SHANG WU ZHAI
Redbridge Academy of Martial Arts
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The meaning of the name
Xing - Shape or Form. Yi - Intension or Will. The Chinese letter for "Yi" is comprised of two sections. The top one means "Sound", and the bottom one means "Heart" "!ind" ""nowled#e". Intent is the sound of the mind. Quan - Fist. $enotes the art as bein# a Chinese !artial %rt. It&s as in sa'in#( ")in# Yi Fist", "The Fist of )in# Yi", or ")in# Yi *o+in#". % common addition to the names of Chinese martial arts, ,ust li-e .apanese martial arts& names are usuall' followed b' "$o" /$ao in Chinese - Wa', 0oad1 or ".utsu" /Shu in Chinese - S-ill, %rt1 in arts li-e 2in,utsu and %i-ido. The name "Xing Yi Quan" literall' translates as "The martial art of the form and Intension", meanin# that )in# Yi is a martial art that uses the power of Intension in order to mo3e the bod'.
Characteristics
)in# Yi 4uan is a martial art that puts much emphasis on mo3in# the whole bod' as one sin#le unit, while the practitioner ad3ances directl' towards the opponent, as in tr'in# to #o throu#h and past him, li-e he&s
not e3en there. !ost defenses are done while simultaneousl' attac-in#, or as a part of the attac- itself. The opponent&s attac-s are di3erted with minor circular mo3ements that are -ept to a minimum, and the practitioner&s attac-s are supported b' his whole bod'.
The wa' power is issued in )in# Yi can be ima#ined as the circular motion of a hu#e wa3e crashin# on the shore. In more ad3anced sta#es the practitioner #ains the abilit' to issue power /attac-1 from an' area or point on his bod', from an' posture and an' ran#e he wishes or is forced to wor- from.
Zhan Zh an ! Standing "ole
Trainin# in )in# Yi starts with practicin# 5han 5huan#. Holdin# these postures is the basis for de3elopin# the power used in )in# Yi, impro3in# of one&s control o3er his intension, and teachin# the whole bod' to become as one. %s the practitioner impro3es his abilit' in holdin# 5han# 5huan# and understandin# its principles, the wa' he practices it chan#es, and the difficult' le3el and demands rise.
The practice of 5han 5huan# e+ists in all schools of )in# Yi, and althou#h the e+act shape or form of practice ma' 3ar' a bit, the' all put the same emphasis on the demands described b' the 6erse of 7i#ht Words /*a 8i ,ue - "7i#ht Words s-ills"1. !ost schools practice the followin# stances( Wu.i, SanTi Shir, Hun Yuan, )ian# 9on# and Fu Hu.
The famous Tian,in martial artist )ue $ian described this practice as a 3er' slow mo3ement, which the outside onloo-er cannot notice. In his description, he tried to clarif' that standin# in this manner is not "static and rela+ed", but is about a slow and intensi3e internal mo3ement.
W #ing $the %&i'e &ists% or %&i'e (lements%)
The ne+t step /after 5han# 5huan#1 is mo3in# the bod' on the basis of fi3e different forms of mo3ement /"The Fi3e :hases"1. Without this practice, the moment one starts to mo3e, all the abilities ac;uired b' the practice of 5han 5huan# are lost. Therefore, one must learn to maintain the structure built with 5han 5huan# e3en when performin# lar#e mo3ements. In this practice, one de3elops fi3e different powers, which he will afterwards use as the basis for all the other mo3ements. When one be#ins practicin# )in# Yi, there is much importance to the direction of e3er' mo3ement, and the accurac' of e3er' posture. This stems from the fact that the direction of mo3ement and an#les of the arms, le#s and bod' are the basis for the correct e+pression of the practitioner&s intension. <ne can thin- of the intension as bein# a li;uid, and the form as a 3essel. You pour 'our li;uid /Intension1 into the 6essel /Form1. % croo-ed 3essel /Form1 will distort and wron#full' displa' the 9i;uid /Intension1. Correct bod' ali#nment also enables the practitioner the channel power better, ,ust as the supportin# beams of a brid#e allow the pressure wor-ed upon it to be channeled to the #round. %nother important emphasis in practice is maintainin# the "Si+ Harmonies" a ma,or principle in )in# Yi.
The Si* Harmonies
The unit' between !ind and Intension, Intension with 4i, and the Chi with :ower is referred to as "The Three Internal Harmonies". The unit' between the palm and the foot, the elbow and -nee, and the shoulder and hips ,oints is called "The Three 7+ternal Harmonies". This means that the palm is alwa's abo3e and correlated with the foot - when one mo3es, the other also mo3es with it. When one stops, the other also stops. While performin# an' mo3ement, there should alwa's be harmon' between the Internal and the 7+ternal.
S"ear "ractice
The mo3ement of )in# Yi 4uan is based on the mo3ement of a fi#hter holdin# a lon# spear. Spear practice helps a lot with de3elopin# and impro3in# the abilities #ained b' practicin# the fi3e fists as well as buildin# up their power. Common practices with the spear are "Spear 0ubbin#" /Hua #an1 and a form called "=> Trios of )in# Yi". The practice of spear rubbin# is considered part of the basics of the art. The practitioner holds a fle+ible Chinese Spear at one end, and rubs
the other end on a tree usin# a waist mo3ement, in order to feel resistance. The form => Trios of )in# Yi is usuall' practiced with a white and fle+ible spear made of a populous tree, that is lon#er than ? meters /@.ABft1. Since the spear is fle+ible, sha-in# it returns a stron# 3ibration, forcin# the practitioner to learn how to sta' stable and absorb the power issued at him.
The T+el'e Animals
%fter the student has learned the Fi3e Fist and ha3e understood the Fi3e :owers, he ma' be#in the stud' of the =C animal forms of )in# Yi. The animal forms teach us 3ariations of the fi3e powers pre3iousl' learned. The animals that are tau#ht are( $ra#on, Ti#er, !on-e', Horse, Turtle, Chic-en, Sparrow Haw-, Swallow, Sna-e, Tai bird, 7a#le and *ear. $espite these forms bein# named after animals, it is not to be assumed that one is tr'in# to imitate the wa' the' mo3e, but rather to mimic the character and s-ills traditionall' associated with that animal D to learn the nature of the animal and use it oneEs ad3anta#e, not cop' its mo3ements.
(ight S,ill Sentences - .a /i gong
This is a practice of ei#ht new mo3ements, that de3elop ei#ht useful power to be of aid to the practitioner. The 7i#ht :owers are( Zhan, Jie, Guo, Kua, Tiao, Ding, Yun and Ling.
