I am interested in studying Hsing-I. Does anyone know anyone who teaches in New York City? Oh, how martial is Hsing-I compared to the other Internal Martial Arts? How does there Training differ? For example, as I know from the Tia Chi I have taken, a lot of the class (especially when your a beginner), is doing form, from the Ba Gua I have taken, exercises to open you joints, etc, circle walking, then maybe some applications. What should a beginner Hsing-I Student expect? What about as a martial art? I hear out of the internal arts, this is more of a fighting one. What about it for health? Oh, I once had a torn meiscus repaired. Should I be concerned, it did not really affect me when I did the above classes. Just get sore now and then, but I still try to watch myself. Thank you.
Hsing-I is sometimes jokingly referred to as linear bagua. They share a great deal in common. Hsing-I is more direct and aggressive then most internal systems. Traditional teaching starts with holding learning to hold san ti, then moves into five elements and twelve animals. Your experience in other internal systems will be quite helpful and if bagua didn't bother your knee then Hsing-I shouldn't either. Matt Bernius is out your way and mentioned training in Hsing-I.
I dont have the info for the classes since I am away from home but there is a good instructor named Dr. Cai teaching in Manhattan.
Hsing I There are a couple styles of Hsing I so you might see some of the forms performed a little differently. There may also be a couple additional forms than the ones mentioned in the very good response by bcullen. It will depend on the lineage of your teacher. The forms themselves consist of fewer movements than say a Tai Chi or Shaolin form. You perform the movements in repetition on a line. There are some animal forms that require a lower posture such as the Dragon and Snake but the rest are pretty stand up. You would do well if you only gained an understanding of the 5 Elements. There's a book that gives you an idea of what the forms are like and some of their applications. It's called "Hsing I" and was written by James W. McNeil. You can get it from a lot of different places. Good luck. Sorry I can't help with the NYC part of your question.
Li Tai Liang teaches shanxi xingyi there his consists of che xingyi song xingyi and dai xinyi http://www.litailiang.homestead.com/ and then there is the da cheng dao school they do yi quan(da cheng quan) xingyi quan and tang lang quan http://www.dcdkungfu.com/
I've been learning tai chi for three years, bagua for two, and have just started Hunyuen taiji, which is a blend of chen taiji and hsing i. I was talking to my teacher last week about the difference, and he said hsing i involves a lot of visualisation. Hsing i focuses on using the mind to visualise the movement of chi. It looks more direct and shorter than tai chi or bagua, but it seems to be more closely linked with the visualisation aspect. In tai chi you're supposed to foster no-mind, and the actions are complicated. In bagua you are focusing on the dynamics/forces of your own movement and concentrating on your attacking hand (as opposed to tai chi, where you use peripheral vision). In Hsing I, you are visualising the movement of force both inside and outside yourself. It's a lot like a golfer/football player practicing a shot and concentrating hard on where his force is directed (far away). If you use an analogy to golf - taiji is perfecting your posture for the swing, bagua is increasing the efficiency of the weight and force of the swinging movement, and hsing i is your concentration on the shot going exactly where it is supposed to go. Of course, these all blend together in practice, but that's the basics.
While I have never been directly exposed to direct styles of Xing Yi Quan, I have and still train Yiquan a derivative of XYQ.I would have to agree about the use of visualisation,or intention (yi),from qigong to touch drills to walking drills everything has the above element emphasized.Like most arts XYQ has its many styles so I guess you will find variations abound.Personnally while the general agreement is that XYQ is linnear I think most practioners would agree that this is more a surface view,and that sublte angels dominate flow drill work. Nzric You stil at KBs? When you train with KF?I meet him on Wednesdays.
Adc - I'm not with KB, his classes clash with my study. I'm doing KF's website now so I meet him in the weekend and do some training before our "client meetings". Send a PM/new thread if you want about all this. I'm actually moving to Melbourne in August so I'm planning to send a callout to VIC-based people to hook up (hope to see you before I leave)
Moving south!you'll miss Syd once you're down there.Different MA scene I hear,way smaller chinatown,hope you find a school that you like to keep in touch with. Are you interested in any EM vids?Got given a few workshop ones. Have to get that Yum chat up an runing again.I meet KF at Uni on Wed avos if you' re ever over that way.My Sats are a bit full tilt so thats not an option unfortunately but should be able to slide a YC in there somewhere.Pete's still at Wentworth most mornings,I'm there too some mornings usually 3x a week. Will email soon.
(don't want to hijack the thread...) Haven't heard from Syd for months - u? We should sort something out soon, another park session sounds good.
Unfortunately Rochester NY is closer to Cleveland Ohio and Toronto than it is to New York city so I can't immediately recommend someone in the Big Apple. However Mtal check out http://www.emptyflower.com/xingyiquan/index.html. This is a site dedicated to Hsing-i/XingYi (same thing different spellings) and there is a forum on there that should be able to help. Everyone's done a great job of describing Hsing-I. The system takes only a little while to learn and a lifetime to master. I know that is a trademark phrase of the Martial Arts, but it's very true. The first aspect is that you learn the 5 energys: Splitting, Crushing, Drilling, Pounding, and Crossing. These correspond to the 5 chinese elements (metal, water, eath, wood, fire) and form the five basic hand techniques of the system. Hsing-I is based off of spear techniques and is extemely powerful and very quickly applicable to fighting. From there you learn the momentments and mindsets of the 12 zodiac animals. Of all of the Chinese Martial Arts that I've been exposed to, this one is the most direct. The joke that goes a long with it is: There were three IMA master walking up a hill. They encountered a obstical in the road. The Ba Gua man circled around it. The Tai Chi man bended with it and moved around it. The Hsing-I man went through it. - Matt
Hsing-I classes in NYC If you are still intrested in hsing-i classes in NYC feel free to contact me I would be happy to introduce you to my teacher here. In my 15 years of training I have found his knowledge and insight of hsing-i,traditional chinese medicine and taoism a treasure that I feel privlegded to be a part of.
Yes I am still interested. I did send you a private message, but if you don't get it, please feel free to contact me. Thanks.
