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Just what is this strange looking martial art? Why is it different? What makes it so powerful?

For the record, Xingyiquan is pronounced "shing-EE chwen" and can vary slightly depending on the Chinese dialect.

It can be spelled many different ways, such as: "Xingyiquan," "Xing Yi Quan," "Hsing-I Chuan," Hsing Yi Ch'uan," etc. Pinyin is the official English romanization of the Chinese language, so I went with that - hence the spelling:"Xingyiquan."

Xingyiquan is a very old Chinese martial art that most believe originated in the early 1600s. It is a very powerful art which is classified as an internal system like it's sister arts Taijiquan (Tai Chi) and Baguaquan. However, Xingyi's mindset is that of an aggressive nature. Where Taijiquan yields and and blends with an opponent's attack, and Bagua circles and evades, Xingyi smashes right through the opponent in a linear fashion with an unrelenting attack.

Xingyiquan is a no-nonsense fighting system - relatively easy to learn, but difficult and long to master. Proper body mechanics and quieting of the mind and body are of utmost importance to excel in this art. The power is generated from the ground in the Xingyi practitioner's legs, funneled up through the body and out the arms. In fact, when the practitioner strikes, he is striking with his entire body, not just his fists.

The heart of Xingyi are five fist forms or "wu xing." These are short repetitive forms each depicted by the Chinese five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Each one generates a different kind of energy or fighting power and each one corresponds to an internal organ of the body. Advanced training introduces twelve animal forms based on the five fists.

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