Shang Yun-xiangs Xingyi Quan pt1

Note: I looked for the original translations and website of this material and they are gone. I think the information contained in the article is interesting, it is part of a series that i will post over the next few days. It was translated by Tomabey. Master Li hong!x"an disc"sses the essence of #hang$s #tyle. Narrated by Li hong!x"an %ecorded by &" 'ao!feng (irst )"blished by the *ctober, +,,- iss"e of ."h"n, /opyright www.w"h"n.com

I st"died &ingyi from #hang 0"n!xiang when I was yo"ng. Many years later, I heard people referring his martial arts as the 1#hang$s #tyle of xingyi1 in respect. %ecently a visiting martial arts enth"siast asked me why his &ingyi was so different from others that it was named as 1the #hang$s #tyle1 . I co"ld not come "p with a concise answer at the moment, beca"se back then I was only looking for self improvement when I st"died martial arts2 I had never tho"ght abo"t this iss"e. I have chatted with my teacher often, b"t I don$t recall him comparing his martial art with others. 'ow people at the present day are disting"ishing #hang$s &ingyi with other &ingyi is

beyond me. (or decades I was an ordinary man and was b"sy making a living, I had never got involved with any of s"ch disc"ssion. 3ased on my experience in being with my teacher, the xing4post"re, form5 and yi4intent, 1heart15 in the #hang$s style of &ingyi can only be ta"ght by a teacher in person, in order for the st"dent to get a g"t feeling abo"t it. If I have to describe it with words, then I have to say that his 1form1 means 1no form1 and his 1intent1 means 1no intent1. This is not some old monks making "seless 6en speech, it is a fact in martial arts training. Take the iss"e with xing, for example. #ome martial arts enth"siasts wo"ld a"tomatically believe that its post"res m"st be dramatically different from others, once they hear the term 1The #hang$s #tyle of &ingyi1. They got st"ck with arg"ments s"ch as whether the front foot is pointing straight or at an angle, or the rear hand is held in front of one$s waist or behind the front elbow. /ertainly, one of the reasons for calling it 1the #hang$s #tyle1 m"st be that it has some "ni7"e forms, b"t that is not the essence. They were the habit Teacher #hang formed in his many years of practice, they were not there beca"se he was trying to create his own school and made them "p for the sake of being different. 3eing able to balance and coordinate is an inherited ability of the h"man body. 8ven if yo" drastically change the old post"res, with consistent practice yo" can make it look like the real thing. If yo" so claim to have created a new style, s"rely m"st yo" be 9oking: Teacher #hang;s famo"s saying was, <=o train on the power b"t not the form, do "se >ing b"t not the force.? If all one sees is the post"res b"t does not st"dy the principles behind them, he is <marking the boat for the sword @-A?. #ome analy6e the #hang;s form from the point of mechanics, they believe the reason for the change is for a better power release2 or they consider #hang;s body shape, believe that the form was changed to make it more s"itable for short and heavy people, which perhaps has some tr"e in it. Bnfort"nately, beca"se #hang;s &ingyi "ses >ing rather than force, to analy6e it with mechanics is to start with the wrong foot. If yo" st"dy it from the point of application, take #parrow, for example, yo" may see that other styles "tili6e the sho"lders, whereas #hang;s style "ses the foot. #ince the targets are different, the post"res are certainly not the same. The fact of the matter is that if #hang;s #parrow comes o"t "sing the sho"lders, what;s wrong with that: It;s not boxing, whose downward hook is only for the chin and a straight 9ab is aiming the face. *nce yo" p"t o"t a post"re, yo" can attack people with any part of yo"r body. .hen a post"re is as good as one h"ndred post"res, only then it is &ingyi. *therwise with only the few post"res in (ive 8lements and Twelve Cnimals, how co"ld it become one of the three ma9or Nei9ing systems More over, every post"re in &ingyi can be manifested in three different ways: training, application, and demonstration, depending on the p"rpose. 3ooks don;t talk abo"t these. *nly after yo" become a disciple, yo" may know them all. The so!called sets in the books are often a random mix of application, training methods and demonstration. If yo" "se the sets to compare the difference and similarity between the #hang;s #tyle and others, how can yo" fig"re it o"t: (or example, some styles start )i7"an with the rear hand r"bbing the inside of the front forearm. 3eca"se the forearm is covered with >ing L"o, or meridians, the r"bbing motion has health benefits. Therefore it;s one of the training methods. Cnother

example, some have the front arm extending high and level, and the two hands coming back slowly ! they are for health considerations, no good in a fight. In order for comparison to work, we have to compare the three categories one!on!one. C rather complicated work it is, so we won;t delve into the details in the article. Bsing >ing is like wrapping a pile of loose mandarin oranges 4h"man body5 with a net and throwing the whole thing o"t. =oing it this way the body weight will not be deval"ed, instead, it can take advantage of acceleration to pro9ect a force that;s larger than the body weight. Dnowing s"ch creative sol"tion, #hang;s &ingyi certainly <"ses >ing b"t not the force.? *nly when one lets; go of the force will his training prod"ce >ing, that;s beca"se >ing is associated with the entire body. *nce yo" "se force, yo" are st"ck with segments: yo" may gain sesames b"t yo" loose a watermelon. #ome martial art enth"siasts read the sentence from boxing chronicles: <&ingyi has Ming 4clear5 >ing, Cn 4hidden5 >ing, and '"a 4dissolved5 >ing?, then reckon they m"st show some power at the beginning of their training. #o they do a lot of (ali 4power release5 right away and go some obvio"s res"lts, they can fight really well. They heard the clichE <C &ingyi st"dent can kill somebody within a year? and believed they were on the right track. If that;s the tr"th, then how is it different from a boxer hitting sandbags: 0o" can kill somebody after a year of boxing training. C good boxer;s p"nch can be F, po"nds. .ith that F, po"nds hitting one;s chest, of co"rse it can kill him. The fact is that the character <Ming? as Ming >ing in the boxing chronicles not only means clarity, b"t also means comprehension. 0o" have to <observe the >ing within yo"r own body?. 0o"r p"nches will nat"rally become stronger in this stage. The word <Cn >ing? means a transition from clear to hidden, from awareness to s"bconscio"sness: let go of yo"r observations, let the >ing become an a"tomatic reaction. '"a >ing is a state where yo" can switch between awareness and s"bconscio"sness at will. #ince Cn >ing and '"a >ing are diffic"lt to describe, I will only try to talk abo"t Ming >ing. There;s a trick in Ming >ing training: look for it at the t"rning points. The (ive 8lements are not abo"t techni7"es, b"t rather trainings on five different >ing. Therefore the t"rns are different for each element, the t"rning post"res are designed to express their partic"lar >ing. #o work on yo"r t"rns more often, it may help yo" fig"ring things o"t. Legend "sed to say that whenever #"n L"!tang r"n into diffic"lty in explaining >ing to his st"dents, he wo"ld compare the >ings in &ingyi with those in Tai9i to give them more inspiration. Cfter a while he fo"nd it am"sing himself so he created the #"n #tyle Tai9i. Not s"re abo"t the acc"racy of this story, b"t there were &ingyi people who made a lot of discoveries after seeing #"n #tyle Tai9i. In the process of practicing >ing, nat"rally yo" will r"n into the feeling of #hen!Gi, or the spirit. This is not the place for s"ch disc"ssion, only the practitioners know it themselves. If yo" st"dy it from (ali 4)ower 8xplosion5;s point of view, there m"st be a post"re that;s better than the others. %egardless, #hang;s &ingyi "ses >ing, once yo" have the >ing, one post"re is no good or worst than the others, therefore it is pointless to disc"ss the &ing, or the appearance.

#peaking of 0i, there are people who artificially introd"ce tho"ghts and imaging. The damages are beyond meas"re. In the old days some martial artists had no proper ed"cation. 3efore they had received 7"ality instr"ction, they read the ad9ectives in the boxing chronicles and took them as secretes. (or example, when they read the phrase <(o"r *"nces Moving C Tho"sand )o"nds?, they started thinking abo"t tricks in mechanics. *nce they think like a thief and want to take shortc"ts, they wo"ld never get the real D"ngf". These days some martial artists are infl"enced by Gigong, they add lots of tho"ghts and imaging into their practice, s"ch as <holding "p the entire ocean with yo"r hands? while doing standing. 'ow m"ch does the ocean weight: Tho"ghts like this will create mental tension for no good reason. =oing it all the time will only shorten yo"r life. Cnother example, some read the line in a poem: <8nemy enco"ntered, my body was like on fire?. They don;t "nderstand <body on fire? is merely an analogym instead of the act"ally physical condition. Imagining yo"r body catching fire when yo" go to a fight, yo" will r"in yo"r reaction. 0o" will loose for s"re. #o really what does <0i? refer to: C little girl in the gymnastics team doesn;t take m"ch effort to do a somersa"lt, she doesn;t need m"ch thinking either2 she only relies on her trained body feelings. .hen her feeling comes she will complete a somersa"lt. The 0i in &ingyi is similar. It;s not some imagined pict"res in yo"r brain, so 0i means not thinking 4translator: the original text says, <0i e7"als no 0i?5. Master #hang always enco"raged his st"dents to get more ed"cation. 'e said people with ed"cation co"ld pick "p martial arts faster. C martial artist is a tr"e martial artist only when he looks more like a scholar than a scholar. Most top generals in the ancient books had the portrait of a scholar. #ame for people who st"dy martial arts: if yo" spend the whole day looking angry, as if yo" are always playing with yo"r swords and drawing bows with arrows, yo" won;t get the highest D"ngf". That;s beca"se a lot of the st"ff on the boxing chronicles were written between the lines. .hile scholars may get it in a second, martial artists can easily be conf"sed. Cnd so Master #hang himself was very easy going. 'is face had a creamy look2 his skin was very soft. 'e didn;t have the look of frowning or staring like a typical martial artist. *nly when people walked behind him, he might t"rn and cast a glance, which was 7"it frightening. The 0i of &ingyi is like the cas"al creation of a painter. The composition and strokes are not arranged ahead of time, yet once the br"sh hits the paper everything becomes alive H only that is the real feeling. It comes before yo"r movement, before yo"r imagination, as if before a rain, the moist"re carried by the bree6e, it$s here and there. Irasp this feeling and yo" may start to train in #hang;s style of &ingyi. The &ing and 0i, the form and the heart of #hang;s style of &ingyi can be s"mmari6ed by a poem, <#"ch s"btlety, clear and p"re, how many people will "nderstand:? 4The 8nd5