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| Yiquan | |||||||||
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| Chinese | 意拳 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Mind Boxing" | ||||||||
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| dacheng quan | |||||||||
| Chinese | 大成拳 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Great Achievement Boxing" | ||||||||
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Yi quan, also known as dacheng quan, is a martial art system which was founded by the Chinese xingyiquan master, Wang Xiangzhai (王薌齋).
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History
Having studied xingyiquan with Guo Yunshen in his childhood,[citation needed] Wang Xiangzhai travelled China, meeting and comparing skills with masters of various styles of kung fu.[citation needed] In the mid-1920s, he came to the conclusion that xingyiquan was often taught wrong,[citation needed] with too much emphasis on 'outer form', neglecting the essence of true martial power.[citation needed] He worked to return to what he felt was the true essence of the art using a different name, without the 'xing' (meaning form), and began teaching and practicing accordingly.
In the 1930's, in Shanghai, Wang studied medicine and culture with Qien Xian Tan, a famous scholar and doctor. It was here that Qien introduced the idea that further exploration of Zhang Zhuang(standing practice), might be fundamental to the development of Yiquan. Wang researched this idea in the doctor's library, which was full of classic texts. Wang was always changing the practice and method of Yiquan, always innovating based on natural principles.
The style
Yiquan is essentially formless, containing no fixed sets of fighting movements or techniques. Instead, focus is put on developing one's natural movement and fighting abilities through a system of training methods and concepts, working to improve the perception of one's body, its movement, and of force. Yiquan is also set apart from other eastern martial arts in that traditional concepts like qi, meridians, dantian etc., are omitted, the reason being that understanding one's true nature happens in the present, and that preconceptions block this process.
Yiquan seems to have been influenced by various other arts that Wang was exposed to, including Fujian hèquán,Tai chi chuan, bāguàzhǎng, and Liuhebafa[citation needed]. Other arts as well such as the swimming dragon posture, present in shiao jiao, is transformed through feeling, understanding, and the condition of the practitioner. In fact, typical movements and postures from other systems abound in yiquan. It was the internal core of these other arts that made them effective. This core is what Master Wang decoded. In essence, there is only one principle of merit in all martial arts, one core, one moment of truth, one Natural Fist.
Overview
The actual training in yiquan can generally be divided into:
- Zhan zhuang (站樁) - Standing pole postures, where emphasis is put on natural condition, working to improve listening to the body and on developing Hunyuan Li,"Natural living force" or "all things that make the whole".
- Shi li (試力) -Testing force- moving exercises, trying to bring the sensations of Hun Yuan Li developed through Zhan zhuang into movements.
- Moca bu (摩擦步) -Mud stepping- Shi li for the legs.
- Fa li -Emission of force. a practice later dropped by Wang
- Shi Sheng -Producing sound with voice. a high level occurence, only relative to those with formidable understanding already in place.
- JiJi Fa -real Combat, not sparring.
Principle of Nature: All truth and action occur in Shunjen, the split second of now. Everything before and after this moment is 'Wu', the Void, and thus, uncontrollable or unknowable. All objective and preconception is fixed and not in accordance with this undetermined state of Nature. "The Dao that is called the Dao is not the eternal Dao".
Schools
Famous schools include the Han Xing Yuan (韓星垣) School, the Han Xing Qiao (韓星橋) School, the Han Shi Yiquan school (founded by Han Jing Chen), son of Han Xing Qiao), and the Li Jian Yu (李見宇) School. Teachers of modern yiquan include Yao Chengguang (姚承光) and Yao Chengrong (姚承榮), twin sons of Yao Zongxun (姚宗勛) and Cui Ruibin of Beijing. Teachers in the USA include Andrew Plack (Han Shi Yi Quan), Glenn Pasion (Han Shi Yi Quan) of Hawaii, and Sifu Gregory Fong of Portland, Oregon.
External links
- About Wang wiangzhai's teaching
- Grandmaster Wang Xiang-Zhai (1885-1963)
- Wang Xiangzhai - General Principles for Dachengquan
- Wang Xiangzhai’s directions in verse for Dachengquan
- Yiquan's Mocabu friction stepwork
- Han Shi Yiquan Hawaii Homesite
- Chinese Healing Arts, Sifu Gregory Fong
- Beijing Yiquan Academy, Master Yao Cheng Rong
- Orange County Fight Center
- French Academy of Kung Fu Wushu and Qi Gong (French)
- Yiquan and Qigong Institute Walter Marek (German)
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