So, a few of you may have recently heard me getting all excited and blabbing non-stop about "xing yi", and you all thought it was over a girl. Hmmmm. What does that say about me? Lol.
No, no, no. "Xing yi" is most definately not a girl. It's a form of Chinese internal martial arts (IMA), with the three most commonly-known being taiji quan, bagua zhang and xingyi quan. Although it's hard to ascertain, xingyi is most commonly acknowledged to be the oldest, yet also the simplest. It is said to be based on spear fighting, and is hence characterised by linear movements and explosive power.
So what makes xingyi different from karate or shaolin, two other commonly-known schools of martial arts that seem to share the same characteristics? Let me try my inadequate best to enlighten you, little grasshopper. ^^
Xingyi is a Chinese martial arts, and at the core of Chinese martial arts, is the concept of adhering, or sticking to your oppenent to control and neutralise his attacks. This can also be seen in the Indonesian fighting arts as trapping, which is not that surprising, as the Chinese and Indonesians clashed a lot when they first encountered each other. It's not surprising that they will learn from each other's systems, although the native Indonesians seem to have assilmated the Chinese concept of adhering better than their counterparts, who seem to have failed to pick up the concept of angles and timing of stick-fighting from the Indonesians. (It seems that way to me at least. I could be entirely wrong. I have woefully inadequate experience so take everything I say with a pinch of salt. ^^)
Hence, the main difference between xingyi and karate would seem to be the concept of adhering, which requires a degree of sensitivity. Karate seems to have gone off on another tangent to focus more on developing power, whereas although xingyi also stresses power, at higher levels, it requires sensitivity. That is why xingyi also incorporates push-hands to develop the required sensitivity to react to and control your opponent's movements. Yes, it is like taiji, in that sense. I was quite surprised to hear of xingyi students pushing hands with taiji students at first, but it makes sense in the end, if you think about it.
Another difference, that differentiates xingyi from both shaolin and karate would be the method of power generation. Here, I am going to borrow some terms from Chiron, who explained it quite well. The below is an abridged version of his explaination.
There are only so many ways to produce power, namely power generation, power stealing, and power conservation. Power generation relays on muscular power, and incorporates hip action for powerful punches or fast whipping of the hands. Power stealing is making use of other forces that you yourself do not produce to increase the strenght of your punch. This would involve the use of weight shifting and gravity, such as the drop step in boxing, as well as good use of timing and distance - swinging a punch such that your oppenent runs into it is a good way to increase the wham factor ^^. Power conservation involves the use of good structure. Rigid structures (bone) transmit forces better floppy structures (muscles). Here we have a bit of physics involved now. For every force, there is an equal and opposite reaction force. Every time you strike, an equal force goes into the ground. If there is good structure between the striker and the ground, power conservation approaches perfection. Ergo, try swinging a punch underwater, it's like hitting with straws. Poor structure also explains why huge men can punch so weakly, as energy bleeds away through poorly aligned joints and muscles.
Chiron then goes on to give an awesome example which I think makes a lot of sense. Remember those palm strikes where you see this guy place his hand on another, and without any discernable movement suddenly throw the guy out? Well, Chiron gives a pretty logical explaination: "What is going on physically is a slight rise in your center of gravity that is allowed to fall (the distance can be so small as to be almost imperceptible). The weight, the energy is allowed to fall and bounce up through the contact with the ground (which must be the heels) down the bones into the contact hand. It is essentially stealing a very small amount of power and then transmitting it through very good structure. With bad structure, you get nothing at all and wind up pushing with muscle. Different feel."
And that is the main difference between xingyi and other IMA, and karate and shaolin. Now you know why they always emphasise relaxing in traditional IMA? ^^ There's another reason, but that's another day.
Anyway, some video clips to pretty up the post.
Here is a very good explaination of the principles of xingyi. Attacking the center line, just like wing chun. Also, note what he says about structure and the spirals within the linear movements -"seeking the curve within the straight" as they frequently say in the taiji classics starting to make some sense now? ^^ Don't be surprised that the man is black. Rudy Curry Junior is a good teacher. And these days, the ones who are willing to put in the hard work are the foreigners, and not the Chinese.
A clip of the five element fists, which is the basic core of xingyi. Each fist gives rise to another, and at the same time is the counter to a certain fist. Note the power generation. I especially like the pi and the zuan.
A clip of the linking form of the five element fists.
So why am I so excited about xingyi? It's the entire reason for my going back to Singspore for two months. How else am I going to endure two months there? ^^
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