Читать книгу Chinese Internal Boxing. Techniques of Hsing-I and Pa-Kua онлайн

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Robert W. Smith

Allen Pittman

Flat Rock, NC

PART ONE Introduction to Hsing-i Boxing

The theory of Hsing-i is simple. The aim is to divest ourselves of what we acquire after birth and return to the origin (the oneness) through the Five Fists and the Twelve Animal Styles. All of these derive from one style. Keeping the mind calm and at the tan-t'ien (below the navel), we will come to the one.

—Master Liu Hsiao-Ian

1

What Is Hsing-i?

NAME AND THING

The name of this style of Chinese boxing, hsing-i ch'uan, literally means "the kind of boxing (ch'uan) in which the forms (hsing) are created by the mind (i)." In this "mind-formed list," the mind predominates over mere physicality and, harmoniously blending thought and action, expresses itself in moving forms and postures dating back some 400 years.

Hsing-i is one of the three traditional Chinese forms of internal boxing, the other two being T'ai-chi ("tie-jee") and Pa-kua ("bah-gwah").¹ Each of the three internal arts is a distinct style of boxing, yet each shares with the others the fact that it is essentially a form of moving meditation. Boxing is something of a misnomer. Each of the internal arts is actually a self-contained and complete system of exercise that is permeated with functions combining grappling and striking, and that, through correct practice, is seen to be a superior system of self-defense. Each of them, through diligent practice, becomes a part of your life. Self-improvement on all levels—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual—is the reason we train in an art: it is there if needed, but it is used only in the greatest extremity because of its inherent power. In a utilitarian society, this might seem a silly motivation—to learn something so that you will never have to use it. But Hsing-i is an internal art, and, as such, it is more concerned with life, health, and creativity than with death, competition, or destruction.