just starting xing yi

[golden arhat]

any tips u have for improving my training
pitfalls to avoid how long i should spend on such and such
that kind of thing ?

thanx

[dleungnyc]

Relax - if your arms gets sore, that means you are too tight.

Have fun - no explanation needed.

Pay attention to your body - if you are struggling to maintain a proper posture, that means you been practicing too long, time to take a break.

[golden arhat]

is there no tension in any of the movements
for instance a boxers punch is not tense its relaxed should i be punching like a boxer or jkd person i really do need help on eveything i have a few books on the subject but they just cover the forms and stances not the other things like how to punch and kick the xingyiquan way
any more help guys ?

[Plymouth Rocks]

Nine breaths piquan.

[The Willow Sword]

as with many tcma styles the movements are fluid and quite naturally follows the tensing of muscles at the moment of impact of the strike. Same with Xingyi. There is also a solid "Rooting" that your body mechanics has to try and get used to. Like the feeling of stepping in mud, much like some bagua stepping. For its the Root in Xingyi that generates that powerful strike.

I have practiced two methods of Xingyi movement, The first would be the soft and supple style of moving through the 5 fists and 12 animals, not tensing at all and focusing more on qi flow, and also doing the movements slower so that i can get a feel for that qi flow to the extremities. plus moving a little slower helps your body mechanics and eventually one does the stepping and movements correctly.

the other method is the stop action explosive power that you generate at the moment of impact or strike in the 5 fists set and the 12 animals. and the concepts in jkd are similar, actually that concept of relaxing when you go to strike and then tensing up at the moment of strike isnt souley a JKD idea. but in effect you arent really tensing up and becoming rigid when you impact i mean there is a certain amount of that when you hit anything, but you will find that the power generated in a more relaxed attack can be more damaging to the internal system of a body than a tensed up karate type of strike that may only do surface damage and "stun".
Help me out fellow xingyi practitioners, am i wording all this correct in general terms?
Peace TWS

[dleungnyc]

There are tensions, but instead of intensifying it, you want to minimize it.

For example, in Pi chuan, in the beginning, you will be using your triceps and biceps for the striking power. Your arm WILL get sore. Eventually, you learn to 'relax' your triceps and biceps so that they don't interfer in your striking. Right now, my Pi chuan hits from the shoulder, I could do a hundred or more and my arms don't get sore or tired after the practice. Yet, my striking speed/velocity and power do not suffer.

[Plymouth Rocks]

Nonsense. No tensing is required and is, in fact, incorrect. The arms don't hit, the body does. The body has structure and the neijin hits.