Yan Yi - an introduction

[GrahamB]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQcnZlQqM3g



A proto Yi Quan Health Dance?

[northern_mantis]

If this art comes from Guo Yunshen it seems odd that it is not credited anywhere I can find (that being only an English
language google search) as being the source or influence of Wang Xiangzhai's Jian Wu. Makes sense that this practice could stand alone without a load of mind numbing zhuan zhuang.

Thanks to the makers of the video btw, great stuff generously made public.

[Overlord]

I don't know if any doing crane here, but it is very similar to crane style, or a school of Yang taiji I saw once.

Thanks for sharing this.

[I-mon]

I know you guys deliberately do your xingyi stuff a different way, but I really feel like Paul could get a whole lot more juice out of his hips if he put some work into it.

[GrahamB]

I know you guys deliberately do your xingyi stuff a different way, but I really feel like Paul could get a whole lot more juice out of his hips if he put some work into it.

Well I do my Tai Chi from the hips (well, Dan Tien really, but anyway, it's lower down than the XingYi), so I'm familiar with both methods. I only have a few observations really:

* If you can already knock somebody out/drop them with one shot, how much more 'juice' do you really need?

* Mobility vs stability is something of a trade off - you can have more of one, and less of the other.

* The power method of each art is not done in isolation to how the rest of the art works - how the movement works in techniques, how you step, how you time attacks and defence - you change one thing and there are knock on effects - it's like Jenga - you pull out a brick at the bottom and the tower may fall... or it may not...

* As he explains in the video, Yan Yi has nothing to do with power and is only related to martial methods slightly.

[I-mon]

* If you can already knock somebody out/drop them with one shot, how much more 'juice' do you really need?

More, Graham! Always more, from every part of the body. Especially such a major area as the hips.

[quote]
* Mobility vs stability is something of a trade off - you can have more of one, and less of the other.[quote]

I'm not sure man, more and better developed three dimensional hip power should improve both mobility and stability.

[GrahamB]

I think it's pretty simple - when you run, you are fast, but not stable. When you crawl you are very stable, but not fast. That's what I'm talking about.

[GrahamB]

Paul wrote this on Facebook, which I think explains it better (although, as said before, this thread is about Yan Yi which explicitly isn't about making power out of movements).

The Xing Yi Thesis of Seven Advancings states - The Qi must be in the Zhognwan and the waist is essential.

To me this means the Zhongwan and the waist are the key in Xing Yi power generation and this is shown in my style of Xing Yi. The energy is released from the twisting/coiling/waving of the body (dragon body) and the focus is the area of the Zhongwan, which is not considered to be the specific point but the area around the solar plexus both at the front of the body and in the spine/back. I am sure that we did some of this dragon body movement practice within the 5 elements when I was in London with you a few years ago.

The waist extends from the hips/dantien to the solar plexus area/zhongwan. Twisting in the upper waist can generally be done without engaging the feet/legs so that you can twist more easily at the upper waist while stepping/moving. Engaging the lower waist, around the dantien, is more often connected to engaging the kua/legs and feet, thus you need to be connected with the ground.

The difference being that if you are focusing on the lower waist you must rely more on positioning yourself then executing technique. With the upper waist there is more emphasis on being able to enter whilst also simultaneously executing technique. These are general points rather than absolutes, there will be instances where you can enter and use the dantien and legs but this way of generating power generally works better once you have gained position to use it.

Essentially it is a trade off between stability/root and mobility, there are pros and cons of each method. My xing yi prefers mobility, this is not to say other styles of martial arts or even other lines of xing yi cannot use the lower waist as a focus.

[Patrick]

I think it's pretty simple - when you run, you are fast, but not stable. When you crawl you are very stable, but not fast. That's what I'm talking about.

Do you mean only in a human context?

[GrahamB]

I think it's pretty simple - when you run, you are fast, but not stable. When you crawl you are very stable, but not fast. That's what I'm talking about.

Do you mean only in a human context?

[I-mon]

I just reckon it's always good to keep improving the state of our hips. Haven't met an athlete, martial artist or an old person yet who couldn't use stronger, freer, more powerful and just overall better functioning hips.

[GrahamB]

I just reckon it's always good to keep improving the state of our hips. Haven't met an athlete, martial artist or an old person yet who couldn't use stronger, freer, more powerful and just overall better functioning hips.

That's what yoga/body work is for, isn't it?

[I-mon]

Well, I'd say it's one of the strong points of the Chinese internal martial arts! Most yoga people have no idea how to actually use their legs.

[Rabbit]

'Most yoga people have no idea how to actually use their legs'

Hmmmm .... really?

Say more?

[D_Glenn]

Paul wrote this on Facebook, which I think explains it better (although, as said before, this thread is about Yan Yi which explicitly isn't about making power out of movements).

The Xing Yi Thesis of Seven Advancings states - The Qi must be in the Zhognwan and the waist is essential.

To me this means the Zhongwan and the waist are the key in Xing Yi power generation and this is shown in my style of Xing Yi. The energy is released from the twisting/coiling/waving of the body (dragon body) and the focus is the area of the Zhongwan, which is not considered to be the specific point but the area around the solar plexus both at the front of the body and in the spine/back. I am sure that we did some of this dragon body movement practice within the 5 elements when I was in London with you a few years ago.

The waist extends from the hips/dantien to the solar plexus area/zhongwan. Twisting in the upper waist can generally be done without engaging the feet/legs so that you can twist more easily at the upper waist while stepping/moving. Engaging the lower waist, around the dantien, is more often connected to engaging the kua/legs and feet, thus you need to be connected with the ground.

The difference being that if you are focusing on the lower waist you must rely more on positioning yourself then executing technique. With the upper waist there is more emphasis on being able to enter whilst also simultaneously executing technique. These are general points rather than absolutes, there will be instances where you can enter and use the dantien and legs but this way of generating power generally works better once you have gained position to use it.

Essentially it is a trade off between stability/root and mobility, there are pros and cons of each method. My xing yi prefers mobility, this is not to say other styles of martial arts or even other lines of xing yi cannot use the lower waist as a focus.

I found some Chinese texts, and I think I found the source of your guys Xingyi, but having Qi in Zhongwan should literally be Xiqi (inhaling air aka Breathing) into Zhongwan point, which is when you feel the diaphragm pressing into the top of the Dantian, and is more the feeling of when doing Ni fuxi (Reverse/ Contrary breathing when Standing, changing postures, and doing strikes.

Is Zhang Hongqing someone that your teacher maybe trained with?

张鸿庆 [張鴻慶]


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