This post is going to start somewhere you don’t expect - over 1,000 years ago in Song Dynasty China during which we find the legendary founder of Xing Yi, Yue Fei, a general in the Song Dynasty army, mulling over the advancing (heavily armoured) Jin cavalry, and wondering how his foot soldiers are going to … Continue reading Possible origins of the Tai Chi Single Whip (Dan Bian) posture name
Xingyiquan / Hsing-I
The whole body is a fist
There is a phrase in Tai Chi that the whole body is a fist. I think it actually comes from Chen style, but applies to all styles of Tai Chi. Now, you can interpret that in different ways, but I think all of them are valid. Let's look at a couple. Photo by NEOSiAM 2024+ … Continue reading The whole body is a fist
Tongue behind the two front teeth
If you've been doing Tai Chi, meditation or yoga for any length of time you'll have heard the old adage to 'put your tongue behind the two front teeth'. The explanation given for this is usually that it "connects the two meridians that go up the back and down the front of the body called … Continue reading Tongue behind the two front teeth
Happy New Year (of the Dragon)
It's 2024, if you've ever commented, read or shared a post of mine, then a big thank you for contributing to the story of The Tai Chi Notebook. I feel privileged that I get such good comments here, and quite often they inspire new blog posts, so we all play a part. Let's see where … Continue reading Happy New Year (of the Dragon)
Making up your own forms – it’s not as easy as you think
I had an interesting comment on my last post that made me think about the whole idea of making up your own forms (or Tao Lu) - in Tai Chi, Xing Yi, or whatever. I've tried to do this over the course of several years and I've come to a few conclusions about it, which … Continue reading Making up your own forms – it’s not as easy as you think
Don’t be that guy – Blind spots, martial arts and cult-like rituals
Photo by Artem Podrez on Pexels.com We often label other martial arts groups as a cult, and laugh at their silly behaviour and rituals, but at the same time we are a bit blind to the cult-like aspects to the things we do, because that’s ‘normal’ to us. I went to a different BJJ school … Continue reading Don’t be that guy – Blind spots, martial arts and cult-like rituals
Heretics episode 100! Xing Yi DOUBLE XL episode
We should stop now and again to look back to see how far we've come. The Heretics podcast has reached episode 100! It's a podcast designed to challenge the way you see the world, hence the name. We cover a lot of religious topics, but also a lot of esoteric topics and martial arts. To … Continue reading Heretics episode 100! Xing Yi DOUBLE XL episode
Mixed Martial Xing Yi Fight Analysis #2: Tom Aspinall vs Sergei Pavlovich
So, in my original post about using the Xing Yi 12 Animals to anaylse the fighting styles of modern MMA athletes (I know, it's a small niche, but hey, I'm the only one in it!) we looked at Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka and I speculated that they were good examples of the Chicken and … Continue reading Mixed Martial Xing Yi Fight Analysis #2: Tom Aspinall vs Sergei Pavlovich
UFC 295 – Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka: Chicken vs Swallow fight analysis
One of the things I like to do when watching UFC fights is to try and analyse what the fighters are doing in terms of Xing Yi's 12 animals. Now, I’ve got at least one friend who hates when I do this because he believes it makes people think that by practicing a few Xing … Continue reading UFC 295 – Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka: Chicken vs Swallow fight analysis
REVIEW: Dragon Body, Tiger Spirit: A translation and explanation of the classic texts of Xingyi Quan, by Byron Jacobs
Xing Yi is one of the oldest Chinese martial arts that is still practised today, and so naturally it has attracted a large variety of writings over the hundreds of years of its existence. These various writings can be found scattered about in different lineages and books, but now Byron Jacobs has collected them together … Continue reading REVIEW: Dragon Body, Tiger Spirit: A translation and explanation of the classic texts of Xingyi Quan, by Byron Jacobs
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