Yang Hai's students - 5 elements & BaShi

[xingyijuan]

Here are the latest videos from master Yang's teachings.

5 elements practice ((Pi, Beng and Heng)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhzsGKiFJrM

BaShi form

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE2wsNcXiro

Enjoy!

[GrahamB]

That BaShi is very nice! Sweet! Thanks.

[xingyijuan]

FYI, this Bashi version is the same one done by Mix on the other clip, but done by an advanced student. It's Zhang ZhaoDong's variation.

[Chris McKinley]

Even though I don't practice the art more than just a few elements occasionally, I like watching Xingyi, especially when the clips are outdoors for some reason. I think maybe because the intent is so much more inherently laser-focused than its sister arts in most clips. You're never able to completely forget what the purpose of this stuff is, what it's actually being trained for. And yet, there's a very definite and obvious Chinese flavor to the movement that somehow still makes it fit perfectly with the most tranquil garden setting or the most relaxing instrumental Chinese music.

Yang Hai himself also clearly demonstrates the well-ingrained neuromuscular patterns that result not only from lots of practice, but lots of slow, relaxed, controlled practice. In the first clip, compare how he comes to a halt in his movements versus how his student does it. While the student still shows the kind of slowing-to-a-halt that is indicative of neuromuscular uncertainty, Yang moves both smoothly and relaxed and yet halts his movement instantly at a consistently predefined posture, yet for all the abruptness of the halt, there is still no discernable excess tension causing it. IOW, he has clearly learned how to stop his movement by emptying with control, rather than by tensing up all the antagonist muscles.

This level of control is gained most fully not just through lots of repetition of the movement and the stopping, but by practicing both very slowly with as much relaxation as possible so as to provide the most precision in guaging what is happening internally in terms of going empty and full. It's always a pleasure to watch someone with that kind of hard-earned control.

[Wanderingdragon]

Well said, I think Master Yang even posted an article, discussing the virtues of Xing I soft practice to balnce the hard. As Xing I is taught with hard focused power in the beginning , many get stuck right there.

[Josealb]

That man owns it. Hats off.

[xingyijuan]

Chris: Yeah, he's light-years ahead of any of us. But then again, when I was 8 y.o., my grandfather never pulled me out of bed by the ear at 4-5AM everyday to go train.

WD: IIRC, his comments were exactly the opposite of what you've said. He always sustained that people don't get the necessity to train hardness to understand the softness. If I'm not mistaking, he said that you need at least ten years of hard force practice before you can even fathom what soft force practice should be. Too many people jump TOO EARLY to the soft force training, before the hard force training has taken effect.

Here is a quote from that article:

The normal progression of Xing Yi practice is that students should practice with relaxed body manner and structure. In this way, the hard force will be developed over time. At this stage, there is no soft or hard force involved at all - it is just a beginning stage. The beginning stage will only develop the basic skills of a certain style, especially by removing bad habits which are against the principles of the style. It usually takes at least a year to finish this step.

After students get the basic skills of Xing Yi movements, at the same time, their body will adapt in accordance with Xing Yi principles. Then, the next stage will begin from here: developing the hard force as much as possible. This is the crucial stage of the whole Xing Yi practice. Many Xing Yi practitioners stop their progression at this point or jump to the next stage too quickly. This is why eventually most Xing Yi practitioners are unable to develop force, or only get fake soft force, which may give them some false sense of security but which is useless in combat.

Traditionally, there have been so many masters that emphasized this stage of practice that some masters such as Shang Yuxiang, even said that he would practice hard force 30 years more if he could live longer.

Normally, this stage of developing true hard force takes about 5 to 10 years.

The next stage is the proper time to develop the soft force. It will be real soft force. However, please remember that the "soft" force is not soft at all - it is a kind of force that looks soft but is very powerful in application. It will take a much longer time to develop this stage. Many people confuse soft movements with soft force. They think that their movements are soft so their force must be soft force. It is simply wrong, because force is different from movement. Movement is only the vehicle of force

[everything]

excellent, thanks a lot

[Wanderingdragon]

I stand corrected thank you, fortunate I did not miss the point

[Wanderingdragon]

I would consider this an excellent example of soft and hard in Xing I quan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Aar_8E ... re=related
the power is obvious in the entire performance