Customer Reviews

Xing Yi Quan Xue: The Study of Form-Mind Boxing

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First of all, the title shown here is wrong; the book is "Xing Yi Quan Xue;" the "Nei Gong" refers to a book compiled and translated by Dan Miller and Tim Cartmell.

Sun Lu Tang was the first known master of the three major internal Chinese schools: Xingyiquan, Taijiquan, and Baguazhang. This book was the first of its kind, a scholarly study on a Chinese martial art which catapaulted the study of Chinese martial arts to a new plateau, that of a "serious" and "intellectual" level, something that was not recognized until that point.

Sun, also adept in certain Taoist practices, successfully integrated traditional Taoist thought structures and scientific philosophies into his explanation of Chinese martial arts. *Xingyiquan Xue* is a perfect example; Wuji and Taiji are perfectly coordinated into the practice and application of Xingyiquan.

A note to potential readers; contrary to common belief, Xingyiquan is not a "soft" art but a "hard" one. Xingyiquan emphasizes attack, a "hard" philosophy, where "soft" arts emphasize reception of attack. Therefore, hard and soft refer to fighting philosophy and tactic; Xingyiquan is an "internal" art, one that uses body energy and coordination to generate power and movement, rather than overt muscular power (example, tae kwon do). Therefore, if you want a "soft" art, look for books on Yang style Taijiquan (Liang, Shou-Yu and Yang, Jwing-Ming have written some good ones) and on Aikido.

This text also features Sun's photos and drawing delineating his style of Xingyiquan, which is the Five Elements/Twelve Animals style (versus the Six Harmonies/Ten Animal styles). Also featured is a section showing the famous two-man form, "An Shen Pao." While the transitional movements are not shown, practitioners of Xingyiquan should be able to immediately figure out what's going on. Baguazhang practioners, such as myself, take a little longer time.

If you are a person with an express interest in furthering your internal martial arts education, this book is absolutely essential. Even though he died in the 1930's, Sun Lu Tang's classics show that his understanding of martial arts back then far surpasses that of 99% of the martial artists alive today. I am fortunate to be studying under someone of that 1%; perhaps this book can give you direction to find yourself as good a teacher as mine.

I first bought this book about a year ago, having never studied Xing Yi. I tried to go through it, work through it, but it seemed to me that in so many ways the book was very vauge and cryptic. I have a background in Tai Chi Chuan, but even that did not help me distill the essence of this book at all.

Then, just recently, I went to a weekend Xing Yi seminar taught by a wonderful teacher. In a very intensive weekend he layed out the basic fundementals of Xing Yi that were not anywhere or in the book, or else they were mentioned on passing so you did not grasp how important it was. For example, keeping the back heel and front foot on a line, the elbows staying as close as possible to the ribs and the fists staying in line with the heart, how in Pi Chuan and others of the five elements trapping with the lead hand and breaking the balance by bringing the hand down your centerline is a basic application, etc.

However, after this seminar I went back and re-read the book. Now it became a real jewel for practice, I could not praise it more. If you know the basic applications and basic movements (five elements) beforehand, and some of the basic principles, all of a sudden this book becomes great, because things the author says now make sense. You have a context for them.

So, now I am a lover of this book. However, for someone who knows nothing of Xing Yi and buys this book, like I did, it will be a confusing and hard read, even harder application, and the chances of becomeing martially adept at this before next decade with just this book are pretty slim. if you must learn stictly from a book, make this your second or third one, definatelly not your first.

I have personally read this book 3 times. The Study of Mind-Form Boxing is a treasure to today's Hsing I practitioner. What I can say about it is this; The autobiographical stuff on Sun Lu Tang is incredible. The life and martial arts of a man who truely had a grasp of the Tao. This book was originally written by him - Sun Lu Tang - and adapted to today. He had originally written 5 books - one on Taiji; one on Bagua Zhang; one on Hsing I Spear, and one on Buagua Sword I believe.

Anyway, the book starts with his biography, then moves into the basics of practice, and the physical details of attaining power and balance; as well as some forms.

Although I don't think a person can just pick this book up and know how to properly teach themselves Hsing I, I do know think it is essential for those of us who practice it and want to know how the old masters practiced.

I am not questioning the validity of this book to Xing Yi Quan pratictioners. Other reviewers, who are experts in the field, tell that it is excellent and I take their word for it. From the uninitiated's perspective this book is not very interesting in that it doesn't present techniques nor it talks about the ideas behind this art. It presents flash notes on specific techniques, and it shows photographs of cornerstone positions.

Sun Lu Tang's classic book is the best and most authentic book you can read about Hsing-I Chuan. I am a student and teacher of Hsing-I, and was very impressed with this book. It will help give you a thorough understanding of the philosophical foundation and excellent advice on technique for performing this powerful martial art.

This book is the golden standard by which Xing Yi Books in English should be judged by. To be sure there is a wealth of books in Chinese on this powerful, and most external of the 4 major Internal arts, the others being Bagua Zhang, Taiji and Liu Ho Ba Fa. However, there is a literal dearth of information in English when it comes to this fine martial arts system. I have had the pleasure and privilege of being a student of dan Miller over the years, and he has done a superb job in making this

classic document available to us here in the West.

The other fine book I would recommend would be Hsing Yi Chuan: Theory and Applications (Chinese Internal Martial Art) by Liang Shou Yu and Yang Jwing Ming. While this book is good, it still cannot match the superlative wisdom of the hand of Sun Lu Tang,
who died in the previous millenium, and was considered the greatest of Internal Martial Artists of his time. So skilled was he, that he was chosen as a personal bodyguard of Sun Yat Sen; and his daughter was alive and teaching until her very recent demise, in the past few years I beleive (Between 1999 and 2004).

So, get up off your futons, put on your fu shoes, and get this book right away! Do it! NOW!!!!!!

If you are interested in this book and don't know who that old guy on the cover is, then you definitely need to buy this book. Sun Lu Tang is one of the legendary figures in Chinese martial arts because of his skill and his promotion of Xing Yi Quan. He is also the founder of the Sun style taiji (tai chi) quan (if you don't know what Sun style taiji is, get the book "A Study of Taijiquan" as well). This Xing Yi book contains poses of Sun performing basically the entire Xing Yi system. Although you can't learn from it, it is a good collectable. It's a piece of history! Show this book to your Chinese wushu friends and watch their reactions - but don't lend it to them!!

Some of the best books on martial arts are a conundrum in that they are useless as primers for beginners totally unfamiliar with the subject matter. If you know nothing of Xing Yi, this book will leave you just as mystified as before. I had the same experience with Robert Smith's excellent book in the 1970's. After more than a decade of practice, the book suddenly says a great deal. This is the nature of books on the internal arts, which put a lot of emphasis on self cultivation and inward stillness. Eventually, no book will matter much, but this will last anyone a while.
The book summarizes the forms of Five phases, 12 animals, Mixed-form Hammer and some two man sets. This book is best if you also possess others on the art. If you are a Xing Yi practitioner, you should definitely have this book in your library.

You're not going to learn xing yi from this book - or any other, for that matter - but for people already practicing, this is a historical goldmine, well worth reading and incorporating into one's personal study.

This book really helped me to understand Xing Yi Chuan. Not only does it explain the practical movements, but it also includes the essential philosophy and reasons behind every position.