Xingyi Quan - book roundup
I have been reading up on Xingyi recently and buying all the books I can find. Not practising it enough of course and desperate to get some more ‘facetime’ on the Five Element Fists with my teachers. We have a linking set which I am making progress on, but still want to go back to drilling the basics.
Reminder from Wikipedia…
Xingyiquan, or Xingy, is a style of internal Chinese martial arts.
The word translates approximately to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". It is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements and explosive power that's most often applied from a short range.
A practitioner of xingyi uses coordinated movements to generate bursts of power intended to overwhelm the opponent, simultaneously attacking and defending. Methods vary from school to school, but always include bare-handed fighting training (mostly in single movements/combinations and sometimes in forms) and the training of weapons usage with similar or identical body mechanics to that used for bare-handed intense fighting. The most basic notions of movement and body mechanics in the art were heavily influenced by the practice of staves and spears.
My first post on Xing Yi here.
The books are useful, but no substitute for in-person teaching from an experienced practitioner. I already see differences in style to what we are taught in our Wutan school compared to, from example, Xing Yi from Hebei.
I am likely to return to this article to update it as the content starts to make sense - that might take some time!
The Xingyi Boxing Manual
ABOUT THE XINGYI BOXING MANUAL, REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION
Famed for promoting health and longevity, as well as for its effectiveness as a fighting art, Xingyi is practiced by enthusiasts in China and in the West. Designed as a primer or introductory reader and filled with photos, illustrations, and descriptive text, this authentic manual introduces the Five Elements of Xingyi—Splitting Fist, Drilling Fist, Smashing Fist, Pounding Fist, and Crossing Fist—outlining the basic theory and history of the art. Coming directly from an eighth-generation practitioner of a famous lineage, The Xingyi Boxing Manualis a distillation of the knowledge and experience of many of the major figures in the history of Xingyi boxing. Translator John Groschwitz includes previously unavailable materials from the complete original book making this revised and expanded edition an essential guide for today’s practitioner of this traditional martial art.
The following is about the translator, John Groschwitz…
John Groschwitz is a California-based martial artist, and Instructor within the North American Tang Shou Tao Association. He has trained with many well-known teachers of Chinese internal martial arts in the U.S. and Mainland China, and is a direct student of Vince Black, Liu Shuhang, Li Runxi, Liu Wanfu, and Wong Jackman. He currently teaches Cheng-School Gao-Style Bagua, Shen Long Xingyi, Kajukenbo, Northern Shaolin, Lanshou Quan, and Water Boxing. John has studied Chinese language and literature for three decades and has worked as a translator, interpreter, and lecturer. He graduated with a B.A. in Chinese from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Stanford University. Most recently he translated the Cheng School Gao Style Baguazhang Manual.
From Byron Jacob’s The Drunken Boxing Podcast #048.
The Xingyi Yuan of the Chinese Army
Huang Bo Nien’s Xingyi Fist and Weapon Instruction. Dennis Rovere, with Trasnslation by Chow Hon Huen, 2008. Blue Snake Books.
From the publisher…
Huang Bo Nien’s Xingyi Fist and Weapon Instruction was the first manual to systematically adapt a traditional Chinese martial art for modern military training. When it was first published in Chinese in 1928, it was heralded as an exciting new approach to martial arts; today, it remains an important work for close combat enthusiasts, traditional martial artists, and Chinese and military historians alike.
While organized as a means of progressive training—from empty-hand fighting to combat with weapons—no actual applications are given in Huang’s original manual. Building upon a new translation of Huang’s text, The Xingyi Quan of the Chinese Army also expands and illustrates his instructions with xingyi training drills and combat applications taught to select units of the Chinese army prior to and during World War II. These applications are not speculative reconstructions, but are based on actual training methodology from the Central Military Academy at Nanjing, taught to the author by Colonel Chang Xiang Wu. Also included are theory sections and background material from the Chinese army training for empty-hand and two-handed saber—material never before published in any book on xingyi.
Dragon Body, Tiger Spirit
A translation and Explanation of the Classic Texts of Xingi Chuan. Byron Jacobs, Mushin Martial Culture, 2022
From the author…
Dragon Body, Tiger Spirit encapsulates a careful presentation, translation and extensive commentary of the classical texts of Xingyi Quan. These texts aimed to document and preserve the principles and techniques at the very heart of this traditional Chinese martial art. Dragon Body, Tiger Spirit is an invaluable resource for martial arts practitioners looking to gain insight into the essence of authentic, traditional Xingyi Quan as codified and handed down from one generation to the next by previous masters of the art.
Cover picture: Sun Lutang, respected Xing Yi practitioner and founder of Sun style Tai Chi Yuan
