Hsing-I pointers

[Cashier Graham]

Hi, I've been wanting to train in Hsing-I for a while but unable to find any schools nearby I decided to get a book, I know it's not the best way to train but it's a start and I figured that 4 years MA training would mean I had at least the basics enough to make sure I could follow the book properly.
Anyway I've been practicing nearly daily, certainly daily in the past two weeks, for about a month now. I've been slowly but surely(?) learning the five fists, at the moment I've been practicing splitting, crushing and drilling (which I started today). I'm doing the movements slowly for now although occasionaly i'll do them a bit quicker. Having exams right now has meant I'm content to practice what I've learnt and not collect forms like an obsessive wu shu dancer.
Anyway I was hoping than any Hsing-I practicioners here could offer pointers for the beginner, I figured out 'find a competent teacher'. If you know of a Hsing-I school near either Exeter or Brighton in the UK please let me know. I was also wondering what you though a reasnoble amount of time practicing the five fists before learning the 12 animal styles was.

[[Censored]]

A book may be better than nothing, but a video is much better than a book IMO.

[Stacey]

My nigga on from Jamaica plane, Dr. Yang Jwang Ming, wrote a kick ass descriptive book on Hsing I. Other than that, go to www.emptyflower.com for my hsing I homies from brazil. Look up mike patterson's web site too. Other than that, video and detailed description are your only hopes.

I have a hsing I book by tim Tacket. Its worthless. Hsing I without power generation is as good a computor without electricity.

[Leimeng]

~ Just my opinion but...
~ If you cant find a good teacher near you, but you can learn to stand in SanTi correctly. Then just stand in SanTi every day. Try to build it up to an hour on each side or more. No breaks, no stop. If you can do that, in a few years when you get to find a good Hsing I teacher, you will be kick ass. You will have a very good foundation which you can develop martial skill with. Additionally, If you can learn one of the elements or all of the elements, practice drilling them continuously. Start off with the 1000 element drill and build from there. (1000 elements is doing each element on each side 100 times for 1000 repetitions total.) Done correctly that drill should take in between 35 and 50 minutes. If you only can learn one of the elements (probably Pi-Chuan - Splitting) you should consider doing a few thousand reps of that a day.
~ Dang, sounds boring.... Maybe that is why no one wants to work out with me.......

:)

Peace

Sin Loi

Yi Beng, Kan Xue

[Kumkuat]

Even you need to know how to stand in Santi correctly. It really is a good idea to find a teacher.

[foolinthedeck]

hi cashier graham,
i think i have the same problem as you! i've done 10 years of wing chun on and off and want to do something more internal. after a bit of research and dabbling in taiji (which doesnt seem to work for me now i've trained in wc so long..) i came to the conclusion that xingyi is the one.

like you i only have a book: Xing Yi Nei Gong - Miller and Cartmell, got it off amazon.com. Its a great book for the nei gong exercises, and has info on san ti trinity posture too. i recommend it.

I looked for a teacher in my locality too (south wales), Bob10 recommended a guy in Goole which is near Hull, also my friend Mike Hart recommended his sifu who lives in scotland. i can pass on the details if you'd like.

i guess it comes down to what you feel is quality, my best opinion is to travel to see those who can teach you something, i intend to do this when i can get some money together.

i hope your search is fruitful.
fool

[batesy]

Cashier Graham & Foolinthedeck

Check out Karel Koskuba's website, Chinese Internal Arts Association

www.golem.demon.co.uk

He is my Chen style teacher and also teaches Xing Yi.

Happy hunting

Batesy

[foolinthedeck]

thanks batesy
thats a very unpretentious site - which is good!

[Cashier Graham]

Thanks for the advice and links, very helpful.

[ZIM]

check http://www.emptyflower.com

under "Baguaquan / ziranmen retreats" in the Xingyiquan - Baguazhang - Taijiquan forum

Theres possibly a good connection for you there