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Yi Quan
The way of harmony of body and mind.
Known as the quintessence of Wu Shu is created by Wang Xiang Zhai in 1930.
Between meditation, qi gong, tai chi, yoga, dance and boxing, it aims for physical and mental well-being, mindfulness and combat. Synthesis of the deepest Chinese arts, it takes into account all the essentials aspects of the human being and life.
Description of the ideogram of Yi (intention, though), we find the character of the heart in it. The Chinese consider the Xīn / 心 heart (on the picture at the bottom of the character) to be the residence of the Shen / 神 spirit which includes consciousness, mental activity, memory, thoughts and sleep. The "Shen" is about the vitality of the person, it finds its reflection in the eyes, the speech, the reactions and in the general appearance. On the physical plane the region of the heart is the vibratory center of love. This is seen here by the flame which replaces the upper tone of the character. On the right and on the left the two dragons. In Chinese but also Hellenic tradition, the dragon represents the spirit and the ability to see with clarity.
WHO IS THE FOUNDER OF YI QUAN?
The origin of Yi quan
Wang Xiang Zhai and the foundation of Yi Quan
Within Chinese martial arts, a new simple and natural martial art has attracted the attention of Chinese and foreign martial arts enthusiasts, it is “Yiquan”.
When martial arts are mentioned, it is natural to think of Shaolin, Wudang, internal (neija) and external (weija). But Yiquan is modern and independent, It is neither internal nor external, and does not belong to Shaolin or Wudang. It is modern, and independent. In Yiquan, there is no “Taolu” or “determined method” (guding zhaofa), which is unprecedented in different Chinese martial arts. It was created by Wang Xiang Zhai.
Wang Xiang Zhai, was born in 1885 in Weilin and died in Tianjin in July 1963, at the age of 78.
When Wang Xiang Zhai was young, his body was of weak constitution and he frequently fell ill. He learned Xingyiquan from Mr. Guo Yunshen He trained hard, studied earnestly and received approval from Mister Guo.
At the beginning of his training, Wang Xiang Zhai did not focus on factional differences in martial arts. He considered that the history of Chinese martial arts was rich, that in different times and places there were many masters who had their own style and strengths. This is the reason why Chinese martial arts, whose origins are far away, are so rich. Wang Xiang Zhai’s view of martial arts was not fixed. Starting from partial knowledge, he devoted his whole life and energy to the study and research of martial arts.
Around 1907, Wang Xiang Zhai left his master to expand his experiences. He arrived in Beijing in 1913. By 1918, he traveled to Henan, Hunan, Hubei, Fujian, he taught martial arts in Fuzhou. He then started teaching in Tianjin. He then extended an invitation to all the grandmasters in the country. When he was in Henan, he exchanged knowledge with a Xinyiquan (also known as Xingyiquan) master, the monk Henglin of Song Mountain Shaolin Temple. Xinyiquan and Xingyiquan have a common origin. Therefore, Wang Xiangzhai’s stay in Shaolin is heavy with significance in terms of martial research.
In the 1920s, Wang Xiangzhai put the materials he had collected in order and founded “Yi Quan”. It is the crystallization of Wang’s long experience. The creation of Yi Quan is undoubtedly a major innovation in the world of traditional Chinese martial arts. Yi Quan is concerned with health and combat.
Who Is The founder of Yi Quan?
For health, it is necessary to “conform to nature, to be in harmony with its needs”. In practical terms, this means conforming to the physiological mechanisms of the body and its functions. This is why Mr. Wang showed that the important thing is to “fix your mind, stabilize your thought, seek natural comfort. At the same time, this improves the central nervous system of the practitioner and increases the quality of the body. In terms of training, Yi Quan has given up the traditional practice of “Taolu” and determined methods, in order to return to simplicity and authenticity, which has revealed the original aspect of Chinese martial arts and enriched the content of the martial theory. In Yi Quan, it is considered that if we only focus on the techniques and methods of combat in training, if we only concentrate mechanically on this posture or that technique, we will move away from the global conditions required by martial arts. The training method summarized and transmitted by Wang Xiangzhai has not only enriched the traditional training methods of Chinese martial arts, but has also been inspired by the example set by modern sports practices. Nowadays, at the international level, whether we are talking about ball sports, athletics, gymnastics, diving, or even the training methods used by spacemen, in all cases we resort to concentration of the mind, relaxation of the muscles and psychological training. There are similarities here with the training and theory of Yiquan.
In 1928, Wang Xiangzhai took on the role of referee at the national Wushu competition in Hangzhou (杭州). He then went to Shanghai to teach Yi Quan. In 1938, he taught in Beijing. In the summer of 1940, Yi Quan enthusiasts named it “Dachengquan”. At that time, Mr. Wang did not like to refuse, so he started to use the word Dachengquan to refer to Yiquan. As he said at that time, “Amateurs enjoy training, they use the words Dacheng (great achievement) to refer to the martial art because they want to achieve it but don’t know where to start, they just talk about it.” After that, he said: “Martial art is borderless, the name Dacheng comes from nowhere”. So he used the term Yi Quan again.
The field of martial arts is unique, when new things appear, contradictions quickly emerge with the traditional and outdated views. Wang’s doctrine shook up the martial arts world quite a bit. At that time, Chinese and foreign masters came to discuss with Wang Xiang Zhai the main goals of martial arts. When he was in Shanghai, he met in a western youth association with the world lightweight boxing champion, Hungarian Yingge (Chinese transliteration of Hungarian name). In the exchange, Yingge attacked Wang with a jab and Wang countered with his left hand, sending Yingge to the ground. After his defeat Yingge wrote an article in the London Times about Chinese martial arts where he expressed his admiration for Wang Xiang Zhai and the high level that Chinese martial arts could achieve.
During the autumn of 1937, the famous Beijing master Hong Xuru came to visit Mr. Wang. They decided to have a three-round duel. For the first assault, Mister Xuru used the “piquan” of xingyiquan against Wang Xiangzhai. Although he hit his opponent’s shoulder, he ended up on the ground. For the second assault, he used the “hupu” technique of tiger, and ended up on the ground. The third time, he used the “bengquan” and ended up on the ground once again. As Mr. Hong sought knowledge more than victory, he asked to be taught by Wang Xiangzhai. They talked together about the principles and theory of martial art. As Xuru was a man of great understanding, he asked his students to follow Master Wang.
In the early 1940s, a Japanese man, Batian Yilang (Chinese transliteration of the Japanese name), 6th dan in judo (who represented Japan in the the Olympic Games in 1936) came to challenge Mister Wang. Batian tried to grab Mister Wang’s wrist to make a hold, but as soon as the two hands made contact, Batian was thrown against the wall, before falling to the ground.
Afterwards, another Japanese, Kenichi Sawai, 5th dan in judo and 3rd dan in sword came to compete with Mr. Wang. After being defeated, he learned Yi Quan from Wang Xiang Zhai. In the 70’s he wrote about his vision of Yi Quan and his training with Mister Wang in his book “Taikiken, Chinese martial art of real combat”.
In 1947, WXZ founded the “Research Association for the Study of Martial Arts” (quanxue yanjiu hui), in order to widely spread Yiquan. His health and strengthening method was then named postural work Zhan Zhuang gong .
In 1950, Mr. Wang was a preparator for the General Sports Association of China, as chairman of the martial art section. He left this position due to outside assignments.
In 1951, he taught posture at the Chinese Medicine Research Institute of Baoding in Hebei. He has done a lot of research on the effectiveness of Chinese martial arts in treating and preventing diseases. Nowadays, Yi Quan postural work has spread to almost the whole country and WXZ has made a contribution to popular health disciplines.
In July 1963, Wang Xiangzhai died in Tianjin. His works are “The True Way of Yiquan” and “The Center of the Martial Way”.
WHAT ARE THE Specials points in Yi quan?
In general, people who practice a martial art aim for three purposes: to strengthen health (健身 jian shen), interest, and self-defense (自卫 ziwei). Health is prolonging the vital principle (养生 yangsheng) and driving out disease, strengthening the body. The interest is during training, constantly researching the martial theory and get infinite pleasure from it. Self-defense is nothing but fighting (技击 jiji). These three aspects are very important, especially since they are inseparable. If one aspect is lacking, no martial result can be achieved. If a martial art is not able to strengthen the body, is it necessary for that martial art to survive? Conversely, if one does not have a strong and vigorous physical constitution, how can one claim to become martially talented. Similarly, if one is not guided by a scientific approach to the martial arts, if one blindly and superstitiously seeks an imaginary goal, one is distancing oneself from the true meaning of martial arts. This kind of approach not only wastes a lot of time, but also has a negative effect on physical and mental health. Therefore, it is necessary to think carefully about these problems when practicing a martial art.
Yiquan considers that one should first strengthen the body and cultivate the will. The next step is martial research, in order to extend and develop the precious Chinese cultural heritage. Finally, we can discuss self-defense, i.e. the way of combat. Wang Xiangzhai, the founder of Yiquan said: “If we talk about facing the enemy, the martial way is the extreme technique”. So we can see that attacking is not the main goal of Yiquan, but it is a constitutive element of the training.
In the first chapter it was already said that Yiquan is based on Xingyiquan, that it has assimilated the strengths of many martial artists to form a particular martial art, comprising a complete and finished training system. Half a century of experimentation has proven that Yiquan has achieved outstanding results in both health and combat. At the same time, Yiquan has continued to absorb scientific training methods from China and abroad to enrich and develop martial study. In many ways, Yiquan is a contemporary martial art that continues to develop.
The main aspect of Yiquan training is posture (站桩 zhanzhuang). Therefore, as soon as we talk about Yiquan, we automatically think of the posture. In truth, many martial arts advocate the posture but Yiquan is the only one that has erected the posture as a central principle. The Yiquan stance is different from the stances of other schools. It is not a simple energy training, its main goal is not to increase muscle mass or endurance. Yiquan health posture is not Qigong (气功), there is no focus on “small and large circulation” (小周天，大周天 xiao zhou tian, da zhou tian), there is no focus on “Dantian” (丹田), there is no focus on regulating breathing. It is about staying natural, concentrating, relaxing the body and training in a restful way with natural breathing as the principle. The Yiquan training method is simple, does not harm the nerves, does not waste energy. No matter where you are, no matter how long you train, no matter if you walk, stand, sit, or lie down, you can always train. That is why it is appreciated by patients and practitioners. According to the angle of the fight, Yiquan has no “Taolu”, nor determined sequences, it is only a question of emitting the force according to one’s feeling at any time, in any place. This is a particular point of Yiquan.
According to Yiquan, according to common knowledge, and pragmatic experimentation, martial art is not something that can be organized according to a certain procedure after which it can be practiced. Yiquan has no “Taolu” and no set sequence, but this does not mean that there is no discipline at all, that one can stand in any way and strike in a haphazard way. The Yiquan method is based on the theory and general principles of martial arts.
What are the effects of Yiquan training on the body?
1. Strengthen the body, and develop the body as a whole.
Yiquan emphasizes the training of the whole body. The human body is a wholeness (整体 zhengti). Although it is divided into parts: hands (手 shou), head (头 tou), feet (足 zu), etc., we cannot talk about it separately, nor can we train by parts (localized training has a definite benefit, but in the long run, training only a part of the body certainly causes damage). Through the posture, Yiquan, by unifying the mental work, the movement and the strength, allows to unify the body and the spirit and to train each part of the body. Yiquan training is not concerned with brute force or violent movements. On the health side, standing and concentrating the mind is enough to train the body and mind, to drive out illness and to strengthen the body. On the side of combat, it is appropriate to stand and seek strength in the absence of strength, seek skill in clumsiness, seek speed in small movements, thus training the mind, will, Qi (气) and blood, nerves and bones. Emitting strength in any position, counter attacking in any circumstance are the strengths of Yiquan. Yiquan training emphasizes alternating “relaxation” (松 song) and “tension” (紧 jin) of the mind and limbs. Now, the “relaxation” and “unwinding” of the mind and limbs directly influence the strength, speed, endurance, agility, and coordination of the body. It is through imagination that Yiquan allows one to get used to alternating “relaxation” and “tension” in order to develop the body globally and efficiently.
2. Cultivate a determined will, improve the psychological state of man.
Martial training can change character: a person in poor health cannot show great determination, let alone great ambition. Even if we have noble aspirations in our undertakings for which we do violence to ourselves, our means are not equal to our needs and many efforts lead to few results. If we are confronted with the unexpected (a mental shock, a professional failure, an onslaught of foreign forces, etc.) we lose our self-confidence and we are out of resources. A martial artist can not only obtain a good physical constitution, but also a great confidence in the great causes of life. When the unexpected happens, he can show vigor, a fighting spirit, and overcome difficulties with courage. As the saying goes, “Great artists are courageous, and with courage art rises even higher. Learning Yiquan not only trains the body, but more importantly educates the mind. Yiquan has always emphasized mental training. This manifests itself through daily training by concentrating the mind, forgetting oneself and not being afraid, building a fighting spirit, etc. In recent years, the importance of psychological training in sports competitions has become clear. The particular psychological training method of Yiquan has attracted the attention of the sports world. Experience has shown that through Yiquan training, people can maintain a good psychological state through self-confidence and body health, but also in case of a setback or an attack, it is possible to remain clear-headed and to face eventualities calmly with confidence and determination. This is the consequence of long-term training in Yiquan, through the constant education of intelligence, courage and perseverance.
what is The scientific character of Yiquan training?
Yiquan is similar to other sports, it is a science of body movement. Therefore, it is necessary to be guided by the scientific theory and to practice daily under the scientific experimentation. Yiquan training is scientifically based on dynamics, anatomy, and psychology. Combining scientific theory and experimentation, abandoning misleading and baseless superstitious beliefs, is the scientific attitude of Yiquan.
All body movements are guided by the nervous system, and the use of muscles on the skeleton. That is to say, the skeleton is a lever, the joints are pivots, and the muscular contraction allows to perform all kinds of movements. It is therefore clear that the nervous system is extremely important for body movements. However, the nervous system is always controlled and influenced by the will, as we say: “the intention is the commander in chief of the force”. In Yiquan, the character Yi (intention, creative thought) is emphasized, it is the martial art of intention, which demonstrates the importance of “mental movements” within the practice. Writers have an intention before they write, painters have ideas in their hearts. It is no different in martial arts, if one is no longer guided by intention, one cannot use force. Martial art unifies body and mind on a high level. Without the manifestation of body movement, the mind is merely imagining in a vacuum. Without the use of the mind, the movements of the body are blind. Martial artists dare not seek victory through spontaneous movements. The story of “Li Gang shoots at the stone” is enlightening in this regard. The “general who shoots a bow in the night” Li Guang mistook a stone for a wild tiger. Only after he shot an arrow did he realize that he could not pierce the stone. As long as he did not realize that it was a stone, he could have shot as much as he wanted, but he could not have pierced it. There is a problem here between intention and force, a difference with the imagination and the mind that makes the manifestation of force with a remarkable difference. Without reproduction in the imagination, there can be no corresponding stimulation of the mind. This is why Wang Xiangzhai said: “Intention is strength”, without intention there can be no strength.
Without intention there can be no strength. Movements are only the manifestation of muscular movements, and muscular movements are necessarily guided by intention. At the physiological level, it is possible to observe whether a force is large or small. Apart from the size of the muscle striae (i.e. their diameter), force is particularly related to the striated nature of the muscles. This is the ability of the nervous system to control the muscle fibers. Muscles are composed of a multitude of muscle fibers. Regardless of an individual’s size or weight, the number of muscle fibers varies little. But in general, a large number of muscle fibers do not participate in movement because they cannot be controlled by the nervous system. With training, it is possible to increase the control capacity of muscle fibers, in other words, it is possible for the athlete to contract more muscle fibers at the same time. Through its training method, Yiquan insists on mental work which allows to achieve and control the internal energy potential. Wang Xiangzhai was small in stature, but he could suddenly control a great explosive force. As a result, Yiquan is not only a mental exercise but also a sport that manifests itself materially. Some people think that Yiquan allows one to acquire “empty strength” (空劲儿 kong jin’er) i.e. one could triumph over the opponent without touching him. This is a false interpretation of Yiquan.
According to sports physiology, sports skill is manifested by the conditioned reflex. In martial arts, the way of using force is different from the way of using force in daily life or work, so it is through training that one should succeed. The construction of the conditioned reflex and the athletic ability generally goes through three stages: normalization, distinction, and automation. Normalization is the beginning phase of the study.
During the distinction phase, one can be wrong or right, but it is only during the automation phase that one can claim to master a sport. Only then can we talk about applications. The main training method of Yiquan is the posture. One should train in a relatively static state to allow one’s mind to concentrate at a high level. Then, under the guidance of the mind, one should strengthen the correct conditioned reflexes, examine the weak points (i.e. the places that lack strength), in order to overcome them, accelerate the manifestation of athletic ability, build up a solid strength that can be used in combat. Without the training of posture reinforcement, in case of confrontation, one can only exchange blows blindly and forget the method of combat. Sports pedagogy and experimentation have demonstrated this point. All trainers have understood that by trying to go fast one cannot succeed. When learning a new movement, one must go from slowness to speed, from immobility to mobility. It’s the same thing with martial arts.
When training in martial arts, one must not only understand some physiological and anatomical principles, but also have mechanical knowledge: lever, spiral, slide, oblique, triangle, friction, balance in force, paradoxical force. This is the only way to progress in Yiquan. In short, in Yiquan training, one must experiment, be guided by science, and constantly synthesize one’s experiments, in order to be initiated, one must expand one’s knowledge every day.
what is The content of Yi quan training?
Yiquan mainly consists of posture (站桩 zhan zhuang), strength test (试力 shi li which includes the sound test: 试声 shi sheng), walking (走步 zou bu), force emission (发力 fa li), pushing hands (推手 tui shou), and free fighting (散手 san shou).
Posture is the basic training of Yiquan. There are health postures and combat postures. It is about training while apparently remaining motionless. In the health postures (健身桩 jian shen zhuang), the emphasis is on training the mind and the role of the creative thought which must command the movements. One must concentrate one’s mind, relax the whole body, and breathe naturally. The combat postures are the basis for the study of combat. With the basics of health postures, one uses the mind to build a paradoxical force (争力 zheng li: this force can be explained by alternating the tension and relaxation of all parts of the body, thus unifying the mind and body, the body and the outside world, in order to control during the sport, the body and mental energies). One can then elaborate a force of the whole body and the outer world, a force that is called “primordial force” (浑元力 hunyuan li traditionally refers to the state where the force and the mind reach a balance between up and down, front and back, right and left). The postures intended for learning primordial strength are the fighting postures (技击桩 jiji zhuang). Although the training of these two types of postures differs, they are related. If one only wants to drive away diseases, one may not practice the combat postures, but the combat postures are also very useful for strengthening the body. Therefore, these two types of postures cannot be totally separated.
The heart of Yiquan is the posture: on the basis of the posture, through the concentration of the mind and the mental activity, we look for strength in the absence of strength, we look for microscopic movements while remaining motionless, we look for movement in stillness. It is a method of mastering the primordial force in order to put it into action. Practical experimentation has shown that such a method allows one to control the energy and internal potential of the body during sport.
Yiquan considers relaxation (松 song) and tension (紧 jin) to be the two contradictory elements of all human movement. For example, strength, speed, agility, coordination, endurance are conditioned by muscle contraction or relaxation. So the content of Yiquan training is to know how to master and use relaxation and tension. What we call relaxation and tension corresponds to the relaxation and tension of the muscles but also of the mind, of the spirit and it is the spirit that is primordial. Every muscular movement is determined by the mind, the nerves are influenced by the will of the mind. Thus, the control of the will of the mind is fundamental. This is the reason why the word Yiquan is written with the character Yi (意 intention, creative thought).
The basic exercise of Yiquan is the posture teaches practitioners to stretch, relax their mind and body. First, we learn to relax. Then one begins to alternate relaxation and tension in order to harmonize them. This harmonization leads to a state where one is “relaxed without being soft, tense without being rigid”, which allows to promote the circulation of blood and Qi, and to stimulate the metabolism, and to regulate the vital functions of the internal organs.
The posture allows to harmonize and unify the body at a high level, the limbs become a global whole. It is said that “as soon as you move, nothing should remain inert”. With training, one can feel the great coordination and agility of the body, and with the alternation of tension and relaxation, one educates the overall elastic strength. “No place is not elastic” (this means that every place in the body can be used with elastic-like force, it is this force that should be controlled and used in combat).
“Trying strength” (试力 shi li). This is the extension in space of the posture. One should not force, the movements should be slow, one should look for calmness in the movement, speed in the small movements. It is necessary to concentrate on the globality. “As soon as we move, nothing must remain inert”, we use the global and primordial force that we have educated through the posture. When the limbs move, equal force, ease and dexterity are conditions for emitting force at will, at any time, and in any position.
“Emit force” (发力 fa li). In martial art, it is the movement that strikes with force. The posture and the force test are necessary conditions for the successful emission of force. It is a matter of being able to emit force in different conditions, at any time, and in any position. This is the strong point of Yiquan.
“Walking” (走步 zou bu), which is still called rubbing walking (摩擦步 mo ca bu), is the training that combines the force test with moving. The principle to look for is “when the top moves, the bottom follows; when the bottom moves, the top leads”. In the alternation between forward and backward, right and left, forward and backward, maintaining the balance of the center of the body and the overall coordination of the body, are conditions for the spontaneous emission of force.
“Hand thrusts” (推手 tui shou) and sparring (散手 san shou: “scattering hands” ) are the practical training methods for sparring.
“Hand thrusts” are the concretization of the strength test and walking .So we can talk about shi li with two. The training of hand pushing consists mainly in, when you come into contact with your opponent, hindering him in order to be able to attack him effectively. The san shou is the realization of all the training of the martial art, the synthetic manifestation and the direct testing of the training. In its original meaning, it is unconditional hand-to-hand combat.