XingyiquanXingyiquan is an internal martial arts style based upon the Daoist theory of the five inter-relatingelements. It is an ancient system which like Taijiquan uses internal force but has a faster, moredirect feel to it.

The core practices of Xinyiquan consist of a single standing posture and five movements. At firstglance Xingyiquan can seem relatively simple in comparison to the intricate forms of Taijiquan orBaguazhang but in fact Xingyiquan is equally as long and complex a study as any other internalmartial art.

Like Taijiquan or Baguazhang, Xingyiquan relies on being able to develop a strong root, correctbodily alignments and relaxing the muscles. It for this reason that the three main internal artscomplement each other and practice of all three can help to develop a rounded approach to martialarts training. All three rely on working primarily with the mind to develop and issue power althoughthe manner in which they do this is quite different.

Taijiquan practitioners seek to develop a strong core which becomes rooted and immoveable uponcontact. Xingyiquan practitioners are far more mobile and direct in their approach to combat.Perhaps it can be said that Taijiquan feels far more defensive that Xinyiquan which concerns thestudy of mercilessly attacking your opponent and driving him into the ground. Both stylescomplement each other and provide a practitioner with both a Yin and a Yang approach to theinternal martial arts.

The key to understanding Xingyiquan is the practice of San Ti or ‘trinity’ posture. This standingposture is practiced in most branches of Xingyiquan and can be compared to the standing postpractices of Taijiquan which many people are familiar with.

Once a person has developed all of the compressions and springs required for Xingyiquan practicefrom their standing, they may begin to study the five techniques from which the entire of Xingyiquanis derived. These techniques are known as Pi, Zhuan, Beng, Pao and Heng. They are five differentdirections of internal force which are likened to the five elemental processes which are so importantwithin Chinese Medicine. Rather than being exact techniques which can be applied to combat, theyare a training method for developing effective power along five planes of movement. From this base,further techniques and forms show how these five powers are applied to various strikes, kicks, locksand throws but these are considered of secondary importance to the five main movements.

Each technique is studied from the San Ti posture which you will most likely have practiced for sometime. Now the initial softening, aligning and rooting procedures are repeated whilst moving. It canbe surprisingly frustrating to see how quickly all your long-practiced alignments move out of linewhen you begin to move forward. In particular the legs tense up which creates an unhealthy ‘jerk’ asyou move forward. Xingyiquan relies on a downward force being delivered through the feet which‘bounces’ back up through the body and creates the striking power of the five elements. If your legsare not soft and correctly aligned then this force will simply not get through your body up to yourhands. At first this downward force is dropped down through a relaxed ‘stamp’ but over time this isnormally taken out so that the steps look as soft as those of Taijiquan and Baguazhang.

Prior to my own training in the internal arts I had been learning external martial arts for some time.I was used to using gross physical movements such as large waist turns to put power into mypunches. When I came to Taijiquan these waist turns were trained and then shrunk down andinternalised so that power was delivered from the Dan Tien area. In Xingyiquan I now had to learnhow to use the mind to lead and direct force from the floor, through the body and out into the hands.It feels something like a combination of the two methods mentioned above and yet has a distinct feelof its own at the same time.

The key to delivering power within the five techniques is finding a path of least resistance for theforce which wants to drive you forward from the rear foot when you are standing in the San Tiposture. Like water working its way through cracks in a cliff top, the internal force of Xingyiquan isdirected through the body in different directions according to your mental intent and the physicalshape of whichever technique you are practicing.

Further practices in Xingyiquan involve the study of twelve animal sequences and further combattraining including practice of the spear.

Each internal style of martial arts has its own signature Nei Gong method which is used to integratethe energetics of the style into the physical body. The Nei Gong method of Xingyiquan is known asSan Ti standing.

Standing in San Ti can at first be extremely painful. The back weighted stance is difficult even forexperienced martial artists and it can take a long time to relax into the position. At first, theemphasis is on correct bodily alignments and softening the body so that it feels as if your bones are‘stacked’ one on top of the other. The muscles slowly ‘melt away’ so that they are no longer beingused to hold your San Ti in place. This allows your root to begin to drop down and sink into the floorwhich is the key to developing the internal power which drives Xingyiquan practitioners forward insmooth, unbroken bursts of speed. For every force there is an equal and opposite force. As your rootdrops down into the floor, a second force can be felt moving up from the ground into your rear leg.Over time this force increases until it feels as if your body is trying to spring forward.

Various parts of the upper body are opened or sunk so that different internal compressions aredeveloped. Your entire torso is turned into a kind of organic spring which is coiled and ready toburst open when required. From the outside, these compressions are virtually undetectable and askilled Xingyi practitioner will look as if they are simply stood naturally.

The elbows are sunk whilst the tendons of the hand are opened and lengthened to ensure that aXingyiquan practitioner can maintain a strong bridge when in contact with an opponent. As a rule, itis far easier to develop a feeling of internal force in Xingyiquan than in Taijiquan although it is a veryYang type of power rather than the Yin internal force which is required for manifesting the variousJins of Taijiquan.

Breathing exercises are then introduced into the standing practice of San Ti. Consistent practicehelps to open up the various energetic pathways of the body and take out any tensions which may bestored within the muscles and tissues. Xingyiquan power is delivered in a wave which is usuallydriven from the rear foot (although not always), up through the spine and out to the hands. If thereis un-necessary tension then this creates a ‘break’ in the chain of power and so the internal force will

be negated.

San Ti standing is a challenging practice which we do not recommend for beginners to the internalarts. Those who engage with it though find it a fascinating practice which quickly enables a personto experience their own internal force.

The Kua (Video)A short lecture video put together from classes at the retreat centre. These classes in 2013 covereduse of the Kua in Nei Gong and the internal martial arts…

The Kua is the area along the inside the groin sometimes known as the inguinal crease. It sits alongthe ‘bikini-line’ area of the inner hips. It is important for any internal arts to be able to workeffectively with this area of the body. In my opinion you can tell many peoples skill level by lookingat how well they use their Kua when they are practicing their forms and partner work.

The Sister ArtsThe three ‘sister’ internal arts styles are generally known as Taijiquan, Xingyiquan and Baguazhang.Sun Lu Tang, a past master, was the first to publicly acknowledge their similarities and from thispoint in time it has become common for practitioners of the Nei Jia to study all three of thesesystems together. I myself practice Yang and Hunyuan Taijiquan, Hebei Xingyiquan and ChengBaguazhang although my studies have also included periods of exploration from within other familylines of these particular styles.

Whilst I do acknowledge the linked nature of the principles within the three sister styles I think it isalso important that we recognize their distinct differences. They are all classed as internal arts andtherefor must follow a certain structural framework when they are being learnt but they alsomaintain their own flavor which can only be experiences by those able to understand and expressthe individual characteristics of each system.

As far as similarities go, we have one key goal in mind when we practice any Nei Jia internal style.We must aim to relax and stretch. Note that one should not happen without the other. I have been toTaijiquan schools where relaxation was favored and stretching was ignored and (rather oddly) manyTaijiquan schools where the postures were open and stretched but devoid of any sort of relaxation

process. Both must occur together in order to build the kind of ‘rubbery’ structure which the Nei Jiaare based upon.

The key way in which we learn to develop this structure is through the standing post exercise ofZhan Zhuang. Here we raise our arms in front of us and enter a form of standing meditation wherewe systematically work through a process of internal work which aims to build a relaxed, rooted andstructurally sound body posture. In many cases students will study standing postures through simplyholding the correct shape but in fact there is a series of stages which must be moved through. Theseare (approximately) listed below:

Postural alignments■

Relaxation of major muscles groups■

Relaxation of deeper, connective tissues■

Re-alignment and micro-adjustments■

Controlled pulsing of tissue segments of the body to drop force down to floor■

Development of root by dropping force down and connecting together structural segments■

Opening of joints to develop spring within tissues■

Alignment and connection of Yin tendon collaterals■

Use of breath and small movements to begin shifting bodily power through structure and down into■

floorReverse process of bringing force back up and through body to arms■

Advanced stages of increasing depth of release through Qi to Shen■

When this has been accomplished you will be left with a powerfully connected inner structure whichis relaxed, connected to the floor and surprisingly ‘springy’. The feeling can be equated to feelingsomewhat ‘bouyant’.

When this structure is pushed upon it will give a little but still have the feeling of power deep withinit. If the breath and shifting of force is adequately controlled by the practitioner it is also possible forthe structure to uproot the force of the person pushing upon you with the result of them beingthrown backwards. This is a phenomena known as Fa Jin which is particularly controversial withinthe Taijiquan world; few can achieve these results and even fewer believe them to be real.

This springy posture becomes the base for all of the internal arts and it is from here that they beginto qualitatively differ. If we actually look at the key positions from each style it is easy to see howthey aim to use the internal energy developed through standing. The key posture used to teach thisinternal skill is the posture shown in the photo to the top left of this page.

Taijiquan

Classical Taijiquan is almost entirely based around the shape shown (Zhan Zhuang). Through smallmovements and changes to the arms and legs this posture deviates out into numerous combativepostures which we shift through in our forms practice and even pushing hands. This means thatthroughout all of our practice, the same buoyant and spring feel should be present.

Taijiquan’s key philosophy is that of Yin and Yang. These two forces either absorb (Yin) or release(Yang) as well as interacting with each other through the internal spiraling force of Taiji which isgenerated by the waist in beginners and the Dan Tien in intermediate practitioners. Advanced

exponents move beyond either of these stages and actually work with the connected Taiji of theenvironment through a skill known as either Dan Yuan or Hun Dun depending upon which style it is.

Taijiquan uses the structure of Zhuan Zhang to absorb an attackers force and drop it through intothe ground. It then aims to release this power which is drawn from the ground through Fa Jin.

Xingyiquan

Xingyiquan takes the Zhan Zhuang posture and changes it so that one side is emphasized overanother. Rather than being equally weighted, the power is distributed through the rear leg andproject primarily out through the leading limbs. In this way the same postural principles are utilisedbut in a more assertive manner. The result is that Xingyiquans absorbing qualities are much lessthan Taijiquan but the projection to be had from the style is great. Whilst Taijiquan relies onreturning an aggressors force in order to issue power Xingyiquan simply uses its own.

Compared to Taijiquan, Xingyiquan is much more Yang and aggressive but still we should rememberthat it is Nei Jia. It should still maintain all of the principles of the internal arts and standing practiceshould be used to build its effectiveness.

Baguazhang

Whilst the Zhan Zhuang posture is relatively easy to see in Taijiquan and a little more tricky inXingyiquan, Baguazhang hides it very well. It is so well hidden in fact that many practitioners arenot even aware that Zhan Zhuang should be within their forms and movements. Baguazhang takesthis posture and shifts it into the upper body and then down through the hip joints as we walk.Through twisting the torso it then redirects the pressure which would usually be droppingdownwards out into the center of the circle which is being walked by the practitioner.

We could say that Taijiquan absorbs forces, Xingyiquan projects forces and Baguazhang redirectsthem into the environment.

The redirection of force means that there never has to be any hesitation in the practitionersmovements as in the case of Taijiquan which needs to adequately root and drop the incoming power.

That being said, Baguazhang without the ability to absorb to some degree the forces coming in willbe weak and unstable. The same forces which are raised and dropped by our breath and muscularconnections in Zhan Zhuang and Taijiquan are actually shifted as we step in the circle walking ofBaguazhang, These pulses of power then drive the various palm changes which we perform in oursequences.

Conclusion

There is only really one major internal structure and that can be explored through the progressivestanding work of Zhan Zhuang. Though each system actually has it’s own variation upon this posturein the form of Taiji standing, Xingyi San Ti and Bagua circle walking it is also useful to study ZhanZhuang as it normally appears within Qi Gong systems. Before we can begin to distinguish the stylesindividual characteristics we must first be able to find their shared truth through attainment of the‘springy’ power of the Nei Jia.

This can only happen, however, if we are studying a system which has not been modernized to anygreat degree. The three sister arts should be based around these structural rules in order to haveany real substance but many modern systems have forgotten this and simply aim to produce‘beautiful’ movements which look good in competitions.