makes it tricky. Xingyi vs Hsing-I for example. With different spelling and all and a different language it can make it easier to use something easier to pronounce.
So you'll have the ability to learn the Chinese if you want, but for the mass public you'll often hear more family terms. Also bear in mind that in Japan there is pretty much one language, in China there is at least 7 major variations. So which Chinese name do you want to learn
Yes we do learn the 5 elements first with Hsing-I
As far as movements behind the techniques. I believe there are some schools that do it a bit differently, the SD school I attend focuses more on the internal arts and my instructor is AWESOME
When I say complete i mean complete movements, we are taught certain ways to breathing and think on each element. As well as how to borrow energy and use there forward attacking momentum to our advantage. Where the hmmm I dont' know how to spell it only say it but the closest I can think is "wa jing" though I think a lot of people spell it with a fa or something. I was actually having a conversation about Hsing-I recently and out of all the videos on youtube the closest my instructor could find to ours was this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfAi3OdD4oQ&feature=related not exact but very close to the way we practice. So all I mean by complete is, though new to the Hsing-I taught in SD I don't see what could be missing. Well maybe I should be more careful how I word it
I remember learning 3 body and foot work, and I remember learning the 5 elements and animals. I've not tested it on it as I'm very new to it, but I believe the first time we test is with the 5 elements and what we call linking form or linking of the five roads. I think I read some where a post from you or another that said this is nothing something you do in Xingyiquan, but please dont' quote me there, I've been on here looking for some conversations to participate in and dont' have a direct quote.
and yes fajin is the way I've seen it spelled. It's where you have like an live energy shoot through your entire body, so that all of you is in the attack. We've never done sparring with Hsing-I, and we only focus on breath when we are doing the forms, but when we are doing applications, master says not to worry about the breath, you train the breath so that when you do it you forget the breath but your body remembers what to do. That's not a direct quote but that's what I got from what he told us. The only reason we test on it, is because it's part of the Shaolin-Do curriculum. I don't think they said it was from the temple but directly but as I don't recall the whole origin of the top of my head I'll stop there.
No worries I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me
Hmmm I'm not sure where SD gets it from I'd have to ask sometime... As far as more to it then can be in one seminar, I completely understand. The seminar was only for the animals, and it was just meant as an introduction to the material. Like I mentioned though I am very very new to the techniques. However what I have been taught is awesome stuff I think
I like the stories to. I am told a story about a move we do with the foot work for crushing fist (wood). Please excuse my spelling in advance as I've heard the story from my sifu I didn't read it. There was a man named Quo, (not sure how to spell sounds like ka-woah), and he was a famous xingyi guy, he had mastered crushing fist, he was challenged but I dont' remember the challenger's name, they signed a death weaver saying that if one died it was a test of skill among masters so the other was not held accountable. He fought and ended up killing the man. Someone, student of friend of the dead challenger, hid the document or something and he was arrested for murder. in prison they died a ball and chain to his one hand and one ankle. He worked on his crushing fist in prison and would have to drag up his back foot. this type of drag with the back foot at the moment of punching we call "half step quo" since he developed it don't know how historically accurate it is, but I believe my Sifu and I think it's a cool story
