Hsing-i gives good health and makes your body strong. Your internal organs are like the engine parts of a car, your muscles like its outer surface. Blood and ch'i are the fuel generating movement. If the engine parts are broken, the car will not run, even if it is full of gasoline and looks fine. Therefore, priority is given to the internal organs, which leads to a natural cultivation of ch'i, rather than to the outer muscles.
Coming from stillness, the upright postures teach grounding by lowering the waist and pelvis, relaxing the buttocks, and bending the legs. The rhythm of the movements provides aerobic benefits, while the alternate training of moving and pausing assists the sense of timing and rooting. Natural coordination is "restored" through movements stressing opposite-hand-and-foot substantiality as well as synchronized same-hand-and-foot movements. Finally, because balance is lost when you place your weight 50-50 between your legs ("double weighting"), Hsing-i depends upon single-weighted, "one-legged" boxing that allows you to distinguish the empty (yin) and the full (yang) and that enhances freer movement.
EXERCISE AND MEDITATION
Like Pa-kua, Hsing-i derives from ancient Buddhist and especially Taoist meditation practices. The physiological and esoteric principles have been explicated by master Kuo Yun-shen, and what follows in this section is a summary of his teachings. Taoist meditation and internal boxing both have the goal of emptiness. But where meditation goes from inaction to action, boxing goes in the opposite direction, from action to inaction. From the Taoists, the Hsing-i masters borrowed the following concept of changes:
| Hsing-i Stages | Taoist Sedentary Changes | Body Changes | Type of Energy |
| 1. Change essence to ch'i | Hard burning | Bones | Visible |
| 2. Change ch'i spirit | Summoning fire | Sinews | Concealed |
| 3. Change spirit to emptiness | Divine lire | Marrow | Mysterious |
To get visible energy, you must be centered and balanced. This energy transforms essence (actually connoting but meaning much more than just sexual energy) into ch'i, which changes the bones. When you stand and move, your bones become hard and your body becomes solid like a mountain. After rigorous practice for an extended period, your dispersed ch'i is concentrated at your navel and all parts of your body become coordinated.
The next stage is concealed energy. Developing from the first stage, it is free, relaxed, and natural. It is not soft like snow, but elastic like grass. Here, ch'i is transformed into vital spirit and the sinews are energized.
In the next and highest stage, that of mysterious energy, the bone marrow is washed and cleaned, relaxation is complete, and your internal organs are so purified that you become as light as a feather. The energy becomes so concentrated that its nature is restored to that of original emptiness. Your actions are the same, but your energy remains inside, controlled by the mind.
But how does Hsing-i manifest itself in these three stages? Traditionally, it is described thus: in the visible stage, it is "like a steel chisel that thrusts out strongly and falls lightly like a piece of bamboo"; in the concealed stage, it "starts like an arrow and falls weightlessly, like the wind"; and in the highest stage, it "follows the wind and chases the moon." An outsider never sees it hit. Here, the mind is mindless; you do nothing and have done everything. In the emptiness you find your pre-birth energy, but if you search too hard it will elude you. It is better to think that you already possess such energy. This will influence your mind, the embodiment of all actions. Remember— Hsing-i is boxing with the mind.
| PART TWO | Hsing-i Training |
3
The Basics
All Hsing-i movements are performed lightly and briskly, and the entire body is relaxed, without the strong muscular contraction of karaté and other external forms. To learn to do Hsing-i properly, you must first master the following fundamentals.
THE FIVE POSITIONS
| Chicken Leg | One leg supports the body while the other |
| is held off the ground. | |
| Dragon Body | The body stands in three straight sections: |
| heels to knees, knees to hips, and hips to | |
| head. | |
| Bear Shoulders | The shoulders are rounded, curving from |
| the spine like a bow. | |
| Eagle Claws | The fingers clutch tightly like talons. |
| Tiger Embrace | The arms menace threateningly, looking |
| like a tiger leaving its den. |
THE SIX COORDINATIONS
The six coordinations are extremely important to the correct practice of Hsing-i, since, if the ch'i and the movement are not coordinated, then the posture will be incorrect and you will not be able to use your ch'i. If the body is straight and does not lean in any direction, the mind will be clear, the ch'i will be harmonious, and the movement will be natural. Thus, internally, the spirit controls the mind, which controls the ch'i, which controls the strength. Externally, the hands pressing downward correlate with the heels turning outward; the sinking of the elbows is correlated with the slight inward pressing of the knees; and the shoulders and thighs relax. Total true movement can come about only if these six coordinations are unified, harmonized, and maintained.
| Internal | External |
| Spirit — Mind | Shoulders — Thighs |
| Mind — Ch'i | Elbows — Knees |
| ch'i — Strength | Hands — Feet |
THE NINE WORDS
1) Press your head upward, your tongue forward and upward (so that it touches the upper palate), and your palms strongly to the front.
2) When you "button down" your shoulders, the chest empties and ch'i flows freely to the elbows. When you "button down" your hands and feet, the palms and soles empty and ch'i flows freely to them. When your teeth "button down," your tendons and bones contract.
3) By rounding your back, your strength "urges" the body, your coccyx straightens, and your spirit rises. By rounding the chest, the elbows protect the heart and the breath (ch'i) moves freely. By rounding the tiger's mouth (hu k'ou, the space between the thumb and index finger), your energy (ching) is directed outward and your arms develop "embracing" energy.
4) Learn to keep your mind (heart: hsin) relaxed so that it can respond to any situation, to keep your eyes alert, and to keep your hands ahead of your enemy (i.e., to move them in such a way that the enemy cannot see them strike).
5) Hold your ch'i securely within