Ok, so the title is stating the obvious, right? Of course it’s is a martial art. What I want to emphasize is the art portion and the significance of the structure of Jiulong. As I have an extensive background in music, drawing analogies between it and Jiulong was clear to me from the beginning, and I will use these analogies to make my point.
In music composition theory, I studied the ways that various musical elements can be assembled to create the forward flow of the meaningful sounds we know as music. In essence, the basic structure is notes arranged sequentially to create a motif (a single short musical idea). The motif could be added to or expanded in various ways to create a phrase or statement. The phrase could be added to or expanded to create a sentence. Sentences could be expanded to create sections.
Sections could be expanded to create whole pieces of music. By starting with a very small idea consisting of perhaps only 3 notes, one can expand them through various composition devices and, of course, pure creativity, to build a piece of music.
There are many other elements with which to be concerned such as harmony, rhythm etc. but these could also be aspects of the initial motif. And of course the initial motif is often a spontaneous creation coming in a moment of inspiration to the composer. The point here is to see that the artistic process is a combination of initial creative input, combined with technical understanding of how to assemble the components into a meaningful whole we call art.
In Jiulong we start with basic elements such as stances, postures, etc. and learn to assemble them into different motifs.  For example, if you stand in a dragon stance and hold a Twin Yang Heaven posture (see picture) you have created a motif – another palm or stance, another motif. Then we expand the Dragon/Twin Yang Heaven motif by stepping forward and lowering the arms to a Twin Yin Heaven posture.
We have added movement into another position. This motion can be thought of as a phrase or statement. Now expand the statement called “moving from Dragon/Twin Yang to Dragon/Twin Yin” by adding a martial application of this statement. It becomes “moving from Dragon/Twin Yang to Dragon/Twin Yin and pressing into one’s partner’s center, causing them to be displaced.”
Observe what is happening: We have taken a simple single idea or motif called Dragon/Twin Yang and expanded it into a meaningful statement of martial application. This is not a particular self defense move applicable to a specific situation, but a set of ideas built up from their component parts.
What is unique and artful about Jiulong is that the entire art is structured in this way. We learn basic concepts or principles (musical notes). Then we see how 2 or 3 of these principles can be assembled (motif). These basic assemblies combine with each other in movement (phrase) and these in turn are applied in various situations (sentences or statements). The longer statements are expressed one after the other, spontaneously to create one’s responses in a combat situation (musical work).
So what makes this a martial art is this teaching of principles which the practitioner puts together in any way she wants to express. There are no fixed forms, rather there are creative ways of assembling the principles based on the situation at hand.
I will go one step further and add that the specific form of music that Jiulong most resembles is jazz. Jazz is embodies spontaneous creativity based on an understanding of the principles of melody, harmony etc. the analogy is clear. Jiulong is spontaneous creativity based on principles of body structure, movement, mental focus etc.
I hope this gives you, the Jiulong student, a way of thinking about their practice that is unique and, best of all, a personal expression of yourself as a … wait for it … martial artist.
