I was free sparring with a friend today, and when he was at medium-long range I was able to defend all of his attacks. However, at close range, he managed to pop me in the nose once. Obviously I was hit because I was defending only, not counterattacking him.
So I'm wondering, are there close range defenses within Hsing Yi?
...another interesting note, I sparred my friend with a staff/spear routine, concentrating on defense also. I was able to convert most of my hsing yi movements to the spear, since hsing yi was based on spear movements. Very interesting.