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File:Xing2.gifFile:Yi4.gif
Pinyin:	Xíngyìquán
Wade-Giles:	Hsing I Ch'üan
Literally	"Form Mind Boxing"

Xingyiquan is one of the three major internal Chinese martial arts—the other two being Taijiquan and Baguazhang—and is characterised by aggressive, linear movements and explosive power.

History

Like many Chinese martial arts, the exact origin of Xingyiquan is uncertain. The genealogy of Xingyiquan can only reliably be traced to the 18th century to Ma Xueli of Henan Province and Dai Longbang of Shanxi Province. Before these two masters, the provenance of Xingyiquan becomes uncertain.

The attribution of Xingyiquan to the renowned 12th century Song Dynasty general Yue Fei comes from the Preface to Six Harmonies Boxing (六合拳?; pinyin: Liùhéquán Xu) written in 1750. According to the Preface, Xingyiquan is a martial art that Yue Fei created for his officers based on the use of the spear. After Yue Fei's death, the art was lost for half a millenium until around the cusp of the Ming and Qing Dynasties when, in the Zhongnan Mountains of Shaanxi Province, Yue Fei's boxing manual supposedly found its way into the hands of Ji Longfeng (also known as Ji Jike) of neighboring Shanxi Province.

Like the Preface, the Ji Clan Chronicles (pinyin: Ji Shi Jiapu) describe Xingyiquan as a martial art based on the principles of the spear but attributes its creation to Ji himself, who was known as the "Divine Spear" (神槍; pinyin: Shén Qiāng) for his extraordinary skill with the weapon.

The master who taught Xingyiquan to Ma Xueli is conventionally identified as Ji Longfeng himself. However, the traditions of the Ma family itself say only that Xueli learned from a wandering master whose name is unknown.

The Preface to Six Harmonies Boxing identifies Cao Jiwu as as student of Ji Longfeng and the master who taught Xingyiquan to Dai Longbang. However, other sources identify Dai's teacher variously as Li Zheng or Niu Xixian.

Xingyiquan remained fairly obscure until Li Luoneng (also known as Li Nengran) learned the art from the Dai family in the 19th century. It was Li Luoneng and his successors—which include Guo Yunshen, Li Cunyi, Zhang Zhaodong, Sun Lutang, and Shang Yunxiang—who would bring Xingyiquan to prominence.

Characteristics and Principles

Considered the most aggressive of the three major Chinese internal styles, Xingyiquan features quick, shocking attacks and direct footwork. The linear nature of Xingyiquan hints at both the military origins and the influence of spear technique alluded to in its mythology. Despite its hard, angular appearance, cultivating "soft" internal strength or qi is essential to achieving power in Xingyiquan.

The goal of the Xingyiquan fighter is to reach the opponent quickly and drive powerfully through them in a single burst—the analogy with spear fighting is useful here. This is achieved by coordinating one's body as a single unit and the intense focusing of one's qi.

Efficiency and economy of movement are the qualities of a Xingyiquan fighter and its direct fighting philosophy advocates simultaneous attack and defense. There are few kicks and techniques are prized for their deadliness rather than aesthetic value. Xingyiquan favours a high stance with the head, torso and feet held along the same vertical plane. A common saying of Xingyiquan is that "the hands do not leave the heart and the elbows do not leave the ribs."

Overview

Animal Forms

Xingyiquan is based on ten distinct animal forms (形; pinyin: xíng). Present in all regional and family styles, these emulate the techniques and tactics of the corresponding animal rather than just their physical movements.

The Five Elements

Xingyiquan uses the five classical Chinese elements to metaphorically represent five different states of combat. Also called the "Five Fists" or "Five Phases," the Five Elements are based on Taoist cosmology although the names do not literally correspond to the cosmological terms.

Xingyiquan practitioners use the Five Elements as an interpretative framework for reacting and responding to attacks. This is in accordance with Five Element theory, a general combat formula which assumes at least three outcomes of a fight; the constructive, the neutral, and the destructive. Xingyiquan students train to react to and execute specific techniques in such a way that a desirable cycle will form based on the constructive, neutral and destructive interactions of Five Element theory. Where to aim, where to hit and with what technique—and how those motions should also work defensively—is determined by what point of which cycle they see themselves in.

Visualising the elemental cycles can be useful. It is arguably the case that the destructive cycle consists of the easiest applications. Each of the elements has variant applications that allow it to be used to defend against all of the elements (including itself), so any set sequences are entirely arbitrary. Some schools will teach the Five Elements before the Ten Animals because they are easier and shorter to learn.

It is perhaps unfortunate that the names used for the elements are also used as fundamental names for applications of energy or jìn (勁), since it can be confusing to describe the "heng jin contained within pi quan". It should be noted that the applications of energy referred to by the five element names are not the only ones, there are many others.

Schools

Roughly speaking, Xingyiquan has three main schools:

• Shanxi
• Hebei
• Henan

However, the identification of three separate schools (or styles) is tenuous because of the extensive cross-training that occurred across their lineages. This suggests that the schools did not evolve in isolation, thus diluting any major differences between them.

In general, Shanxi style has a narrower stance, lighter footwork and tends to be more evasive. Hebei emphasises powerful fist and palm strikes, with slightly different evasive footwork. Henan is typically the most aggressive of the three styles. Because it was handed down within the Muslim community in Luoyang to which Ma Xueli belonged, Henan style is also known as the Muslim style.

Both the Shanxi and Hebei schools use a Twelve Animal system with Five Elements while the Henan schools uses Ten Animals. Depending on the lineage, it may or may not use Five Elements. Due to the historical complexity and vagueness of the lineages, it is uncertain which school would qualify as the "authentic" Xingyiquan.

Because Li Luoneng learned Xingyiquan from the Dai family, its style is claimed to be the ancestral style of those Xingyiquan practitioners who trace their lineage to Li Luoneng, i.e. most Xingyiquan practitioners. The family style of Ma Xueli of Henan, like the family style of Dai Longbang of Shanxi, can be dated reliably to the 18th century; however, its genealogy contains no Li Luoneng-like figure who disseminated the art widely.

Weapons

Traditionally, Xingyiquan is an armed art. Students would initially be taught technique using a spear, and as time went on progress eventually through shorter weapons to bare handed technique. One of Xingyi's training features is the direct relationship between the movements of the armed techniques and the same movements unarmed.

Some common weapons:

• Spear
• Straight sword
• Saber
• Large Saber (used by infantry against mounted opponents)
• Long Staff
• Short Staff (at maximum length you could hold between the palms of your hands at each end - techniques with this weapon may have been used with a spear that had been broken)
• Needles (much like a double ended rondel gripped in the centre - on the battlefield this would mostly have been used like its western equivalent to finish a fallen opponent through weak points in the armour)
• Fuyueh (halberds of various types)

Some schools include other weapons, some even including the bow in their teaching—Yue Fei was known to support the flanks of his spearmen with archers against the more mobile mounted troops that he fought.

The diversity of weapons, and relationship between techniques enables an experienced Xingyi fighter to pick up and use practically any weapon irrespective of its exact length, weight and shape.

Famous Figures

This list does not claim to be definitive. Because lineage is sometimes a matter of controversy, these names are presented in alphabetical order using pinyin romanization.

• Cao Jiwu
• Che Yizhai (also known as Che Yonghong)
• Dai Longbang
• Guo Yunshen
• Ji Longfeng (also known as Ji Jike)
• Li Cunyi
• Li Luoneng (also known as Li Nengran)
• Ma Xueli
• Sun Lutang

Important Texts

A variety of texts have survived throughout the years, often called "Classics", "Songs" or "Theories".

• Classic of Unification
• Classic of Fighting
• Classic of Stepping
• Classic of Six Harmonies

In fiction

The fictional Tekken characters Julia Chang, Michelle Chang, and Wang Jinrei were written as Xingyiquan fighters.

The comic book Shaolin Cowboy, includes a character called "King Crab" who uses Xingyiquan terms for a number of techniques - though those terms are applied wrongly, and could be seen as a satirical view of the state of kung fu.

Controversy

The difficulty of translating very old Chinese texts in which characters appear that have not been in use for many years (and may not appear even in very old dictionaries) has resulted in disagreements between terms, particularly in the older texts. This is not aided by the common practice amongst translators to use the "closest" character in appearance when an unfamiliar character appears, which may differ significantly in meaning.

Cross-training of students in other arts has also caused the propogation of some of the terms from those other arts. For instance, some schools refer to a training method of "Xingyi Push Hands" - a term more commonly in use in training Taijiquan - which may be called by other schools "Five Elements Fighting"

The recognized founder of Baguazhang, Dong Hai Chuan, was reputed to have fought Guo Yun Shen with neither able to defeat the other - though it is possible that they were training together. It would have been controversial at the time for Dong Hai Chuan to have studied under Guo Yun Shen, since Dong Hai Chuan was the older of the two. The most neutral viewpoint would be to say that they trained together, and that there may be some similarities in technique between Baguazhang and the Xingyiquan Monkey.

However, after researching the accuracy of stories concerning the relationship between Xingyiquan and Baguazhang, Bruce Kumar Frantzis concluded that, not only did Guo and Dong not engage in an epic battle, but the two had virtually no contact with each other; he cites as a more likely point of exchange between the two arts a house in Tianjin c. 1900 where Xingyi masters Li Cunyi and Zhang Zhaodong, Bagua master Cheng Tinghua, and 4 other Xingyi and Bagua teachers lived as housemates (Frantzis, 1998, p. 179).

The founder of Yiquan, Wang Xiangzhai studied under Guo Yun Shen, and similarities in techniques between these arts can also be seen.

See also

• Neijia
• Taijiquan
• Baguazhang
• Neijin

References

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• Szymanski, Jarek. Template:Web reference simple
• Szymanski, Jarek. Template:Web reference simple

Published Works

Translated Works

These may also be available in the original Chinese.

• The Skill of Xingyiquan, Li Tian-Ji (translated by Andrea Falk)
• Xing Yi Lianhuan Quan, Li Cun Yi (translated by Joseph Crandall)
• Xing Yi Quan Xue: The Study of Form-Mind Boxing, Sun Lu Tang (translated by Albert Liu)

English Works

• Hsing-I: Chinese Internal Boxing, Robert Smith
• Xing Yi Bear Eagle, Damon Smith

External links

• emptyFlower Xingyiquan
• Jarek's Chinese Martial Arts Pages
• Mike Patterson's school of Xingyiquan
• The Beijing Milun School

• Chinese martial arts
• Contemporary wushu
• Taoism
• Chinese terms