Xing Yi Fighting

I went on you tube and found a TKD artist fighting w/ a Shaolin monk, pretty good fight. The KF artist was using XY, it was the way he blocked that gave it away. His stance wasn't what I thought it would be but the light blocks were a give away.

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Humility brings Understanding, Understanding brings Knowledge, Knowledge brings Wisdom,
Wisdom brings you Humility

Sorry no link but just look up fights it's labeled as taekwondo vs monk I believe.

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Humility brings Understanding, Understanding brings Knowledge, Knowledge brings Wisdom,
Wisdom brings you Humility

The Shaolin monk was using Snake style in that video

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Oh THAT'S how that works!

You sure, my XY form has a block way to identical to that one. Not that I'm saying your wrong, w/ 17 yrs under your belt who am I to say anything.

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Humility brings Understanding, Understanding brings Knowledge, Knowledge brings Wisdom,
Wisdom brings you Humility

Aye, I know Shaolin and I know Snake, he was doing Snake with Bei Shaolin intermixed

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Oh THAT'S how that works!

FN sweet then. I have seen very little snake to be able to compare, but my XY form has a snap block just like that.

__________________
Humility brings Understanding, Understanding brings Knowledge, Knowledge brings Wisdom,
Wisdom brings you Humility

Disclaimer: I don't know a whole lot about WC or XY, so if this sounds like a dumb question...that's because it is. I plead ignorance.

One thing that really strikes me as I look at XY demonstration vs a WC demo, it the use of combinations/chaining/whatever-you-wanna-call-it. In WC you always see the practitioner, throws a punch an elbow, and an uppercut all in one motion (ala machine gun).

XY doesn't seem to have the same sort of flow or rhythm. It's more like the WY guy bursts out with a monster strike. Then there's sort of a pause time (Much like a cannon blast followed by a reload time)

Is this just a characteristic of XY or am I missing something? To XY fighters ever use the ole' 1, 2 punch?

Xingyi fighters, like western boxers, do "know and throw" combos. The first solo form you learn in xingyi (after you learn the 5 Elements, split, drill, crush, cannon, cross) is called "Linked 5 Elements" and it has two major goals:
1. teach you to throw combos (1-2 and 1-2-3s)
2. train you to have enough gas to last through an average street fight (if you do Linked 5 Elements full blast it goes about 90 seconds start to finish)

I keep meaning to do a technical piece on 5 Form Linked but have not got around to it yet. I did do a piece that appeared about six months ago in Classical Fighting Arts magazine on the technical comparisons between Jack Dempsey's approach to punching power and xingyi's approach.

take care,
Brian

“	Originally Posted By: brianlkennedy Xingyi fighters, like western boxers, do "know and throw" combos. The first solo form you learn in xingyi (after you learn the 5 Elements, split, drill, crush, cannon, cross) is called "Linked 5 Elements" and it has two major goals: 1. teach you to throw combos (1-2 and 1-2-3s) 2. train you to have enough gas to last through an average street fight (if you do Linked 5 Elements full blast it goes about 90 seconds start to finish) I keep meaning to do a technical piece on 5 Form Linked but have not got around to it yet. I did do a piece that appeared about six months ago in Classical Fighting Arts magazine on the technical comparisons between Jack Dempsey's approach to punching power and xingyi's approach. take care, Brian	”

Great answer! Thanks! Just out of curiosity, what does XY offer in the way of kicking? I've seen a few forms and it looks like it's got a few low kicks, that may even be sweeps depending on your interpretation. Is XY a pure punching art or is there a whole section of kicking I just haven't seen yet?

If you look at a modern Chinese xingyi book, for example Li Tianji's book (which is one of the best books ever done on xingyiquan), what he lists as kicks for xingyi are:

1. Front kick; a snapping version, (with the heel hitting and another hitting with the point of the toes) and a stomping (i.e. kind of a pushing the opponent back)

2. A cross stomping kick; this is that one where you lift your leg, crank it outward and then strike downward onto the opponents shin or foot. It looks quite awkward and it is. I doubt if you could ever nail anyone with it unless the dude you are fighting has his feet nailed to the floor.

Now I would add two things that are not strictly speaking kicks but that are much higher percentage xingyi leg moves:

3.The xingyi monkey form is a double knee (the Monkey Scrambles Up Pole move) while clinching/holding the opponent's head.

4. There is also a move (which appears in several of the traditional xingyi forms) called Leopard Cat (or Wild cat) Climbs Tree. This is often shown as the cross stomp kick mentioned above, but the higher percentage way to do it is to use it to grapevine around the opponents legs then shove/dump him. In submission wrestling it is called inside trip (Darrel Gholar's submission wrestling dvd from On The Mat has a really good teaching segment on this move)

Although the books will say that xingyi places equal emphasis on kicks and punches, the reality is xingyi is basically a punching art. The legs are viewed as transport, not weapons. Certainly there is no high Korean/Northern Shaolin type kicking, and no side kick or roundhouse.

Xingyis goal with the legs is building really explosive attacks. One of the major failings of many xingyi teachers is their obsession with structure and static posing. It is absurd. Xingyi leg work is about explosive penetration steps, cutting across the opponents hips at a 45 or 90 degree angle. (it shares that with wrestling).

Hope this helps. Xingyi really is a great art, I really like it.
Take care,
Brian