Xingyiquan (Chinese: 形意拳; pinyin: Xíngyì Quán; Wade-Giles: Hsing²-i⁴ Ch'üan²; literally "Form and Thought Boxing") is a northern Chinese martial art tradition attributed to the legendary Chinese General Yue Fei around 1100. Note: Over the centuries, many different variations of the art have evolved, so significant portions of the following article may not apply to every extant style of Xingyiquan. Pinyin (拼音, pÄ«nyÄ«n) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Standard Mandarin. ... Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on Mandarin. ... Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... Statue of Yue Fei, from the Yue Fei Mausoleum in Hangzhou. ... For alternate uses, see Number 1100. ...

Xingyiquan (or Xingyi) claims to specialize in deceptively soft, linear, low attacks and quick yet solid footwork appropriate for the battlefield and the military. Although considered by some to be the most simple and linear of the Chinese soft styles (the other styles being Baguazhang and Taijiquan), Xingyiquan is also known as a subtle and sophisticated art form. Its power generation derives directly from the well-known spiraling and circling characteristics of the internal Chinese martial arts. The spiraling and circling movements only appear to be linear in Xingyiquan's "long arm" approach. Nei chia (Chinese: 內家; pinyin: ; literally internal school) denotes the soft style group of Chinese martial arts, in distinction to the wai chia (Chinese: 外家; pinyin: ; literally external school) or hard style group, which is associated especially with Shaolin Quan (Shaolin Chüan) and its many derivatives. ... Bagua zhang (八卦掌 in pinyin: bā guà zhǎng) (Pa Kua Chang, Bagua Quan, Pa kua chüan, Bagua, Pakua, Pakua boxing) is one of the three major internal Chinese martial arts, the other two of which are Xingyiquan (形意拳) and Taijiquan (太極拳). ... Tai Chi Chuan or Taijiquan (from Chinese 太极拳 Tàijíquán, literally supreme ultimate fist), commonly known as Tai Chi or Taiji, is a nei chia (internal) Chinese martial art which is known for the claims of health and longevity benefits made by its practitioners and in some recent... Chinese martial arts, often abbreviated as CMA, refers to the enormous variety of martial art styles native to China. ...

It is rare to find a school which specializes in Xingyi since many teachers will have also studied Taijiquan and offer instruction in both - the relative popularity of Taijiquan in the west causing more emphasis to be placed on it than on Xingyiquan.

Weapons

Traditionally, Xingyiquan is an armed art. Students would initially be taught technique using a spear, and as time went on progress eventually through shorter weapons to bare handed technique. One of Xingyiquan's training features is the direct relationship between the movements of the armed techniques and the same movements unarmed. The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ...

Some common weapons:

• Spear
• Straight sword
• Saber
• Large Saber (used by infantry against mounted opponents)
• Long Staff
• Short Staff (at maximum length you could hold between the palms of your hands at each end - techniques with this weapon may have been used with a spear that had been broken)
• Needles (much like a double ended rondel gripped in the centre - on the battlefield this would mostly have been used like its western equivalent to finish a fallen opponent through weak points in the armour)
• Fuyueh (halberds of various types)

Hunting spear and knife, from Mesa Verde National Park. ... Jian (劍 Pinyin jiàn, Wade-Giles chien4, Cantonese gim, Korean geom, Japanese ken) is a double-edged straight sword used during the last 2,500 years in China. ... Chinese Saber Dao 刀 (Py dāo, Wade-Giles tao1) is a category of single-edge Chinese swords primarily used for slashing and chopping (sabers), often called broadswords in English because some varieties have wide blades. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Gun (棍 pinyin gùn) refers to a long Chinese staff weapon Categories: Weapon stubs | Weapons of China ... A rondel (pronounced [rQnd=l] or [rQndEl] in SAMPA) or roundel was a type of stiff-bladed dagger in Europe in the late Middle Ages (from the 14th century onwards), used by a variety of people from merchants to knights. ... Swedish halberds from 16th century A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. ...

Animals

Xingyiquan is based upon ten distinct animal characters (or xing), these are present in all of the regional and family styles, these are intended to emulate the techniques and tactics of the animal - not necessarily directly imitating the movement as some other arts do.

The ten common animals:

• Bear (Xiong 熊)
• Eagle (Ying 鹰) - in Hsing I, the "Bear and Eagle combine", and there exists a bird called the "Bear Eagle" which is considered by some to cover both of the Hsing I characters.
• Snake (She 蛇) - includes both constrictor and viper.
• Tiger (Hu 虎)
• Dragon (Long 龍) - this is the only "mythical" animal taught.
• Chicken (Ji 鷄)
• Horse (Ma 馬)
• Swallow (Yan 燕)
• Goshawk (Yao 鷂) - this is sometimes translated as sparrowhawk (though the more common character for the sparrowhawk used to be Chan, which has fallen from use over the years)*
• Monkey (Hou 猿)

• There are at least two different kinds of birds in China that can be translated as "Goshawk" - one is, in Western terms, a sparrowhawk, the other is the same species called Goshawk found in the West.

Other animals that may be present in a particular lineage: For other meanings, see Bear (disambiguation). ... Eagle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Binomial name Spizaetus nipalensis (Hodgson, 1836) The Mountain Hawk Eagle (Spizaetus nipalensis) is a bird of prey. ... Superfamilies and Families Henophidia Aniliidae Anomochilidae Boidae Bolyeriidae Cylindrophiidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Tropidophiidae Uropeltidae Xenopeltidae Typhlopoidea Anomalepididae Leptotyphlopidae Typhlopidae Xenophidia Acrochordidae Atractaspididae Colubridae Elapidae Hydrophiidae Viperidae Snakes are cold blooded legless reptiles closely related to lizards, which share the order Squamata. ... Tigers (Panthera tigris) are mammals of the Felidae family and one of four big cats in the Panthera genus. ... Chinese dragon, colour engraving on wood, Japanese Chinese school, 19th Century A dragon is a mythological creature, typically depicted as a large and powerful serpent or other reptile, with magical or spiritual qualities. ... Binomial name Gallus gallus (Linnaeus, 1758) This article is concerned with chicken as a domesticated fowl; for other uses of the term see chicken (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The Horse (Equus caballus) is a sizeable ungulate mammal, one of the seven modern species of the genus Equus. ... Genera Many, see text. ... Binomial name Accipiter gentilis (Linnaeus, 1758) The Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis; from OE. góshafuc goose-hawk) is a medium large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers. ... Cynomolgus Monkey at Batu Caves, Malaysia Monkeys, Mori Sosen (1749-1821) A monkey is any member of two of the three groupings of simian primates. ...

• Crane
• Crocodile (Tuo 鼍) - this is a slight mistranslation since the animal it is meant to represent is the Yangze river alligator.
• Tai (Tai) - this is a flycatcher native to Asia. Sometimes this is translated as Ostrich, Dove, Hawk or even Phoenix.
• Tai - a kind of fish.
• Turtle (Gui 亀) - sometimes this is the same animal as Tuo, sometimes a separate animal.
• Wildcat (Mao)

Genera Grus Anthropoides Balearica Bugeranus Cranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds of the order Gruiformes, and family Gruidae. ... The Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinesis) is a small relative of the well-known American Alligator. ... Binomial name Terpsiphone paradisi Linnaeus, 1758 The Asian Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi), also known as the Common Paradise Flycatcher, is a medium-sized passerine bird. ... Families See text Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudinata, most of whose body is shielded by a special bony shell developed from their ribs. ... Binomial name Felis silvestris Schreber, 1775 The Wild Cat (Felis silvestris) is a small predator native to Europe, the western part of Asia, and Africa. ...

Elements

Many styles of Xingyiquan include a simpler (than the animals) set of five techniques, these are called the Five Elements and have translated names based on Taoist cosmology. Though the names do not translate to the cosmological terms. In the lineages that include these five elements, they are taught before beginning the animals; this eases the learning process considerably. Not all Xingyi schools study the five elements, while most study between eight and twelve animals. In traditional Chinese philosophy, natural phenomena can be classified into the Five Elements (Chinese: 五行; pinyin: ): wood, fire, earth, metal, and water (木, 火, 土, 金, 水; mù, huǒ, tǔ, jīn, shǔi). ... For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ... Cosmology, from the Greek: κοσμολογία (cosmologia, κόσμος (cosmos) world + λογια (logia) discourse) is the study of the universe in its totality and by extension mans place in it. ...

Xingyiquan uses five distinct elements or forms as metaphors assigned to represent the details of different combative methods. Usually called, "the five fists" within the context of Xingyiquan, these Five Elements or Five Phases (五行 Wǔ Xíng or Wu Xing) are based on Taoist cosmology, and practitioners of the art are taught that reactions to attacks and counter attacks should be conditioned by which of the elements an attack is considered to be coming from. As combatants or "elements" interact their conflict is said come to an end result predictable by wu xing theory. Proponents also say that in Xingyiquan there are at least three outcomes in a combat situation; the constructive, the neutral, and the destructive. Xingyiquan students train to react to and execute specific techniques in such a way that a desirable cycle will form based on the constructive, neutral and destructive interactions of wu xing theory. Where to aim, where to hit and with what technique - and how those motions should also work defensively - is determined by what point of which cycle they see themselves in. In traditional Chinese philosophy, natural phenomena can be classified into the Five Elements (Chinese: 五行; pinyin: ): wood, fire, earth, metal, and water (木, 火, 土, 金, æ°´; mù, huÇ’, tÇ”, jÄ«n, shÇ”i). ... For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ... Cosmology, from the Greek: κοσμολογία (cosmologia, κόσμος (cosmos) world + λογια (logia) discourse) is the study of the universe in its totality and by extension mans place in it. ...

The Xingyiquan five elements:

• Pi (劈) - Metal. (lit. splitting, like an axe chopping)
• Pao (炮) - Fire. (lit. cannon, exploding outward)
• Tsuan (鑽) - Water. (lit. drilling, like a wave, or a geyser)
• Heng (横) - Earth. (lit. crossing, across the line of attack)
• Beng (弸) - Wood. (lit. holding a bow at full draw)

Styles

Style is a matter of opinion and translation of terms and focus of training will differ depending on an individual students lineage rather than a specific style. Styles can be useful in describing some common elements.

Some of the well known styles of Xingyiquan:

• Henan
• Hebei
• Shanxi
• Dai Family
• Che Family

The first three of these relate only to the provinces in which Xingyiquan is common, and contain a great many often dissimilar sub-styles.

Other forms

The advanced training forms vary depending on the lineage, some of these advanced forms includes linking forms, the "eight hands", the "eight tigers", and ten or more animal forms (typically twelve).

Most practitioners of Taijiquan, Baguazhang and Xingyiquan consider Xingyiquan to be an internal style, with an emphasis on qi development and coordination in their training. Traditional Chinese weapon training is another feature of Xingyiquan as a martial art. Tai Chi Chuan or Taijiquan (from Chinese 太极拳 Tàijíquán, literally supreme ultimate fist), commonly known as Tai Chi or Taiji, is a nei chia (internal) Chinese martial art which is known for the claims of health and longevity benefits made by its practitioners and in some recent... Bagua zhang (八卦掌 in pinyin: bā guà zhǎng) (Pa Kua Chang, Bagua Quan, Pa kua chüan, Bagua, Pakua, Pakua boxing) is one of the three major internal Chinese martial arts, the other two of which are Xingyiquan (形意拳) and Taijiquan (太極拳). ... QI, standing for Quite Interesting, is a comedy panel game shown on BBC Two and BBC Four and hosted by Stephen Fry. ... The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ...

In fiction

The fictional Tekken characters Julia Chang, Michelle Chang, and Wang Jinrei were written as Xingyiquan fighters. Screenshot of Tekken Tekken (鉄拳, iron fist) is a series of fighting games developed and produced by Namco. ... Julia Chang Julia Chang is a character in the fighting game series Tekken. ... Michelle Chang is a character in the fighting game series Tekken. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

The comic book Shaolin Cowboy, includes a character called "King Crab" who uses Hsing I terms for a number of techniques - though those terms are applied wrongly, and could be seen as a satirical view of the state of kung fu. Shaolin Cowboy (published 2004 to present) is a comic book created and drawn by artist Geof Darrow. ...

Famous Figures

Lineage is sometimes a matter of controversy, no attempt to arrange these figures in order of lineage has been attempted. Romanization of the names may also be a point of contention, such things often are passed in oral tradition.

• Ji Long Feng (aka Ji Jike)
• Sun Lu Tang
• Gou Yun Shen
• Dai Long Bang
• Li Neng Ran
• Che Ti Zhai
• Li Cun Yi
• Cao Ji Wu
• Ma Hsueh Li

Important Texts

A variety of texts have survived throughout the years, often called "Classics", "Songs" or "Theories".

• Classic of Unification
• Classic of Fighting
• Classic of Stepping
• Classic of Six Harmonies

Controversy

The difficulty of translating very old Chinese texts in which characters appear that have not been in use for many years (and may not appear even in very old dictionaries) has resulted in disagreements between terms, particularly in the older texts. This is not aided by the common practice amoungst translators to use the "closest" character in appearance when an unfamiliar character appears, which may differ significantly in meaning.

Cross-training of students in other arts has also caused the propogation of some of the terms from those other arts. For instance, some schools refer to a training method of "Xingyi Push Hands" - a term more commonly in use in training Taijiquan - which may be called by other schools "Five Elements Fighting"

The recognized founder of Baguazhang, Dong Hai Chuan, was reputed to have fought Guo Yun Shen with neither able to defeat the other - though it is possible that they were training together. It would have been contraversial at the time for Dong Hai Chuan to have studied under Guo Yun Shen, since Dong Hai Chuan was the older of the two. The most neutral viewpoint would be to say that they trained together, and that there may be some similarities in technique between Baguazhang and the Xingyiquan Monkey. Bagua zhang (八卦掌 in pinyin: bā guà zhǎng) (Pa Kua Chang, Bagua Quan, Pa kua chüan, Bagua, Pakua, Pakua boxing) is one of the three major internal Chinese martial arts, the other two of which are Xingyiquan (形意拳) and Taijiquan (太極拳). ...

The founder of Yiquan, Wang Xiangzhai studied under Guo Yun Shen, and similarities in techniques between these arts can also be seen. Yiquan (Chinese:意拳; pinyin: Yìquán; Wade-Giles: I4 Chüan2; lit. ... Wang Xiangzhai (Chinese:王薌齋; Wade-Giles: Wang Hsiang-chai, 1885-1963), also known as Nibao, Zhenghe or Yuseng, was a Chinese xingyiquan master, responsible for founding the martial art of yiquan. ...

See also

• ching
• kung fu
• nei chin
• Sun style T'ai Chi Ch'uan
• Wushu

ç²¾ JÄ«ng (pinyin) or ching1 (Wade-Giles) is the Chinese word for essence, more specifically kidney essence, or semen. ... Alternative meaning: Kung Fu (TV series) Kung fu or gongfu (功夫, Pinyin: gōngfu) is a well-known Chinese term used in the West to designate Chinese martial arts. ... Nei jin, Wade-Giles: nei chin or Pinyin: nèi jìn, 內勁, is an internal power or coordination said to be acquired through the practise of Chinese martial arts. ... Sun style (孫氏) Tai Chi Chüan was developed by Sun Lu-tang (孫祿堂, 1861-1932), who was considered expert in two other internal martial arts styles: Hsing-i Chuan (Xingyiquan) and Pa Kua Chang (Baguazhang) before he came to study Tai Chi. ... WÇ”shù Wushu (Simplified Chinese: 武术; Traditional Chinese: 武術; pinyin: (  listen)) literally means martial art. It is the correct term for the more commonly known but misused term kung fu, which roughly translates to skill and refers specifically to the energy, feeling and effort expended in doing or making something. ...

External links

• Emptyflower Xingyiquan
• Mike Patterson's school of Xingyiquan
• The Beijing Milun School