Ching performing a technique
Also known as	Eagle Claw, Eagle Fist, Eagle Hand, Ying Kuen, Ying Quan, Ying Sao, Ying Shou
Focus	Chin Na, Striking, Grappling, Joint lock
Country of origin	China
Creator	Yue Fei (attributed)
Famous practitioners	Lai Chin Liu Shi Jun Liu Cheng You Chan Tzi Ching / Chen Zizheng Lau Kai Man Chian Jin Man
Parenthood	Shaolin kung fu (credited), Chin Na, Fanzi (later combined by Lai Chin)
Descendant arts	Yuejiaquan, Xingyiquan
Olympic sport	No

Eagle Claw (Chinese: 鷹爪派; pinyin: yīng zhǎo pài) is a style of Chinese martial arts known for its gripping techniques, system of joint locks, takedowns, and pressure point strikes, which is representative of Chinese grappling known as Chin Na. The style is normally attributed to the famous patriotic Song Dynasty General Yue Fei. Popular legends states that he learned martial arts from a Shaolin Monk named Zhou Tong and later created Eagle Claw to help his armies combat the invading armies of the Jin dynasty. It was passed down until the Ming Dynasty when the monk Lai Chin combined the style with another form of boxing called Fanzi. Thus, the style took on long range strikes and aerial jumps. During the Qing Dynasty, the military instructor Liu Shi Jun became known as the modern progenitor of Eagle Claw and taught many students. His student Liu Cheng You later taught Chen Zizheng who was invited to teach the style in the prestigious Chin Woo Athletic Association during the Republican era. The style spread as Chin Woo opened sister schools in other provinces. Today, it is practiced around the world.

While the details of the history alter according to the teller, with names and places shifting as they tend to do in any oral history, in essence the story of Eagle Claw began in the Shaolin Temple and in Chinese military training, became a family tradition passed on from parent to child for generations and eventually shed its air of secrecy with the advent of public martial arts schools.

The creation of the Eagle Claw method is normally attributed to General Yue Fei (1103–1141) who lived at a time of conflict between the Southern Song Dynasty and the Jurchen tribes of the Jin dynasty. Despite being literate, young Yue Fei chose the military path because there had never been any tradition of full-fledged Confucian civil service in his family history. However, the Yue family was much too poor to afford military lessons for their son, so the boy's maternal grandfather Yao Dewang hired Chen Guang (陈广) to teach the eleven-year-old how to wield the Chinese spear. Then a local knight errant named Zhou Tong (周同) was brought in to continue Yue's military training in archery after he had quickly mastered the spear by the age of thirteen.