Yi means
Imagination, or the power of the mind; Quan means
fist, and is often for martial arts or
boxing.
Yiquan is a inner martial art system, or
neijiaquan, and is also a great way for to cultivate health and mind. In
its methods
Yiquan continuously cultivates the human body and its mental skills.
Besides its great development
of
power and fighting skills.Yiquan was founded by Wang Xiangzhai (1885-1963), one
of the greatest masters
of Chinese
martial arts. Master Wang learned Xingyiquan from famous Master Guo
Yunshen. In his time
master Wang
was famous for his martial arts, qigong and skills in chinese
medicine. He dedicated his life to search for
the essence
of the inner martial arts. Master Wang was the opinion that the
most martial art systems put too
much value
in the movements of the body, instead or the development of the inner
force. He also was
convinced
that the knowledge has to be taught freely and without any mystirious
secrets. After Guo
Yunshen`s death,
Wang travelled extensively around China looking for different masters of
mertial arts. As a result of his
research
he
became convinced that far too much time and effort was spent on learning pretty
movements and empty
forms.
He
based his teaching on Xingyiquan but kept simplifying and modifying it to put
greater emphasis on mental
training
rather
than outer form. He therefore decided to drop 'xing' (form) - from Xingyiquan
and called his new
system
Yiquan.
1939, after moving to Beijing and perfecting his
system, Wang Xiangzhai issued an open challenge to all
other
masters of martial arts to "come and exchange experiences and ideas". Many came
to test their skills but
none succeeded in defeating Wang Xiangzhai nor the four top students he
designated to take
challenges. Wang Xiangzhai`s system became very famous and he had a lot of students. But his
desiganted successor has
been Yao
Zongxun. Master Yao Zongxun carried on his teachers work, and made major steps
in the development
of
Yiquan.
In Yiquan
there are 6 basic training sections. *Zhan Zhuang - Standing Plole *Shi Li-
Testing the force, which also
includes Shi Sheng - Testing the Voice * Zou Bu- Walking
patterns, where the basic is the Mocabu- friction
step
*Fa li- releasing force *Tui Shou- Pushing Hands *San Shou- Free
fight.
The training is mainly focused on two aspects 1 Health and
increasing strength 2 Fighting
Skills.
As mentioned above, ZhanZhuang is the basic exercise in Yiquan (more about this
in the ZhanZhuang
area),
where
the focus is on the use of the Mind, and the coordination between Body and Mind.
This Mind is called
Yi in chinese and means Imagination, Spirit. Through the process of exercising
we will develop an understanding
of
Song- Realxed and Jin- Tight, and how they interfere in our force, our
moving, our balance, our agility and our state
of mine. The training of Yiquan helps to understand and balance
the contradiction of Jin and Song. Their is a
saying "Song er bu xie- Jin er bu jiang", that means "Relaxed but not soft-
Tight but not hard". Which can be interpreted
as
the
balance of Jin and Song, a state of art, where Body and Mind can
develop their greatest force, are still
flexible and in balance.
As through the training the Body and Mind come more in Balance, this
balance also reflects on our life and
health.
Your
health will increase and your Mind will stay more
relaxed and focused during your all day life
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