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 H'sing-I
Ch'uan is a form of Chinese boxing (mind-form or
heart-mind boxing) based on the utilization of
intrinsic energy, or ch'i. It is thought to have
been founded by General Yueh Fei around 1130 AD,
and is one of three internal styles from the Wu
Tang Mountain school. The other two are Tai Chi
Ch'uan and Pa Kua Ch'uan. Within H'sing-I Ch'uan
there are three distinct forms in practice today:
Shan Xi, He Bei, and Honan. The most elaborate is
Shan Xi. The most concise is Honan.
Central
to H'sing-I are the standing or meditation
postures, and Wu H'sing Ch'uan, the five striking
techniques called five element fists that are based
on energy fields described by the Chinese Five
Element theory. This theory relates the life force,
ch'i, and the elements metal, water, wood, fire,
and earth. These elements are in turn related to
organs of the human body. Metal relates to the
lungs, water to kidneys, wood to liver, fire to
heart, and earth to spleen. Metal is also related
to the external organ nose, water to eyes, wood to
ears, fire to tongue, and earth to
philtrum.
Wu
H'sing Ch'uan is practiced as Pi Ch'uan (metal),
Ts'uan Ch'uan (water), Peng Ch'uan (wood), Pao
Ch'uan (fire), and Heng Ch'uan (earth).
Pi
Ch'uan
- Pi
Ch'uan is also known as the splitting ax and is
the only Wu H'sing move that does not employ the
fist. To learn Pi Ch'uan, one must first learn
the preliminary posture, which closely resembles
the santi or trinity posture. This posture
refers to the three essentials: heaven, mankind,
earth; the posture itself aligns the hand, nose,
and foot. The movement of Pi Ch'uan is natural,
smooth, and forward rolling, and strenthens the
lungs.
-
Ts'uan
Ch'uan
- Ts'uan
Ch'uan is also known as the drilling fist. Its
primary movement is that of a nautilus, where
energy corkscrews up from below in a drilling
fist. The motion is again smooth, with good ch'i
rising and bad ch'i falling, strenthening the
kidneys.
-
Peng
Ch'uan
- Peng
Ch'uan is also known as the crushing fist. It is
used in conjunction with the chicken step to
deliver a straight-line, mid-section,
drop-weight punch that powers outward with
downward arcing energy. Energy stretches and
contracts and the liver is
vitalized.
-
Pao
Ch'uan
- Pao
Ch'uan is also called the pounding fist. An
upward striking block is combined with a
heart-line punch that explodes outward like a
cannon shot. The Pao comes from the heart and
strengthens the heart.
-
Heng
Ch'uan
- Heng
Ch'uan is also called the crossing fist. It is
performed with an angle footwork and is directed
at the spleen or stomach. The shape of the form
is rounded and solid, and vitalizes the spleen
and stomach. Its basic nature is
soil-like.
-
The
postures and movements of H'sing-I train the mind
and body to function in a relaxed, unified, and
focussed manner. The unique way in which energy is
harvested and directed allows for significant power
to be produced efficiently.
-
- Wrath
set my hair bristling in my
helmet.
- Standing
by the rails see the drizzling rain has
ceased,
- Raising
my eyes to the skies I shout in my vigorous
aspiration.
- At
the age of thirty fame and heroic deeds are
nothing but earth and dust.
- With
clouds or the moon, my battle fields have
covered eight thousand li long.
- Do
not tarry,
- The
hair of young men might grow white with deep
regret.
- The
shame heaped on us in the year of Jing Kang is
not yet wiped away.
- When
will the sorrows of the Emperor's subjects come
to an end?
- O
let us ride on war chariots through to the Ho
Lan Pass.
- Our
ambitions are to drive away foreign
invaders,
- while
talking and laughing let them shed
blood.
- O
let's start afresh,
- To
recover our dear rivers and
mountains,
- Then
we will pay our tribute to
Heaven.
-
General Yueh
Fei (1133)
-
- To
Learn the forms for fighting is easy. It is
possible for everyone to do that in two or three
months. To achieve serenity, however, to achieve
endurance, this is difficult. One can always
open the cage and let the tiger out, but it is
its containment that is TAO. Everyone in the
position of Sifu, Sensei, or teacher should
remember this, that it is not just the fighting
that is important, for everyone can learn to
fight, it is the pursuit of TAO that truly
distinguishes the true martial
artist.
-
Master
Hsu Hung Chi (1975)
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