Friends who want to learn martial arts must know about the knowledge and skills of Xingyiquan. Here are the detailed knowledge about Xingyiquan.
- Overview
Xingyiquan is also called “Xinyiquan”, “Xinyi Liuhequan” and “Liuhequan”. There are different opinions about the origin of Xingyiquan. Some people think that this boxing requires “the heart is sincere in the heart and the body is in the outside”, and the appearance and the inner meaning are highly unified, so it is called “Xingyiquan”; secondly, this boxing takes the special features of animals, takes the meaning of pictograms, and takes the method as boxing, so it is called “Xingyiquan”. Its content is based on the five elements boxing and twelve forms boxing, and the pulling method is based on the three body style. According to research, Xingyiquan was formed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. It was first popular in Yongji, Shanxi. The villager Ji Jike (Zi Longfeng) first spread this boxing. Since the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Xingyiquan has been widely circulated in Henan, Shanxi, and Hebei. In the continuous development, different sports styles have gradually formed. Xingyiquan in Shanxi: The basic boxing methods are mainly three-body style, five-element boxing, and twelve-form boxing. In some areas, the three-body style is not used, but the “six-combination style”. “Standing in Dantian”; the twelve-form boxing is ten-form. Single training routines include five-element chain, miscellaneous hammer, etc., as well as sparring and various equipment. The characteristics are compact boxing and exquisite strength. Xingyiquan popular in Henan is mostly called “Xinyiquan”. The boxing methods are based on ten major forms, four fists and eight styles. The pile methods include chicken leg pile and eagle bear pile. Single training routines include dragon and tiger fight, ten-form unity, upper, middle and lower four hands, etc. Its characteristics are brave boxing and vigorous momentum. Xingyiquan in Hebei has been close to Shanxi in recent years due to frequent exchanges. Its characteristics are stretching boxing and steady and solid. Generally speaking, the movement characteristics of Xingyiquan are: simple and concise, clear distinction between movement and stillness, strict movements, smooth coordination of hands and feet, upright body and steady steps, fast and neat, full strength, stable and calm. The boxing proverbs such as “two elbows do not leave the ribs, two hands do not leave the heart”, “rise like a steel file, fall like a hook”, “step like a plow, land like roots”, “three tips reflect each other”, “three joints follow each other” all vividly reflect the technical style characteristics of Xingyiquan.
- Basic techniques of Xingyiquan
(1) The head should be up and the neck should be vertical:
“The head is the whole body “Master of the head”, Xingyiquan requires the head to be kept straight and the neck to be consciously upright. Although the movements are up and down and rotating, the head should always be pushed upward, and it should not be tilted or shaken freely. It must contain a slight upward force in the natural verticality. In addition to the vertical head, the mouth must be closed naturally, the teeth must be clenched, the tip of the tongue must touch the upper palate, the expression must be natural, the mind must be focused, and the eyebrows must not be frowned, eyes must be clenched, and the lower neck must be retracted, and breathing must be done through the nose.
(2) The shoulders must be checked and the elbows must be dropped:
Relaxed shoulders are also called “sinking shoulders” or “hanging shoulders”. Xingyiquan requires attention to the relaxation and sinking of the shoulder joints, the relaxation and drop of the elbow joints, and the slight embrace of the shoulders. The combination of loose shoulders and chest relaxation (holding the chest) can also help the qi sink; make the lower limbs more stable. When punching, the arms should not be fully straightened, and the elbows should be slightly bent and dropped in an arc. Whenever the arms are retracted and released, the elbows should be close to the ribs, so that the strength of the whole body can be concentrated on the upper limbs, and the whole body is complete and unified.
(3) The wrist should collapse, the palm should be supported, and the fist should be tight; in general, the wrist must collapse when striking the palm, the palm should face forward and downward, there should be both forward pushing force and downward pressing force, the five fingers should be slightly separated, the index finger should be raised, and the thumb should be supported outward. The tiger’s mouth should form a semicircle, the palm should be inward, and the various parts of the hand should not be soft and slack. Its punching requires the five fingers to be clenched, the thumb to press on the second phalanx of the index finger and middle finger, the index finger to protrude forward, and the fist should be obliquely shaped like a screw, which is called a “screw fist”. The wrist should be straight and not tilted upward, and the force should be concentrated on the front end of the fist.
(4) The back should be pulled up and the chest should be contained:
The pulled back is also called “tight back” and “round back”, which is composed of two aspects. First, because the head is on top, the neck is upright, and the waist is collapsed, the spine has a feeling of being pulled up and down. Second, with the help of the relaxation of the two shoulders, the shoulders are hugged forward, the chest is inward, and the latissimus dorsi stretches to the left and right as much as possible when the fist and palm are extended forward. In this way, the back muscles maintain a tension up and down, left and right. “Hang Xiong” is also called “Shu Xiong”, which means that the chest is relaxed and reserved. “Hang Xiong” and “Ba Bei” are interrelated. If you can achieve “Ba Bei”, you can also show “Hang Xiong”. When practicing Xingyiquan, “Hang Xiong” and “Ba Bei” are not static. They change with the stretching and contraction of the movements to help the fist.
(5) The waist should be collapsed and the spine should be straight:
All the changes in Xingyiquan’s moves, left turns and right turns, focus on the integrity and coordination of the whole body. Therefore, the waist is required to collapse and play a dominant role during the movement. A collapsed waist is by no means a stiff waist and spine, but a loose and natural elasticity, which becomes the hub of the upper and lower movements. The key to the spine is inseparable from the waist. As long as you pay attention to collapsing the waist and holding the head, you can keep the spine straight. During exercise, as the movement changes, the spine should also be stretched and turned to help the arms, legs, and waist accumulate strength, but it should not be deliberately twisted or swayed.
(6) The buttocks should be retracted and the anus should be lifted:
The buttocks are required to be consciously retracted inward. The so-called “lifting the anus and wrapping the hips” or “lifting the anus inward” all refer to tightening the hips and anus. The method of tightening is to slightly contract the anal sphincter, which restrains the buttocks from protruding, ensures the center of the waist and tailbone, and promotes the chest and back, and the sinking of qi into the dantian. Therefore, the rhyme says: “lift the anus and tighten the buttocks, and the qi will flow through the four ends.”
(7) The hips should be contracted, the knees should be tightened, and the feet should be stable:
The footwork of Xingyiquan is mainly straight forward and backward, and the “three-body style” is its foundation. On this basis, it requires steady, strong, agile and flexible advance and retreat. It emphasizes “the hands should be quick, the feet should be light; the posture should be like a cat; the heart should be upright, the eyes should be sharp, and the hands and feet should be coordinated to win.” Xingyiquan moves quickly and lands steadily, and the hips, knees, and feet are closely coordinated without any slack. In the process of advancing and retreating, the hips are used to drive the knees, and the knees are used to drive the feet. The hips are the root section, the knees are the middle section, and the feet are the tip sections. When still, the hips should be slightly inwards, the knees should be slightly inwards, and the feet should be stable and stepping on the ground. At the same time, the legs should be bent moderately. If they are too straight, they will be stiff, and if they are too bent, they will be weak.
(8) The posture should be correct and the movements should be neat:
Xingyiquan requires that every movement and every posture should be in accordance with the rules. The three joints of the body should be arranged in harmony, and the “three joints and six combinations” should be coordinated. The body should be “straight and comfortable, supporting all sides”, and the tips of the hands, feet, and nose should be “three tips facing each other”. It is important to “the heart and the limbs move when the qi is released”, and the whole movement should be started at the same time. And complete
(9) The advance and retreat should be smooth, and the rise and fall should be balanced.
Xingyiquan requires attention to harmony in the changes of boxing techniques and the advance and retreat. Only when the movement routes, directions, time, angles and positions of various parts of the body are arranged harmoniously during the advance and retreat, will there be no posture errors, stiff movements, tense breathing, unstable postures, etc. Xingyiquan is fast and powerful, with distinct movements and stillness. “When it starts, it is like a collapsing wall, and when it lands, it is like a tree taking root.” Therefore, it attaches great importance to the balance and stability of the rise and fall.
(10) The strength should be full and the breathing should be natural:
Xingyiquan requires tight fists, steady steps, solid feet, swift and full strength. Whenever the lower limbs move forward, the front foot should be close to the ground and try to move forward, while the back foot should push the ground backward with all its strength, so that “the foot should not miss the middle door, and the news depends on the back foot”. The upper limb movements should be balanced and pulled by both hands, and they should echo each other. The two forearms should rotate inward and outward, just like twisting a rope, rising, drilling, falling, twisting, advancing and retreating, and merging into a whole force. In this way, the whole body strength is enriched. Holding the chest, lifting the abdomen, exerting air, and clumsy force are the four most taboo problems in Xingyiquan. It requires a loose chest and a solid abdomen, natural breathing and natural coordination with the movements. Under normal circumstances, always inhale when storing strength and exhale when exerting strength, using qi to help, so that qi and strength are unified.
(11) Momentum should be connected, and inside and outside should be unified:
Momentum should be connected, and each move and posture should be connected with one breath. It is necessary to achieve that the posture is broken but the strength is connected, and the strength changes and the intention is connected. It has both a brisk rhythm and a broken and continuous momentum. The unity of inside and outside is the combination of shoulders and hips, elbows and knees, hands and feet, heart and mind, mind and qi, and qi and strength. “When the heart and qi are released, all limbs move”, “the head leads the body”, “the waist drives the hips, the hips drive the knees, the knees drive the feet, the elbows drive the elbows, the elbows drive the hands, and the hands drive the fingers”, the form and intention, the inside and the outside, the whole body are in harmony. In this way, Xingyiquan can “combine the inside and the outside” and “unify the form and intention”.
- The concept of the inside
The so-called inside is relative to the outside, and it depends on and coexists with the outside. The difference between the inside and the outside is a complex issue for historians. We can neither confuse the two together nor separate them in a one-size-fits-all way. Everything has duality, and always exists with the outside in the inside and the inside in the outside. Therefore, if we want to distinguish between the inside and the outside, we must have a base point, which is the boundary between the inside and the outside. There is no need to discuss this aspect in boxing, so we can only explain the meaning of Xingyiquan for reference.
Xingyiquan, in general, includes five aspects: intention, essence, qi, spirit, and strength. Essence is the camp of the whole body, qi is the basis of life, spirit is the power of appearance, strength is the use of the whole body, and intention is the leader of all aspects. Therefore, in the practice of refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, transforming spirit into emptiness, and launching true strength, the activity of intention is inseparable.
Intention refers to the true intention in the human body; essence refers to the original essence in the human body; qi refers to the original qi in the human body; spirit refers to the original spirit in the human body; strength refers to the true strength in the human body. There are inner intention and outer intention; there are innate essence and acquired essence; there are inner qi and outer qi; there are primordial spirit and mind; there are inner strength and outer force.
Inner is the art of health preservation and the way to keep fit; form is the way of movement and the method of attack and defense. Boxing is the manifestation of the body, art is the wonderful use, the outside is the form, and the inside is the leader. The inner movement is the source of the outer movement, and the outer movement is the embodiment of the inner movement. If there is no inner movement, there will be no outer movement. If the inner intention is not reached, the qi will be difficult to reach; if the qi is not reached, the strength will not be generated. Conversely, if the movement direction of the external body (including size, angle, strength joints, hand shape, step type, hand method, step method, visual direction, body method, etc.) is not correct, the inner intention, inner qi, inner strength, etc. will be suppressed and the development of internal factors will be affected. Therefore, in order to correctly express and develop the inner of Yiquan, it is necessary to seek the inner while taking into account the outer, which is the true face of Xingyiquan.