Training in xingyi consists of a series of standing meditations (called
“standing stake”), stretching and conditioning exercises sometimes called
qigong (chi kung), a series of forms, and one- and two-man drills. The
Shanxi, Hebei, and Yiquan systems share the five basic fists (beng quan
[crushing fist], pi[chopping], pao[pounding], zuan[drilling], and heng
[crossing]), which are named for the elements of Daoist cosmology: wood,
metal, fire, water, and earth.
There are also twelve animals upon which forms are based in these
styles: dragon, tiger, bear, eagle, horse, ostrich, alligator, hawk, chicken,
sparrow, snake, and monkey. Because the names represent Chinese charac-
ters, the names of some of the animals may change between styles and even
from teacher to teacher. For example, alligator may be called snapping tur-
tle or water dragon, and ostrich may be called tai bird, crane, or phoenix.
Some styles combine the bear and eagle into one bear-eagle form. In gen-
eral, the Shanxi styles have the most complicated animal sets and the most
weapon forms, while the Yiquan styles are the simplest. Henan style, which
has been practiced extensively among Chinese Moslems, is the simplest, in
that it does not use the five elemental fists and its animal forms are based
on only ten animals. The animal forms are also very short, consisting of
one or two moves each.
Weapons used in xingyi include the spear (often considered the arche-
typal xingyi weapon), the staff, the double-edged sword, the cutlass or
Xingyiquan (Hsing I Ch’uan) 777A student practices xingyiquan at the Shen Wu Academy of Martial Arts in Garden Grove, California. (Courtesy of
Tim Cartmell)