The Hsing Yi (i.e., structure and mind) martial art system is perhaps the most misunderstood internal martial art. In many books or articles, even people who have spent many years practicing Hsing Yi considering it to be more similar to external styles than any other Chinese internal style. This reflects the lack of grasping the true essence of Hsing Yi on most of the practitioners. Since Hsing Yi movements are relatively simple from outlook, if one does not know the correct alignment of body structure and does not execute the movements in an integrated manner (most practitioners thought they do but they actually don't), it does look like an external style. As a matter of fact, any experienced and talented martial artist is able to learn the "simple and straightforward" Hsing Yi five-element fist movements in less than one hour (of course, at the superficial level). Nowadays, many people learn Hsing Yi by attending a seminar or watching a video tape and some even start to teach Hsing Yi after that. For those unfortunate students who learn Hsing Yi from this kind of instructors, it is just like "asking direction from a blind." As the population of Tai Chi practitioners grows and becomes more mature, many people start to explore other internal styles such as Hsing Yi and Ba Kua. However, without the correct understanding of the essence of the style, many people may become disappointed about it.

    Hsing Yi is not as soft as the prototypical internal martial art - Yang style Tai Chi and its ferociousness makes it look like a Shaolin style. Yet, it can be considered as the most "internal" martial art system due to the fact that the major source of Hsing Yi power comes from the correct alignment of internal body structure. By properly adjusting the parts of skeletal structure (such as tailbone, shoulder, elbow, and scapula), one is able to construct a spring-like body which can absorb the force of the opponent, propagate it to the earth without getting stuck in any part of the body, and bounce the force back to the opponent. With the special walking of Hsing Yi and the "six harmonies" (to enable all the body parts to move in a totally integrated manner), once the force reaches the opponent, will usually send s/he "flying away". Thus, the strategy of Hsing Yi in combat is to form a solid, stable, and spring-like body structure and drive this structure directly and forcefully toward the center of the opponent. The blocking and attacking movements are executed simultaneously; in other word, each movement is used for both offense and defense.

    The Hsing Yi system was first taught by Mr. Ji Long Fong after he learned it from a Taoist in Mt. Chung Nan in the 17th century. After hundreds of years of evolution, there are three major styles of Hsing Yi: Heibei, Shanshi, and Heinan. In CTMAA, we teach the empty-hand and weaponry techniques of the Heibei (and some Shanshi) style Hsing Yi. The curriculum consists of the following:

(1) Basic standing stake training methods

    This includes the methods such as extending to the sky, taming the earth, and fighting the ocean wave, etc. The objective is to search the optimal body structure to exert totally integrated forces in all directions.

(2) Testing force methods

    This includes testing the jings (i.e., refined forces) of shooting toward the sky, tidal wave, expanding toward all horizontal directions, random six-harmony, etc. The objective is to learn how to transfer the power acquired through the standing stake training methods to the opponent in a real combat situation. The power, originated from stepping on the ground, should be propagated instantly to the hands or any body part in contact with the opponent without any dissipation. If the generated power is stuck in one's own body without transferring to the opponent, it is not effective in affecting the movement of the opponent even if it looks powerful from outside.

(3) The mother fist - eagle capture

    The next training step is the correct execution of the "eagle capture" movement which lays the foundation for all the Hsing Yi movements. This movement, which is the first movement in many Hsing Yi demonstration forms, is often confused with the splitting fist which is the first one in the five-element fists. In addition to acquiring the basic half-step walking skill, a student is expected to learn how the basic Hsing Yi vertical-circle movement is executed.

(3) Five-element fists

    The five-element fists include the splitting, drilling, smashing, pounding, and crossing fists. They are not only very effective in combat but also a set of qigong methods aiming to strengthen the five major internal organs of the body. Furthermore, the splitting and the drilling fists can also be considered as a "small orbit circulating qigong" when they are executed in An-Jing (i.e., the forces are hidden in the practice like Yang style Tai Chi Chuan movements) manner.

(4) Hsing Yi Tan Tui

    The Hsing Yi Tan-Tui (spring leg) methods include 12 kicking forms. The forms were created by the Shanshi style master Jee Yi-Chai more than one hundred years ago. To enrich the kicking techniques of Hsing Yi, he created the forms by modifying the Shaolin Tan-Tui 12 forms. Although there are many hidden kicks in traditional Hsing Yi Chuan, these forms enable a Hsing Yi practitioner to expand his/her repertoire of kicking techniques.

(5) Twelve-animal forms

    The twelve-animal forms include the forms of dragon, tiger, monkey, horse, alligator, rooster, sparrow hawk, swallow, snake (Fig. 1), Tai bird, eagle, and bear. They are the variations of five-element fists and capture the fighting spirits of the respective animals.

Fig. 1 Hsing Yi snake form

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