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Xingyiquan(HsingICh'uan)
Nei Jia Kung Fu
Taijiquan Overview Introductionto
Baguazhang Xingyiquan(page1)
Xingyiquan byGeraldA.Sharp
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Qi Gung
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Xingyiquan(HsingIChuan)"FormandWill"Boxing
HsingICh'uan(Xingyiquan)isoneofthethreemainbranchesofNeiJiakungfu
orChineseinternalmartialarts.XingyiquanisaninternalChinesemartialartthat
hasenjoyedalonghistory,andmaybeolderthanitstwosiblings:Taijiquanand
Baguazhang.Externalmartialartstrainingemphasizesdevelopingforceand
speed.Internalmartialartstrainingemphasizesdevelopingrelaxed"soft"
structuresandstrivestoachieveefficiencyandprecisioninmotion.HsingIChuan,
PaKua(Bagua)andTaiChiChuanarecharacterizedbyanapproachthatisoften
associatedwithmeditationandbodyworkintheWest.Thereisafocuson
developinggrossandfinemotorskillscombinedwithyogalikequalities.These
threeChineseinternalmartialartsarelinkedtogetherwithanemphasisonbody
structure,pursuitofanintuitiveunderstandingofbodydynamics,aswellas
meditationandinternalenergydevelopment.TheyallshareacommonTantric
threadwiththefoundationsofearlyTaoistandBuddhistpracticesdeveloping
calmnessandcultivatingstillnesswithinmotion.HsingI(Xingyi)andPaKua
(Bagua)arealsolinkedbecausethereisatraditioninChinathatteachersofeither
disciplinetraininbotharts.Xingyiquanmeans"FormandWillBoxing,"soit
followsthatthewillandtheshapearemoreimportantinmakingXingyiquanwork
asamartialartthanmerephysicalstrengthandheavyhandedforce.

1.TheObvious,theHiddenandthe
Transformational
Xingyiquanhasthreelevelsthathelpbuild
aframeworkbywhichtoprogressas
follows:TheObvious,TheHidden,andThe
Transformational.TheObviousisnotso
obviousandcantakemanyyearsto
master.TheObviousisoftenthoughtofas
theshapesormovementsthemselves,but
itismuchmorethanthat.TheObvious
involvestrainingthebody,sothatthemind
canfunctionmoreclearly.Inotherwords,I
thinkandthereforeIdoautomatically.
http://chiflow.com/Xingyiquan.htm
2.AChineseInternalMartialArt
Thereisaphrasethatthe"shapesin
Xingyiquanshouldbelikesteelwrappedin
cotton."TheTransformationalstageallows
aMastertoturnalmostanyattackor
movementtohisadvantage.Most
Xingyiquanpracticereachesaceiling
somewherewithineithertheObviousor
theHiddenstage.Themajorityfallshortof
reachingthehighestleveloftheart
becausetheycannotconceptualizeand
implementeitherthesteelorthecotton
conceptinXingyiquan.Veryfewpeople
canputthetwoapproachestogetherand
synthesizethemintosomethingmore:
thisiswhatitmeanstorealizeYinand
Yangintheirpractice.Insteadofpursuing
theinternalart,theyapplyphysical
strengthortechniqueandturnwhatthey
dointoanexternalart.Indoingthis,they
avoidthetimeconsuminginternalpath
andrejectthenotionthatthereismuch
moretotheartofXingyiquanthancanbe
perceivedonthesurface.
Allinternalmartialarts(andXingyiquanis
noexception)takemany,manyyearsto
master.Thesetraditionalinternalartsare
oftendismissedbyamoremodernworld
insearchofaquickfix.Thetruthisthat
theinternalartsprovideasuperiormethod
fortrainingefficiencyinapplication.At
highlevelstheseInternalmartialartsare
subtleandextremelyeffective.The
practitionerthatseeksthemore
sophisticated,efficientpathisadvisedto
seekthesoftnessinthehard,thesmallin
thevast,thelightnessintheheavy,the
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TheHiddenrequiresextremeattentionto
theprocessofrelaxationandan
acceptancethatthereisanenormous
powerinsoftness.Thislevelcanbevery
hardformanypeopletoreach.Whilethe
practitionermayknowthatthesoftest
things(suchaswater)canovercome
harderthings.(e.g.Theforceofgravitycan
overcomenearlyeverythinginthe
universe.)However,whenfacedwitha
stressfulordangeroussituationmost
peoplecansimplynottrusttheprocess
enoughtofollowasoftoption.Because
theydonottrustthesoftnessofrelaxed
structure,theyrelyonbrutephysical
strengthwinorlosetoovercome
adversity:thisisanexternalpath,notan
internalpath.
Thehighestlevelhasbeencalledthe
Transformationallevel.The
Transformationallevelisactuallyacareful
combinationofboththeObviousandthe
Hiddenlevels.Thatsaid,combiningthetwo
previouslevelscreatesanelevated
approachthatisbasedonsmoothnessand
slipperynessthatseeksnottoconquerthe
opponentwhatsoever,butblendand
integratefullywiththeopponent.
3.OriginofXingyiquan
Therearebasicallytwomainbranches
withinXingyiquan.Thebranchassociated
withtheHebeiregionisoftenreferredtoas
theTwelveAnimalsstyle.Thebranch
associatedwiththeHenanregionis
usuallyknownastheTenAnimalsstyle.
http://chiflow.com/Xingyiquan.htm
YinintheYangandviceaversa:avoidthe
overuseofforceandrelianceonphysical
strength.
Moreandmorethisinternalapproachis
notthewaymostXingyiquanispracticed
now.LikeBaguamuchhasgivenwayto
externalpracticeswhichemphasizeforce
andtechniques,andinsomeinstances
"creativehealingdance."Tostayontrack,
wehavesomeexcellentbooksonXingyi
availablethroughouronlinestore.Oneof
thebestisJiangRongQiao'sXingyiquan
MuQuan(TheMotherFists),as
translatedbyJosephCrandall.Anewer
translationweofferisXingYi:SanShou
PaobyShaGuozhen,afamedteacher
andstudentofJiangRongQiao.
VolumeI:Xingyiquan,theMotherFists
Additionally,we'vealsojoinedan
instructionalvideoseries,Xingyiquan,the
MotherFistswithJiangRongQiao's
classictextastranslatedbyJoseph
Crandall.ThevideoseriesfeaturesGerald
A.SharpacertifiedgrandstudentofJiang
RongQiao.
4.YuehFei
Aslegendhasit,JouTonhadasoft,fluid
characterinhisdeliveryofmartialarts
whichimitatedanimalsandwasbasedon
theFivePhases.JouTonfeltthatthe
spearwasthemostdivineofallweapons
andpassedhisimplementationofspear
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BothbranchesofXingyiquanarebelieved tacticsinunarmedandarmedcombaton
tobeoriginallydevelopedbyMarshallYueh toYuehFei.
Fei(alsoknownasYueWuMuWang)
around1100A.D.
YuehFei'slegendaryexploitsasaleader
andsoldierarewelldocumented,andeven
YuehFeidevelopedXingyibasedonhis nowhisrestingplaceishonoredoutside
studiesofShaolinKungFu(associated ofWestLake,Hanzhou.Alsoitshouldbe
withearlyBuddhistpractice)astaughtto notedthatYuehFeiwasframedasa
himbyapersonalfriendofthefamily traitorbyChinKuaanddiedinprisonat
named,JouTon,whowasarecognized age38.AfterYuehFei'sdeath,itwas
scholarandstudentoftheShaolinTemple laterrevealedthathehadbeensetup.In
anditsmartialarts.Accordingly,JouTon frontofYuehFei'sgravearestatuesof
taughtamoresophisticatedartofhandto bothChinKuaandhiswifekneeling.To
handcombat,traditionalweaponry, thisdaypeoplepayhonoratYuehFei's
horsemanshipandmilitarytactics.Yueh graveandspitonthedefacedstatuesof
FeiwasalsoinfluencedbythetextsofSun ChinKuaandhiswife.
Zi(alsoknownasSunTzu)andSunBin.

5.TheDevelopmentofXingyiquan
AroundtheendoftheMingDynastya
martialartistnamedJiLongFeng(also
knownasJiJike)whoalsowasdrawnto
thespear,wassupposedlytaughtYueh
Fei'sfistbyahermitmonkwholivedinthe
ChongnanMountains.JiLongFeng
identifiedhispracticewithanartthatused
speartacticsinclosingthegap,wrapping,
slashing,sweeping,andpinning.JiLong
Fengsupposedlyreorganizedtheart,and
transmittedhisskillsinShansiProvince.
6.TenAnimalsStyleTheHenanStylesof
Xingyiquan
InShansiProvince,theartunderwent
changesandthetransmissionsdivided.
MaXueli(17141794),athirdgeneration
studentfromJiLongFengiscreditedas
havingmaintainedwhathethoughtwasJi
Longfeng'soriginalstyleastaughttohim
byCaoJiWu,astudentofJiLongfeng.
TheversionthatwastaughtbyMaXueliin
HenanProvinceandultimatelybecame
knownastheMuslimorTenAnimals
styleofXingyiQuan.MaXueliwasa
discipleofIslam,andbelievedthatthefist
methodscamefromtheobservationsof
thestarsandwereagiftfromGod.

7.TwelveAnimalsStylesTheHebeiStyles 8.ComparisonoftheTenandTwelve
ofXingyiquan AnimalsStyles

LiLuoneng(alsoknownasLiNengran),a
fifthgenerationstylistfromJiLongFeng
tookthearttoHebeiProvincewherehe
promotedtheartthathefeltwastruetoJi
LongfengandYuehFei.Thisstylebecame
knownasHebeiStyleorTwelveAnimals
Xingyi.MostaccountsrecordDaiLong
BangasLiLuoneng'steacher,and
confusionoverwhetherDaiLongBangwas
athirdorafourthgenerationstylistfromJi
LongFengarises.Someaccounts,namely
SunLutang'scallDaiLongBangathird
generationstylist,whileotherrecords
indicatehewasafourthgenerationstylist
havingstudiedunderMaXueli.Ifthelatter
accounthascredence,thisiswherethe
TenAnimalsstylelaysclaimtobeingthe
originalstyleandtheTwelveAnimals,or
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Hebeistyleaderivative.However,thepoint
ismuteasbothstylesseemtobewell
definedsystemsinandofthemselvesand
certainlyondifferenttracksatthispoint.
Above:AnApplicationforthe"Combined
Eagle/Bear"oneofXingyi's12Animals
Seealso:
OverviewofHsingIChuan
IntroductiontoXingyiquanpage2
Yiquanpage
www.chiflow.com
AboutUs|SiteMap|PrivacyPolicy|ContactUs|allcontentandimages2008GeraldA.Sharpand
Chiflow.com
http://chiflow.com/Xingyiquan.htm
TheTenAnimals(Henan)styleseemsto
bemoreexternalonthesurface.However,
I'veseensomeHebei(TwelveAnimals)
stylistswholookasifthey'redoinghard
styleKarate.Ontheotherhand,I'veseen
HenanpractitionerssuchYuHuaLongof
Shanghaiwhopracticetheartvery
internally.
Againitisreallyuptothepractitionerand
howtheycarryforththeart.IfXingyi
developedfromShaolin,wasintendedto
bepracticedwithmorefinesse,andifthe
spearandspeartacticsareviewedasan
advancementinmartialpractice,then
Xingyiisultimatelybetterdevelopedwith
softnessthanwithhardness.
GoToIntroductiontoXingyiquan(page2)
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