Hsing Yi Chuan

Peter Kwok's Hsing Yi teacher was Giang Yung Chien. The elements of Grandmaster’s system are outlined below. Sifu’s was a clipped wing understanding, so to speak, in that he did not have the Swallow and Rooster forms, nor did he have an articulate grasp of the internal principles. I learned Hsing Yi internals from Rick Taracks and Yan Gao Fei. I learned the Swallow and Rooster forms from Dominick Ruggieri.

The Chinese martial arts community regards the Hsing Yi Spear as the highest form of the art, so I have added Jiang Jian Ye’s form to my studies. Hsing Yi moves are based on the spear. It is similar in this way to Aikido, which is based on sword cuts. Yan Gao Fei says that Chen Tai Chi Chuan is based on the Kwan Dao. So, to master Hsing Yi, you need to learn the Hsing Yi spear form. Pi Chuan (Splitting Fist, Metal) is based on slashing, Tsuan Chuan (Drilling Fist, Water) is based on parrying and thrusting, Beng Chuan (Crushing fist, Wood) uses the spear thrust as its model, Pao Chuan (Cannon fist, Fire) uses an upper cut slash as it's model and Heng Chuan (Crossing Fist, Earth) is based on block and thrust.

I once spoke with a Tae Kwon Do master about my practice. I was playing with the broadsword and asked him if he’s like to learn it. He said, ‘I'll master the empty hands before taking on weapons.’ I couldn’t let that go, so my my answer was 'You can't master empty hands without mastering weapons'. Weapons are amplifiers for training. They allow you to see your mistakes more clearly.

Finally, I was doing a comparative study of double edge sword forms, so you’ll find Mike Patterson’s Hsing Yi Jian described here as well.

Hsing Yi ‘s Ba Zi Gong (Ba Tze Gong) or 8 Character Secret is the foundation of Ba Sil Chuan. I’m researching this now and will have an update for you in the near future.

Hsing Yi means Body-Mind, so Hsing Yi Chuan is Body-Mind Boxing. It is based on 5 Elements theory.

Tai chi is the foundation, Hsing Yi the walls, and Pa Kua the roof of your martial arts.

The essence of Hsing Yi is Bear and Eagle. Bear sinks and loads, Eagle expands and expresses.

Hsing-Yi is divided into two components: 5 Elements, 12 animals

The 5 Elements are

Metal

Water

Wood

Fire

Earth

Element	Season	Meridian	Action	Pinyin	English
Metal	Fall	Lung	Chop	Pi Chuan	Splitting Fist
Water	Winter	Kidney	Spring	Zhuan Chuan	Drilling Fist
Wood	Spring	Liver	Bounce	Beng Chuan	Crushing Fist
Fire	Summer	Heart	Burst	Pao Chuan	Cannon Fist
Earth	Summer/Fall	Spleen	Side	Heng Chuan	Crossing Fist

Twelve animals divided into two categories - Beasts, Birds

Twelve animals are:

Birds Beasts

Swallow Turtle

Dove Snake

Rooster Monkey

Falcon Tiger

Eagle Horse

Bear

Dragon

The Peter Kwok Hsing Yi system is composed of the following forms:

5 Elements

Metal

Water

Wood

Fire

Earth

Hsing Yi Wu Hsing Lian Wan Chuan

Hsing Yi Wu Hsing Sheng Ke Chuan (Combat Form)

12 Animals

Dragon

Bear

Tiger

Turtle

Snake

Horse

Monkey

Eagle

Dove

Falcon

Swallow

Rooster

Ba Sil Chuan

Ja Sil Chuan

An Shen Pao Chuan 12 Animals Combat Form

For a total of 22 forms.

For my own practice I’ve added Hsing Yi Jian (Double Edge Sword) and Hsing Yi Chyang (Spear)

Five Element Theory

Chinese names of 5 elements: Wu Hsing

Metal is Gin, Water is Sui, Wood is Mo, Fire is Hwa, Earth is Tu.

5 elements theory applies to martial arts by classifying various attacks and defenses according to their properties in relation to the 5 elements. The relationship between the elements is then used to determine the appropriate response.

5 elements theory applies to medicine in that 5 elements are associated with major organs. Flow of energy through the organs can be overabundant or insufficient. Accupuncture detects the abundance or deficiency and corrects it by understanding the flow and the relationship among the elements.

When using the 5 elements in combat the main idea is to continue the flow of the opponents energy and transmute the attacking element to its next constructive cycle element by using a destructive cycle response. Example: If the opponent uses Metal attack, use a Fire defense to transmute Metal into Water.

Constructive cycle is Metal creates Water. Water creates Wood. Wood creates Fire. Fire creates Earth. Earth creates Metal.

Constructive cycle is called the Sheng cycle.

Destructive cycle is Metal chops Wood, Wood splits the Earth, Earth dams Water, Water quenches Fire, Fire melts Metal. Destructive cycle is the Ko cycle.

Chi Circulation

Chi flows through the meridians in accordance with the hours in the day. The Mnemonic used is a clock face divided into 3 stations, the 11 o'clock station, the 3 o'clock station, and the 7 o'clock station. The clock face has two concentric circles, the outer circle is Dark Night, the inner circle is Day Light. Each station has a mnemonic phrase associated with it and by writing the phrase so that one word is above the outer circle and one phrase is above the inner circle, you have a description of the circulation of chi in the meridians by hour. The 11:00 mnemonic is Gumball Headache, the 3:00 station mnemonic is Bland Laughter, and the 7:00 mnemonic is Stupid Circus.

Dark Night is comprised of Gumball, Laughter, and Circus.

Day Light is comprised of Headache, Bland, and Stupid

The associations are as follows:

Mnemonic	Meridian	Hour	Complement	Hour		Element
Gumball	Gall Bladder	23:00	Liver	01:00	Wood
Headache	Heart	11:00	Small Intestine	13:00	Fire
Bland	Bladder	15:00	Kidney	17:00	Water
Laughter	Lung	03:00	Large Intestine	05:00	Metal
Stupid	Stomach	07:00	Spleen	09:00	Earth
Circus	Triple Warmer	11:00	Pericardium	21:00	Fire

Repeated practice will stimulate the meridian associated with the fist you practice. You will feel warmth and comfort in the associated organ. You will feel activation of the meridian along its length from the beginning point to the end point. I can attest to this because I have run each of these forms continuously for two hours at a time. At the end I sat down and meditated. I could feel the organ and its meridian very clearly.

Posture

Remember to keep posture in alignment. That means that the hand is aligned with the foot, the elbow with the knee and the shoulder with the waist. On the hand which is closest to the waist, the elbow is out. The real lesson is to accentuate sinking the chest and raising the back. Keep to an equatorial stance. All roosters are lazy roosters. Do not bob. When doing Hsing Yi, the toes always grip the ground.

It is important to remember to maintain the harmonies when you are doing Hsing Yi. The foot and hand, the knee and the elbow, the shoulder and the hip must be properly aligned.

Striking

Relax and maintain elasticity. Elastic collisions impart much more force. All striking is relaxed and is based on timing. The force in all blows is timed from the landing, not from the leap.

Use wrist eversion or flexion and rapid pronation or supination of the hand to deliver power into the opponent when you strike. Hsing Yi power comes from using the breath in conjunction with pulsing the strike and these hand position changes. Timing, needless to say, is everything.

On wood, for example, strike with the knuckles of the index and middle fingers and then evert the wrist.

On water, again strike with the two knuckles, but then flex the wrist in timing with the pulse.

When using earth, the rapid supination of the wrist is used to generate striking power.

Horse spirals downward into the solar plexus by using rapid pronation of the fists

Double fist strike to Stomach 25 (something like dove but rotating fist hearts down) also uses the spiraling of the fists to deliver a downward component.

One item of special note: Hsing Yi strikes are "Dinky little pokes". That is to say, that the power does not come from the rapid extension of the arm and shoulder. Most of the arm extension is used up in the clean that is done on all Hsing Yi strikes. You have to pulse your strikes with the whole body and an arm extension of 2-4 inches at most. Practice Hsing Yi forms with coil/snap of breath coordination to develop power. In Wood, the power comes from coiling, not from the rear foot. Sifu can get power without even placing the foot on the ground. Time the strike and the landing from the leap with the out-breath to get power. Sifu said the same is true for the other elements. So don't worry about the rear foot.

Should be sore in 2 main places from practicing speed punching - Lats and distal end of bicep. All muscles are active across 2 joints. Bicep at shoulder and forearm. Proximal end of bicep only active on lifting of arm. Distal end in the flexion of forearm. This should be sore as a result of retracting the fist on a punch.

Massage bruises in the direction of the heart to reduce swelling and aid healing.

Hsing Yi 5 Elements Forms

Five Element Fist Chart

Element	Mnemonic	Name	Action	Stance	Alley
Metal	yin foil	Yin	Chops	Open/Wide	7, 1, 3
Water	chop suey	Suey	Springs	Open/Wide	8, 2, 4
Wood	Moohogany	Mo	Bounces	Closed	Low 9
Fire	Hot	Hwo	Cannons	Narrow / Medium	High 9
Earth	Tu-rrestrial	Tu	Sides	Narrow / Medium	5,6

Five Element Meridian Chart

Element	Meridian	Begin	Location	End	Location	Bear	Eagle
Metal	Lung	Lu 1 Zhong Fu, Central Treasury	Upper Chest	Lu 11 Shao Shang, Lesser Shang	Thumb	In	Out
Water	Kidney	DU 4 Ming Men, Life Gate	Small of Back	K1 Yong Kuan, Bubbling Well	Bottom of Foot	In	Out
Wood	Liver	Lr 14 Qi Men, Cycle Gate	Rib Cage below nipple	Lr 1 Da Dun, Great Pile	Outside edge of big toe	Brush in	Brush out
Fire	Heart	H1 Ji Chuan, Highest Spring	Arm Pit	H9 Shao Chong, Lesser Surge	Pinky	In	Out
Earth	Spleen	Rn 3 Zhong Ji, Central Pole	Below navel	Spleen 1 Yin Bai, Hidden White	Inside edge big toe	In	Out

Note that Du is Du Mai or Governing Vessel, up the center back. Rn is Ren Mai or Conception Vessel, down the center front.

Each form has

· Opening

· Form

· Application

· Turn around

· Close

Opening Form

All Hsing Yi forms have the same opening move.

Stand with feet together and hands at sides in Hsing Yi palm. The stance is similar to the Tai Chi Chiang Chuan. Supinate the wrists, raise palms to shoulder height and rotate at the elbow. Drop the hands, palm down, to the tan tien. Form fists, supinate the wrists so that fist hearts are up, bend the knees and sink.

Bring the right fist up the center of the body and punch out of the mouth. The fist on this strike is inverted by supinating the wrist a far as possible. Place the left fist in the right elbow joint and then open the hands. Clean the left elbow with the right hand and chop with the left Hsing Yi palm to a left equatorial stance.

Posture Check:

The big toe of the left foot is aligned with the left knee, the left hip, the left shoulder, the left elbow and the left index finger.

Sink the chest, raise the back.

The right hand is open and palm down to the right of the tan tien.

Hsing Yi Breathing Pattern

Same as Tai Chi. Receive energy on the in breath. Express energy on the out breath.

Applications

The application of a particular element follows the destructive or Sheng cycle. In this cycle, Metal chops Wood, Wood splits Earth, Earth dams Water, Water quenches Fire, and Fire melts Metal.

Metal is more forward than down in its direction. Metal attack covers the alleys of 1, 7, 3.

Water attack covers the alleys of 2, 8, 4.

Wood attack covers the low to mid 9 alley.

Fire attack covers the mid to high 9 alley

Earth attack covers the 5 and 6 alleys. Earth is made powerful by striking with the radius and by using contralateral motion.

Metal (Yin) (Pi Chuan) (Splitting Fist)

Metal directly stimulates Lu 1 Zhong Fu, you should feel stimulation down to end of lung meridian in thumb Lu 11 Shao Shang.

From the end of opening move, sink back to a right lazy rooster while closing fist and circling it up the center of the body. Step forward to a left equatorial stance and cobra punch.

A cobra punch is similar to an uppercut but it is done with extreme supination of the wrist. This forces the elbow down and in to the center of the body. The strike is focused on the knuckles of the index and middle finger. Leave the fist heart down on the hand by the waist.

Open the left hand, palm up. Place the right fist in the crook of the left elbow and open it with palm facing up. Both hands are open at start of attack. Step up to a left lazy rooster. Leap into a right equatorial stance, clean the right elbow with the left palm and chop with a right Hsing Yi palm.

Application

The cobra punch receives a low 9 and deflects it, returning an uppercut to the opponent.

The clean of the elbow deflects a mid - high 9 downward. The alternate hand chops (a 7) with a Hsing Yi palm. The clean must push the blow below the elbow of the chopping hand, otherwise the opponent will be able to block it.

Metal will dislocate the shoulder with little effort. Strike the humerus at the midpoint with the forearm. This is the perfect vector for dislocation. Demonstrated on me by striking until slippage felt in the glenoid fossa. Sifu gave graphic description of how to dislocate shoulder. Extend arm to rear and strike from rear forward and downward or extend the arm to front, strike from front tor rear and downward. If you supinate opponents wrist and then struck the head of the humerus that she obtained the desired result.

Turn Around

On all turn-arounds, pivot on the toes. From end of chop, form fists, fist heart up. Circle chopping hand until fists meet at tan tien. Pivot heel-toe to face opposite direction. Cobra punch.

Close

Step back to opening stance and circle arms to tan tein. Close.

Water (Sui) (Tsuan Chuan) (Drilling Fist)

Water directly stimulates Du 4 Ming Men, should feel all the way down to K1 Yong Quan (Bubbling Well) on the bottom of the foot..

From the end of the opening move, sink back to a right lazy rooster. When stepping back into a left equatorial stance, turn the left hand palm up and the right hand fist heart up. Place the fist in the crook of the left elbow while rising to a left lazy rooster. Clean the elbow with the left palm and leap to a right equatorial stance, delivering an uppercut with the right fist while pulling the left fist, fist heart down, to the tan tien. Set up the hands by dropping both to waist height. Fist at waist is heart up. Fist extended is eye up.

Application

Clean and deflect an incoming high 9 blow while delivering a high 8 punch.

Turn Around

Same as Metal

Wood (Mo) (Beng Chuan) (Crushing Fist)

Wood stimulates Lr 14 Qi Men below the nipple on the rib cage because the elbow brushes it. Feel the liver meridian into the big toe Lr 1 Da Dun. Also stimulates the Gall Bladder meridian at GB 25 Jing Men on the side below the floating rib. Feel the effects in Gb 44 Qiao Yin on the little toe.

From the end of the opening move, both hands form fists. The left fist is parallel to the floor, fist eye up. The right fist is fist heart up at the waist. Roll the left elbow in so that the left fist heart is facing up and the forearm is in your center. Place the right fist in the crook of the left elbow while shifting weight to right foot. Leap off the rear foot to a left "t" stance and punch to a mid 9 with the right hand. Note that the left foot still leads and that the right hand is punching. In this form, the punching hand is always opposite the lead foot.

To continue, take a half step forward, come up to a lazy rooster with the left hand in the crook of the right elbow. Leap to a "t" stance and punch, pulling the right hand to the waist, fist heart up.

Application

Clean and deflect a 5 or 6, deliver a mid 9 punch.

Turn Around