2,The brief history of Xing Yi.
3,What are the features of Xing Yi?
4,What are the benefits of practicing Xing Yi?
5,What do we teach in our school?
7,Questions and Answers of Xing Yi.
Xing Yi (Body-Mind Boxing) is an internal martial art very popular in China. It has an important place in the history of Chinese martial arts. Also known as Xin-Yi(Heart-Mind Boxing) and Xin-Yi-Liu-He(Six-Harmony Boxing), this style emphasizes the unity of internal and external; Xing means body, the external aspect, and Yi means Mind, the internal.
Xing Yi is generally regarded as the oldest of the traditional Chinese internal martial arts. Although popular legend ascribes the creation of Xing Yi to Yue Fei, a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty(960--1279), a more plausible view regards the founder to be Ji Jike (Ji Long Feng), a native of Shanxi province in north China in the late Ming Dynasty(1368--1644)and early Qing Dynasty(1644--1911). Following the early development of the art in Shanxi province, separate transmissions of the art were made to Henan and Hebei provinces.
The Shanxi and Hebei styles share many characteristics, including the basic structure of Five Elements (Wu Xing) and Twelve Animals (Shi Er Xing). The Henan variation, a less common style, does not follow this same structure since it is based on Ten Animals and is sometimes referred to by the old name, Xin-Yi-Liu-He Quan. At the Wudang School we teach the Hebei Style.
A,Plain and Straightforward.
The movements of Xing Yi are simple; they mostly come and go in a straight line. Hence, Xing Yi is fast and powerful, combining soft force and hard force in a natural and beautiful way. Directness is also characteristic of Xing Yi combat, which uses a quick, straight entry to interrupt the opponent's attack. In Xing Yi we say, "My opponent starts before me, but I arrive first".
B,Coordinated and Integrated.
In Xing Yi, perhaps even more so than in the other internal martial arts, the whole body is united and the feet and hands are well coordinated. A classical Xing Yi proverb says, " an attack should start in the body and work together with the hands and feet," and " if the hand arrives before the foot, the attack will not be powerful; if the hands and feet arrive together, the attack will go through the enemy like cutting grass." Clearly, this style requires the coordination of feet, hands, eyes and body: "if one part moves, a hundred parts should follow." According to another famous Xing Yi proverb, " He will be victorious who knows how to coordinate."
4,What are the benefits of practicing Xing Yi?
come soon.
5, What will we teach in our school?
A)Empty hands:
(A)One-Person forms:
1)Five-Element Fists (Metal,Water, Wood, Fire, earth).
2)Twelve-Animal Fists (Dragon, Tiger, Monkey, Horse, Alligator, Rooster, Sparrow hawk, Swallow, Snake, Wedge-tailed hawk, Eagle, and bear).
3)Routines:
(1),The Five-Element Linking Form.
(2),Mixture of Fists.
(3),Eight-Postures.
(4),Eight-Word Skill.
(5),Twelve Punches.
(6),Some others...
(B)Two-Person forms:
(1)Four-Closing and Four-Sealing.
(2)Five-Element Fist.
(3)Protect Body Clash.
(4)Three-Hand Clash.
(5)Some others...
B)Weapons:
(1)Continuous saber.
(2)Continuous sword.
(3)Continuous staff.
(4)Thirteen Spear.
(5)Some others...
So, there are 6 levels in our school.
Level One: Three Body posture, Five-Element.
Standard: Get the basic power, the body should have basic unified force.
Level Two: Application of Five-Element, Five-Element Linking Form. Two person form:Four-Closing and Four-Sealing.
Standard: Know the routine of Link From, know the basic application of Five-Elememt.
Level Three: Animal Forms(1 to 6). Routine Mixture of Fists. Two person form:Five-Element Fist.
Standard: Know the application of 6 animal forms.
Level Four: Animal Forms(6 to 12). Routine Twelve Punches. Two person form: Protect Body Clash, Three-Hand Clash.
Standard: Know the application of 6 animal forms.
Level five: Routine Eight-Postures, Eight-Word Skill. Weapons.
Standard: Should be powerful when students practice the two routines. Know the routine of weapon.
Level Six: Weapons and Xing Yi Qi Gong.
Standard: Know the concept of Xing Yi Qi Gong, Have the Qi Circulation in the body.
7,Questions and Answers of Xing Yi.
Questions 1: I heard that Xing Yi movements are linear movements, so are they cloese to Wing Chun?
Answer: I do not know Wing Chun, in China, only a very small percentage of people in Southern China practice it. Most Wingchun practitionners are in Hongkong. I am from Northern China, so I never saw it when I was in China. I just began to have the chance to see it when I came to Canada.
Xing Yi movements are linear, it is true, but this answer is not very precise. Think of this, linear movement is different from straight attack. Xing Yi uses a lot of straight attacks which seem linear. However, ALL OF THE MARTIAL ART STYLES USE STRAIGHT ATTACK AT THE LAST SECOND. Tai Chi and Ba Gua are the same. And, Xing Yi uses small circles in EVERY movement, which is not well known to many teachers. They think Xing Yi only has linear movements, and Xing Yi always moves and walks forward. We call it Xing Yi Spirit, but, there are a lot of movements in Xing Yi with circular walking, and also retreat back stepping. This kind of feature should be shown in animal forms.
So in my opinion, people will know that there are not only linear movements in Xing Yi when they practice and understand Xing Yi well enough.
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