Xingyiquan
形意拳An internal Chinese art of direct, explosive movement built on the five elements. Tradition traces it to Yue Fei; the documented lineage begins only in the seventeenth century.
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About Xingyiquan
Xingyiquan is counted, with taiji and bagua, among the so-called internal Chinese arts. Tradition traces it to the 12th-century general Yue Fei, but the documented lineage begins only in the 17th century with Ji Jike in Shanxi province. Compared with the other internal styles it is strikingly direct. It works with neither circles nor lateral evasion; attack and defence happen in one movement forward. The whole body enters the technique at once, hand and foot landing in the same instant and the step carrying the weight — hence its reputation as an art that is learned quickly and hurts. Its skeleton is the five elements. Pi splits from above, zuan drills upward, beng crushes forward, pao explodes like a cannon and heng crosses laterally. Twelve animals build on them, each with its own way of moving. The foundation of training is santi shi, the three-point stance, held for long minutes at a time. Three main branches are distinguished: the Shanxi line, the Hebei line of Li Luoneng, and the Henan line, which keeps the older name xinyiliuhequan. Legendary is Guo Yunshen and his half-step beng quan — reputedly the single technique with which he won everything.
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