XING YI BOXING

Demonstrators/Teachers: Various.
Xing Yi is one of the great boxing forms of China. Based on the theory of the 5 elements it takes fundamental movements and logically builds toward fighting skills. This form of Xing Yi is very clear and well presented. The movements are broken down and nicely demonstrated. Among the demonstrators are Liu Jing Ru: vice-director of the BaGua Palms Supervising Committee and a member of the BeiJing Wushu Association. Now 65, a native of Hebei, he learned Wushu from Mr. Luo Xing Wu, a famous master in China, and Sun Jian Yun (the daughter of the famous Xing Yi stylist and writer Sun Lu Tang).
Another performer is Luo Jin Hua, student of the famous teacher, Sha Guo Zheng.

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Xing Yi Five Elements and Twelve Animals- SC 244  
Edited by SuLing,
Simplified Chinese Characters;
146 pages, English/Chinese text, illustrations and accompanying VCD showing exercises
$29.95, minimal English/Chinese narration.

XingYi developed in the later Ming dynasty has had a strong effect on Chinese Martial Arts. It is a well-structured style based essentially on Five Elements and Twelve Animals. The Five Elements Boxing shown here is so fundamental it is called the Mother Boxing. The Twelve Animals add not only variation but angular changes and even the predatory aspects of the animal qualities. The demonstration in the book is clear and simple, the instructor on the VCD is Teacher Li SuLing, the editor of the entire masters series.

Note: We have been successful in playing these VCDs using a few different programs—such as VLC and Quicktime—but no one specific app. They also have worked on our stand-alone DVD player.

VCD#1731 Xing Yi ZiWu Sword
About 1 Hour, VCD pricing, Chinese/English

Performed by Zhang Xi Zheng, gold medal winner of the National Traditional WuShu Contest. This is a strong form with some nice changes. Not nearly as much emphasis on rolling the sword as definitive hacking motions and body turns. Shows moments of Xing Yi concentration and simplicity. Good strong performance with relatively straight forward breakdowns. Not too much explanation of each movement so this VCD is best for someone with experience. The English extends mostly to the titles of the movements and some general directions.

Bashi Boxing is also calledBaZiGong Eight Power Work. The Eight skills are said to be spread, intercept, wrap, strike, flick, butt, wing, lead. This form combines moves from the Five Elements and the Twelve Animals practices. This is a clearly demonstrated form shown by Wang ZhongZi, gold medal winner of the National Traditional WuShu Contest. If you know your basic Xing Yi this should be an easy presentation with English language names and reverse camera shots. The only criticism we have, of the whole series in fact, is that that demonstration tells the names but the actually learning is based entirely on your ability to see and repeat what you see. For some people this is easy, for others not.

VCD#1733 Golden Cock Four Actions
About 1 Hour, VCD pricing,Chinese/English

Chicken Forms in Xing Yi (of if you prefer the classier Golden Cock) are among the most popular Xing Yi forms we sell. In this case the Four Actions encompass Cock Eating Rice, Cock Shaking Wings, Cock on One Foot and Cock Crowing. This is demonstrated and broken down by An QiBang, gold medal winner of the National Traditional WuShu Contest. This form is shown by a well practiced and mature performer. The movements are not difficult nor the form long, but it does show a special flair for imitation and what might be called the spirit of the Golden Cock.

This form is explained by gold medal winner of the National WuShu Contest, An QiBang. This is the best of the more recent Xing Yi additions to this series. What we have here is a mature practitioner performing a set that captures the essence of traditional martial performance. His movements are slow and precisely. Poses aren’t for effect but to show the shape of the action. The structure of the set is very probably classic and pure Xing Yi. Overall a performance that might disappoint some but, according to our lights, is solid, strong and proud.

VCD#1635 Best of Xing Yi
About 2 Hours, VCD pricing, Chinese Only

He Fu Sheng, Zhao Yong Chang, Wang Ying Liu Zhi Guang, Song Guang Yen and Dai family Wang Ying Hai (double needles and basics). Song and Che styles represented. This is a survey of Xing Yi over the last twenty five years or so. The first disk concentrates on fist sets by the famous and the merely talented.
One of the major shows a large section of Zhang Bin, 8th generation heritage holder of Xing Yi as he shows the animals. Much of the survey is done out in the direct square with an informal fair quality but it does had some fine performances also from those green carpeted tournaments ubiquitous in China.
Disk Two concentrates on partner sets and weapons. There are a number of different partner fighting sets done with Xing Yi’s typical verve. The weapons cover and even large representation with many standard XY instruments but also the lesser scene such as short stick, double hammers, steel whip, single tiger hook, kung dao, cymbals (yes, cymbals), and more than you can shake a staff at. Finally there is a section of paired weapons such as a two persons sword based on San Cai, and a two person staff. A Double VCD.

 OUT OF STOCK! Please place me on your WANT LIST for this item.

Hebei Hsing-I Chuan (1)
This is an introductory course that compresses a lot of material into a single VCD. This one covers the basic techniques of such things as the Five Elements and the Twelve Animals. Basic sets shown include the Linking Five Forms and the Rooster Four Palms. Also there is a lot of full speed demonstration of competition Xing Yi sets. DeMing Wang studied with Pan Zhi Yuan. He also studied Hsing-I and Baguafrom Sun, Zhi Jun.

Sun Zhi Jun, who supervises this series, is a direct inheritor from Cheng You Xin. His teachers included Liu Zi Yang & Cheng You Sheng.

Sha Guo Zheng's student, Luo Jin Hua, as performer. This two person set is shown with breakdowns in a clear and segmented presentation. Lin has obviously had a lot of experience teaching as he can think on his feet, explaining lightly as the set progresses. This VCD has an added bonus in that it shows the famous Xing Yi teacher, Sha Guo Zheng himself working san shou practice with a student. This is a nice piece of historical tape and will be enjoyed by those XY students who are familiar with this famous teacher.

With Sha Guo Zheng's student, Luo Jin Hua, as performer. Luo's Xing Yi is truly one of those branches where the marriage so often talked about between Xing Yi and Ba Gua is evident. His Xing Yi is much livelier than the stilted, posed series of movements often associated with this form of Boxing. In this VCD he demonstrates two short and pithy forms.

See DVD version of this disk.

With Sha Guo Zheng's student, Luo Jin Hua as performer. Luo's Xing Yi is truly one of those branches where the marriage so often talked about between Xing Yi and Ba Gua is evident. His Xing Yi is much livelier than the stilted, posed series of movements often associated with this form of Boxing. In this VCD he demonstrates the twelve animals and actually gives a sense of their definitive aspects, diversified flavors.

See DVD version of this disk.

With Sha Guo Zheng's student, Luo Jin Hua as performer. Luo's Xing Yi is truly one of those branches where the marriage so often talked about between Xing Yi and Ba Gua is evident. This is a "lecture" disk though he demonstrates constantly. What Luo does on this one is go through San Ti then the Five Elements in detail. At the end he shows the Five Elements Linking Form. The main point he stresses is the variability of the five elements. After introducing them in a stand manner he shows them doubled, angled and varied. A clear exposition on an essential part of Xing Yi.
See DVD version of this disk.

NOTE: This VCD currently out of print!

Teacher Niu Bao Gui shows applications from Xing Yi Quan including five elements and all the animal styles. He also shows short sections of the forms to illustrate the source of the motions. Very explicit instruction with multiple actions to clearly show the usage. Form actions only demonstrated, not taught. This is strictly a VCD about applications.

A three part series of Xing Yi with very clear photography and nicely made breakdowns. The main demonstrator is Wang De ming who has a well-trained body and very expressive moves. He is a representative of the "new" Kung Fu which is basically traditional but somewhat lighter in feel and more expressive in movement. Wang's teacher, who appears on the disk, is Pan Zhi Yuan a disciple of both Wang Ji Wu and Zhang Xiang Zhai. Topics covered in this are San Ti stance, Xing Yi Fist work, Xing Yi footwork and then a generic introductory set that is still pretty sophisticated. The five element fists are shown and broken down. Particularly good information on footwork. This company has an English subtitled introduction to each tape followed by a specific section on the disk contents and then nothing but Chinese with no subtitles for the actual instruction.

This disk continues with the three part series and concentrates on the Five Element Linking Fist. It shows footwork and hand work specific to the Five Elements. The concentration here is definitely on the Five elements with numerous useful ways to fix these essential actions in different ways. This type of training is very good for Xing Yi and prevents the habitual robotic action we see with some Xing Yi stylists. On the other hand we have to point our that Teacher Wang's torso movement seems a little too restricted for our tastes. His actions, Five Elements Linking Fist and footwork show many years of practice, though.

An awful lot for the money. This disk shows SIX Xing Yi sets and gives breakdown on each. Demonstrator Wang shows with his clear style the following: Striking Fist, Bird Shaped SzBa "Four Handles", Enter and Leave the Cave, 12 Floating Punches, 12 Linked Actions and Eight Word Work.

Another bargain. This disk shows the 12 animal forms, then the Jin Gang Ba Shi (8 structures) and the Dragon Ba Shi forms. Instruction is quite clear. No applications are shown. Same teacher and demonstrator as 813-815 above.

Xing Yi, or Element Boxing, is an ancient and fascinating form of Kung Fu. This set "links" the five elements (Metal, Earth, Water, Fire and Wood) into a well known and beautifully constructed fighting set. Very neat demonstration by players who have been practicing for years. This VCD shows both fist and weapons sets some of which are rare. Linked Fist, Xing Yi Saber, Xing Yi Spear, Poleax and Big Sweeper (giant Nunchucku). For the Kung Fu enthusiast and the student of internal arts.

This is the fifty movement Xing Yi sword as taught by Sun Lu Tang's daughter, Sun jian Yun. The movements are demonstrated slowly by her student, Zhang Zhen Hua. The set is broken down and very clearly illustrated in sections. While there are no applications, the movements are quite clear and relatively easy to learn. The set is of medium length and exemplifies Sun's form of Xing Yi. Like so many others, Sun studied from Li Jing Lin and was influenced by his sword expertise.

Xing Yi Chuan (The Shape of the Will Boxing) is one of the greatest of Chinese martial styles. Based on the theory of Five Elements it is a truly simple, direct and forceful style with infinite changes possible. While there is a growing interest and understanding of Xing Yi in the West most of its representation is confined to the different hands forms such as the Five Element Boxing, The Linked Fists and the Twelve animals. Here's a chance to see a Xing Yi straight sword. Not only demonstrated but broken down step by step. True, all the instruction is in Chinese, but the movements are so clear and the instruction so well structured that it doesn't matter. A great set for the sword, Xing Yi or just martial enthusiast. Demonstrated by Liu Ding-Yi & Qiu Pi-Xiang.

SUN JIAN-YUN, the daughter of the very famous martial artist and writer, Sun Lu-Tang leads this demonstration tape of the Sun Style. Though the cover lists Sun T'ai Chi there is more here than that. This is not an instruction VCD but starts with a performance of Sun T'ai Chi by Sun Jian-Yun, herself an "old Shihfu". Other students and family members help demonstrate T'ai Chi, Sun Style Ba Gua Partner Sword practice, Sun Style Xing Yi Fist Set, and a rather nice Sun style Xing Yi sword. Little talking but a lot about the Sun style for the interested student.

Xing Yi, one of the great systems of boxing, is here represented with one of its most popular weapons sets: the Staff. As in all of Xing Yi the movements are practical and yet fluid. Otherwise known as Five Element Boxing, Xing Yi relies on strong legwork and simple combinations that can be altered instantly to fit the situation. A thousand years before "JKD" Xing Yi was already developing a very practical and direct approach to the martial arts. Demonstrated by Liu Ding Yi & Qiu Pi Xiang.