Good news! The Tai Chi Notebook has been picked as one of the top 30 martial arts blogs by bookmartialarts.com
It’s worth a look at the full listing because it has links to the other 29 martial arts blogs, which you might want to check out. I certainly discovered some great new ones there, along with some old favourites.
Thank you BookMartialArts, I’m honoured to be included amongst such great talent. I guess I better up my game now!
Image source: The History channel show Vikings
XingYi Quan is considered to be one of the big three ‘internal’ Chinese martial arts, alongside Tai Chi Chuan and Bagua, but isn’t as widely practiced as the other two, possibly because it’s less aesthetically pleasing and less health-orientated. It is more directly martial. It’s known for 5 different punches, which map on to the 5 elements of classical Chinese thought, the most famous of which is Beng Quan, or “crushing fist”, which represents the Earth element. In application, XingYi is quick, sudden and effective, because its origins lie in weapons usage, and it still carries that sense even when used without weapons.
Of course, in modern times the stories of famous XingYi practitioners like Guo Yun Shen killing a man with a single Crushing Fist (he was a real historical person, and he really did this in a challenge match and was sent to prison for it) have given more weight to the popular narrative amongst martial artists that empty hand usage was always taught first, and weapons were merely an outgrowth of barehand material. That is to say, ‘the sword becomes an extension of the arm’. While that may be true for many martial arts, I find no basis for this view in XingYi’s history. If anything, it’s the other way around.
The characteristic XingYi hand shapes, footwork, striking angles, the back-weighted stance, are all unusual in comparison to other martial arts styles. This is because XingYi is a weapons art first and foremost that has evolved, over time, to the point where it is now done almost exclusively barehand. But you only have to scratch the surface of XingYi a little bit and its weapons-based roots become glaringly obvious.
To me this sets XingYi appart from something like Tae Kwan Do or Western boxing. Those arts were developed with barehand striking (or kicking) in mind. XingYi however, under its older name of XinYi, was originally developed for stabbing people with pointy things, and as the pointy things fell out of favour, or were banned from every day civilian use, the techniques were adapted to barehand strikes.
In the 1600s in China it made little sense to learn barehand martial arts as a distinct entity if you were going to be a soldier, caravan escort or security guard, since people carried weapons for self defence and (despite what the movies say) you can’t effectively fight somebody with a weapon if you don’t have one yourself. And more to the point, why would you want to? Similarly, a soldier fighting in the English Civil War (1642–1651) would find limited application for old English wrestling or boxing on the battlefield. You’d grab a weapon and lean how to use it, fast.
Recently I had the good fortune to watch a video by a YouTuber called Dimicator (Roland Warzecha), who has done a lot of great work recreating European sword and shield martial arts using original source material. (You can support his work by becoming a Patreon). In this particular video he was using a reconstructed Viking shield, and showing the two thrusting actions that he uses with it, a spiralling upper thrust and a spiralling lower thrust. Anybody with a passing knowledge of XingYi will immediately recognise his upward thrust as being virtually identical to XingYi’s Zuan Chuan, or ‘drilling fist’, which is associated with the element of water.
Have a look. He talks about constructing the shield first, then at about 2.47 he goes on to explain how to do a workout with it.
If you took a freeze frame of the end of a XingYi’s Zuan Quan and the end of the lower shield thrust they look very similar:
XingYi Drilling fist (Zuan Quan), shown without weapon.
Viking Shield thrust, shown with a shield.
Viking Shield thrust, shown without a shield.
In the video, Roland makes a point about the necessity for keeping the elbow pointing downwards (like it does in XingYi), since it causes the Latissimus Dorsi muscle to contract, which gives you the support necessary to hold a heavy shield with an outstretched arm.
Medieval weapons were heavy. We know this. It’s only in modern times that weapons became lightweight, as their usage moved from being primarily military to more civilian in nature, in a duelling or sportive capacity – the fencing foil is a perfect example of this. If you are going to strike somebody with a heavy weapon, like a Viking shield, for instance, in a way that would make sense combatively then there are only so many ways the human body can effectively do that, so it would make sense that XingYi would have a lot of similarities with viking shield use. And it does!
I should point out here that while the usage between the two arts is very similar, it is not identical. In the video Dimicator advocates getting power from the hips by turning them as a unit, with the waist, away from the shield arm, so that he is turning ‘side on’. In the XingYi that I was taught (note: there are a lot of conflicting ideas about the ‘correct’ way in XingYi) you isolate the hips movement from the waist movement, and turn them in opposite directions, creating a twist in the torso called the ‘Dragon Body’ (so the waist would turn away from the outstretched arm, but the hips would turn in towards it), meaning you don’t turn so ‘side on’, and can remain facing more forward. This is clearly a difference in application between what is presented in the video and the XingYi method, but not a crucial one.
It’s important to talk about the hand position that Roland is showing in the video – he talks about it at 4.30 – he makes the point that you don’t want to “fist grip” the shield and smash it into your opponent, because, as a repeated action, that will shock your wrist joint too much and lead to longterm damage. Instead, he advocates “extending the hand” into the natural position the human hand conforms to whenever you are using a tool. It also gives you more distance on your strike.
Roland showing how to “extend the hand” with a natural tool-using grip. It’s the kind of grip you naturally take on everything from a screwdriver to a sword handle. In sword circles, this is known as the ‘handshake grip’, and is often contrasted to the ‘hammer grip’.
Interestingly, this ‘handshake grip’ was the exact hand position that I was shown to use in XingYi to punch barehand. We were taught to punch using this fist formation, and despite what you might think, it actually works really well. There is no risk of damage to the fingers, and the strike is powerful. In fact, it limits the risk of damage as the fingers act as shock absorbers. There’s a video by Paul Andrews of XingYi Academy (you can become a Patreon of XingYi Academy to support its work) that explains the XingYi hand position in detail here:
I’m aware that punching like this is something of a heresy in modern martial arts.
Due to the popularity of boxing and MMA, the basic assumption today is that we should all be punching with a boxer’s fist, or we’re doing it wrong – “let the punch bag tell you what fist shape is correct”, goes the accepted wisdom. I remember when my XingYi teacher first taught me to use the alternative XingYi tool-using/conch shell/handshake fist he simply punched me with it in the stomach – my legs gave way and he floored me, so I didn’t need to question whether lining the bones up in this unconventional way was effective. Like a sudden Satori, there was no need to debate or question – it so obviously worked that I just knew.
This traditional XingYi fist feels different to being punched with a flat-knuckle fist – it seems to penetrate deeper, and hurt in a different way. It’s like being stabbed rather than punched. You might be wondering if it only works on softer surfaces. Indeed, my teacher’s favourite target was the soft spot on your stomach, just below the solar plexus, but he had no qualms about using it against harder targets like your skull with free abandon when demonstrating technique. You just tended to prefer him to strike to your body though, because getting it in the face was even worse and left more obvious bruises!
I’m wary of confirmation bias that is inherent to all human beings – we see what we want to see – but to me it’s clear that XingYi’s fist shape is a hang over from its primary function of tool/weapons usage. It’s the way you hold a sword, a spear, or a bread knife when cutting, or a viking shield, as can be seen in the Dimicator video.
While I was taught it this way, it should be noted that a lot of XingYi lineages simply don’t use this fist anymore for Zuan Chuan. They prefer the flat-knuckled boxer’s fist. However, it should be noted that the big proponents of this sort of fist find their lineages trace back to famous masters like Sun Lu Tang who were involved in the 1920’s Koushou movement whose aim was to simplify martial arts and make them more appealing to the public to promote a strong sense of national pride.
At this point in history it’s impossible to know which was the original fist used in XingYi, but I think on balance, I would go with the theory that tool using fist was the original. This ‘XingYi fist’ is odd and counter-intuitive at first and I can see it being dropped in favour of an easier fist shape to make the martial art more appealing. But I think, personally, that it’s the original fist.
N.B. It should be added that even within lineages that use this fist in their Zuan Chuan, in their XingYi animals there are still a huge variety of different fist shapes used, some of which are flat-knuckled, others are palm strikes, etc. For example, Horse Xing, in particular, uses a flat knuckle fist.
Am I suggesting that the Vikings practiced XingYi, or that Chinese soldiers had Viking shields? No, of course I’m not. Instead, I’m suggesting that perhaps the action of Zuan Quan is so suited to weapons use that it has arisen independently in two distinct time periods and cultures. So many little details are the same – the elbow drop, the spiralling extension and the hand position because it is the optimum way of performing this action.
I’d also like to add something of a disclaimer in that there is often hot debate amongst XingYi practitioners on the correct way to practice the art, so the views presented here are only the way I was taught – other people do XingYi differently, and I don’t speak for them.
Also I’m in no way an expert in Medieval European weapons arts, and apologise for any mistakes I’ve made in their presentation here. That is purely down to my own ignorance. I’m not going to correct the article along the lines of comments like “my master in China says…”, but if I’ve got anything wrong then please let me know.
It’s pretty well established now that you need to ‘move from the centre’ in Tai Chi – (or ‘center’ if you’re American). But what is the centre?
In the ‘internal’ model of moving the body in Chinese martial arts, the centre is expressed as the ‘Dan Tien’, the point roughly an inch below the navel and 2 inches in from the surface. This is where you put your mental focus to move your body from. So, rather than the arm movements coming from the shoulders they come from the torso, which is turned by moving the waist, which is, in turn, powered by moving the dantien. So it all works together, but with the movement coming from the dantien.
The problem with moving from the centre like this is that you can do it roughly correctly and your movements will still be flat (for want of a better word) and lacking power. Sadly, most of the Tai Chi you see demonstrated is like this. I could post a video, but it would seem like picking on somebody, so I won’t – but just search YouTube for Tai Chi videos and ask yourself if they look powerful or not. It’s far too easy to have the dantien ‘floating’ on top of the hips, so that the legs are just propping it up, rather than being involved. To make the movements truly powerful you need to get the legs involved.
As it says in the classics, the jin (power) should be…
“rooted in the feet,
generated from the legs,
controlled by the waist, and
manifested through the fingers.”
If you imagine a triangle drawn from the two feet up to the dantien, that’s the power source of Tai Chi. So, as the dantien turns, so the legs need to spiral in and out to help support the movement and transfer this spiral force to the rest of the body.
Chen Xiao Wang explains it very well in this video. After talking about the legs and rotating dantien he goes on to talk a lot about Qi and Yin and Yang, which can be confusing, but just concentrate on what he says at the start for now about the legs working with the dantien to power the arms.
Of course, there’s more to it, which he goes on to discuss, but that’s for another time.
According to Seneca, “He who studies with a philosopher should take away with him one good thing every day: he should daily return home a sounder man, or on the way to become sounder.”
I feel the same way about students of Tai Chi teachers. I feel like if I don’t impart that one vital thing each lesson then it’s not been a good day.
If you’re looking for some new warm ups to practice before Tai Chi then here Chen Zhenglei demonstrates some really nice ones. Notice that he’s using his whole body, including the dantien and legs to do each one, even the first one which looks like it’s only about the wrists. So, as well as being a good warm up for the joints, which must be free of tension, they’re also a good way to practice whole body movement.
I just saw another one of those ‘secret to internal power’-type videos online. In fact, I tell I lie. I didn’t actually watch it. You see, I just couldn’t bring myself to click play because the video thumbnail was a guy being uprooted while holding the wrist of another guy who was looking all ‘effortless’. That was enough to put me off.
The formulae for effortless power is actually very easy, I joked to myself, it’s three words “grab my wrist”. That’s it! To be honest, it’s pretty darn easy to manipulate anybody who does you the favour of grabbing your wrist and isn’t being too resistive. Of course, what doesn’t work is when they go all limp. To prove your incredible internal power you need to move people around, so a bit of resistance (but not too much: “hey, just relax!”) is required and then all you have to do is just punt them in the general direction you want to go – up, down, forward or backward – any hey presto they follow.
I’m not saying there’s no value in doing things from a wrist grab – it provides a low level of resistance to work with, sure. But I’m tired of seeing people use it as demonstration of anything ‘good’. If you want to show me your incredible internal power in use then do it against somebody throwing some genuine shots at your head or body. It would also be nice if, as a martial arts teacher, you didn’t look severely overweight. But hey, I know you can’t have everything.
I’ll leave you with this little gem from Napolean Dynamite. Rex Kwan Do. “Grab my arm. NO! MY other arm.”. Ah, we’ve all been there. 🙂
Harmonious movement.
This Alexander Technique article on staying upright brought back some thoughts I have on Tai Chi, and being upright, that I thought I’d share.
Being balanced is a big deal in Tai Chi. I mean, if you’re going to move that slowly through a set of movements, you might as well make sure you are on balance while you do it, right? But what exactly is ‘balanced’ in a Tai Chi sense? The Tai Chi classics famously advise: “Stand like a perfectly balanced scale and move like a turning wheel” whilst also “Don’t lean in any direction; suddenly appear, suddenly disappear.” Of course, what is meant by those words is open to interpretation.
Being ‘upright’ is a bit of a contentious subject in Tai Chi as some styles advocate an active ‘lean’ in their forward postures, yet because there’s a staight line between foot and head they see it as still being balanced.
In terms of fighting, it’s hard to do a jab without a bit of a lean, so unless you want to start off your sparring career by fighting like a robot with your chin up, ready to be knocked out, I’d advise going with the protection that a slightly-leaning fighter’s stance offers:
Bruce Lee showing his lead straight.
Bruce Lee showing his straight jab
…. that is, until you are really comfortable with it. Then you can make it your own. For instance, take a look at the stance of current interim Featherweight UFC champion Connor McGreggor.
Beautiful counter punching from McGreggor.
See how ‘upright’ he is? It enables him to move fluidly and counterpunch very effectively. He knows when to lean, and when not to. In fact, I’d say he’s perfectly embodying the words “Stand like a perfectly balanced scale and move like a turning wheel” and “Don’t lean in any direction; suddenly appear, suddenly disappear.”
Was this what the authors meant when they wrote the Tai Chi classics? Who knows. They were written in another time and another place, by gentlemen who may have had no connection with what would be known as ‘prize fighters’ in their day. They might, even, have looked down on them as mere pugilists, existing on a lower strata of society. It’s impossible to say, but if you look at what remains inside the family lineages of Tai Chi – the Yangs, the Chens – then it seems to have no connection to two men duelling with gloves on. Only some branches of the Wu style seems to have branched off in this direction. But this is another topic, for another time.
Either way you look at it, a head that’s directed upwards (and by which I mean, suspended as if by a thread from your crown, not by looking upwards) offers you the most options in terms of mobility because the body is free to move. You are aligned with gravity.
Watch Systema expert Vladimir Vasiliev move and you can see the same thing.
He ducks his head when he needs to, but notice how ‘upright’ he is most of the time?
To go back to that article I kicked off with for a second:
“We tend to be overly forward oriented just because of the fact that most of what we do all day is in front of us. Then there is the tendency to be future focused on all the things that have to get done instead of being present with what you are doing as you are doing it. With these two things in mind, you can easily understand how you can lose a sense of the back of yourself as you get pulled forward.”
I notice this. I work at a computer all day, and occasionally notice that my head is always being pulled forwards into the work I do (writing). It takes a bit of mental effort to bring myself back into the present and my posture back to being directed ‘up’ as I sit, not slouching or drawn forward.
When you sit in a meditation posture long enough you start to notice your habitual tendency to lean forward. It’s subtle. When you sit ‘back’ into your hips and align your head over your hips you really notice how you can rest in your structure with less effort. The whole body can relax into the present moment.
I notice it in my Tai Chi, too. It takes strong awareness to be able to stay ‘upright’ doing the form. My habit is to slump. My challenge is to stay upright.
Tai Chi was likely first introduced to America* in the 1950s by Sophia Delza. Here’s a very well written article about her that you’ll enjoy.
* There was probably somebody even earlier than that, but it’s hard to say.
Excellent article on lineage in martial arts: http://martialartsstudies.blogspot.com/2015/09/on-knowing-your-lineage.html
in my experience of TCMAs, it always seemed to me that the vast majority of practitioners had only a very vague and shaky relationship with the notion that their styles had either a history or a lineage. Rather, most practitioners seemed most inclined invoke vague allochronistic ideas, about ‘Nature’, ‘Taoism’ or ‘the East’. Those who did believe that they knew their history, those inclined to talk about it, discuss it, dispute it, had one thing in common. They were all (in my experience), universally, and ‘to a man’, men.
This great video is worth coming back to again and again. Obviously, there has been some manipulation – the sequence of each player is paused or slowed down at key moments so that they stay in sync, but it shows how Chen style and Yang style, which initially look quite different, are in fact, variations of the same form.
The Tai Chi Notebook 