Matt Stone
Master of Arts
While two articles have already summed up the basic intro to Yiliquan (they can be found here: http://www.cyberkwoon.com/html/styles.php?letter=Y&sortby=title), here is a brief summary -
Yiliquan was formally presented to the public in 1982 by Sifu Phillip Starr. Yili is a synthetic style created through the amalgamation of Shanxi Xingyiquan, Yang Taijiquan, Chang Baguazhang and Baixingquan (a Northern Shaolin derivative style).
The heart of Yili is not its technique, but rather the strategies of their application. Yili has eight forms called "Shapes," which teach eight different methods of footwork and movement against the opponent. Ultimately, the point is to internalize the strategies of the Eight Shapes in order to attain the "Ninth Shape," that of a formless, Shapeless response to physical or non-physical attack.
If you have any questions, Sifu Starr and quite a few of the senior instructors can be contacted at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yilichuan/.
Yiliquan was formally presented to the public in 1982 by Sifu Phillip Starr. Yili is a synthetic style created through the amalgamation of Shanxi Xingyiquan, Yang Taijiquan, Chang Baguazhang and Baixingquan (a Northern Shaolin derivative style).
The heart of Yili is not its technique, but rather the strategies of their application. Yili has eight forms called "Shapes," which teach eight different methods of footwork and movement against the opponent. Ultimately, the point is to internalize the strategies of the Eight Shapes in order to attain the "Ninth Shape," that of a formless, Shapeless response to physical or non-physical attack.
If you have any questions, Sifu Starr and quite a few of the senior instructors can be contacted at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yilichuan/.