Hsing I question

[MysteriousPower]

Are you guys being serious? Hsing I isn't like wing chun? It's all ba gua?

That's all wrong. Someone's wc can be like another's hsing I. The arts themselves don't look like anything in particular. They look how each individual makes them look. So everyone doing hsing I is supposed to look and feel the same? Body types, temperaments, experiences all make someone's body move differently. I always get a good laugh when an instructor says to me, "That doesn't feel like hsing I.". Hsing I does not feel like anything!

During sparring you won't be able to notice any of these percieved differences. You might be able to see me pull off a variation of pi quan and callnit hsing I but I bet I could find a variation of pi in a wc
form or any form.

Jake,
I am a bit surprised to hear you talk about this issue the way you are when your teacher is one of the biggest non-believer in internal and having styles(not a knock to your teacher).

[Three Harmonies]

What teacher do you speak of?
&
Speak what way?

JAB

[MysteriousPower]

I was talking about Tim Cartmell. From the writings on his website he does not believe in styles.

You were saying that hsing I is totally different from wc. It is all just hand motions.

[Three Harmonies]

Oh, I see...

As for "they are all hand motions..." Not sure what your point is? I would agree that styles are ultimately superfluous, but mechanics are not. In my experience WC mechanics are contrary to Xing Yi's. IN MY EXPERIENCE students who have trained in both systems struggled quite a bit and became stagnant. Just my experience though.

JAB

[MartialDev]

One of Ip Man's sons reportedly asked him, "Is it OK to improve (i.e. change) the Wing Chun forms?" To which he replied, "After decades of study, I am unable to find any area for improvement. If you think you can do better, go ahead."

There are always people who think they can do better, whether it is combining Wing Chun with Xingyi or whatever else. Hopefully, the rest of us can learn from their mistakes.

[Three Harmonies]

A lot of Wing Chunners have that attitude...

[MartialDev]

Which attitude?

"I want to make this better"
"I do not feel qualified to make this better"
"Cross-training dabblers are not qualified to make this better"
"We should learn from other people's mistakes"

[RenDaHai]

The principles of all styles of wushu are ultimately the same. Every time I have seen someone train other styles they have improved their knowledge of wushu. I've never seen anyone who for example starts to train a new style then gets worse at martial arts, that just doesn't happen.

You don't need to think of combining WC and XingYi. Wing Chun has been refined to its current state. The only way to improve wing chun would be to take moves away, not to add any, to refine it further.

Never the less by understanding xingyi you will ultimately improve your understanding of wing chun. Definately. Never be afraid of gaining knowledge of as many styles as possible. Chinese wushu tend to use the same underlying principles.

In application of a master, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between WC, XingYI, Shaolin, wudang, bagua, taiji etc. The form is independant from the application. the 'style' teaches lessons about wushu but ultimately the application is formless. So by improving your understanding of xingyi you will ultimately improve all your wushu including wingchun. YOu don't need to add any moves, they are all there already, you will just understand them better.

[ZenMindT]

I only want to broaden my understanding of kung fu as a whole.I should have said i want to add hsing i to my kung fu instead of add it to my WC. WC is the only TCM i have trained, and have so for about 6 yrs. And now that I am persuing the weopons forms, what will be left to learn except for a deeper understanding of what it is I already have learned. Which is fine, but I'm only in my late 20s and have my whole life ahead of me to study kung fu(which I plan on doing) I want to keep it interesting. I know I wont learn much in a few months, and do plan on giving it years of trainging hopfully with a teacher in due time.

And I would train at the SixHarmonies school in NY except that I am in FL.
And Sifu VA Thomas of that school is actually my Si-Bak, and my Sifu has only praised his skills, So I don't think his study of the 2 arts has caused him too much stagnation in his training.

[ZenMindT]

oh, and by add I ment to say what RenDaHai is talking about in his post just above my last. He just said it better.