Xīn Yì Liù Hé Quán
Routine and forms:
Sì Bă Quán Tào Lù (Four grasps boxing routine). For a description, click here.
Jī Bù (Chicken step). For a description and applications, click here.
Shé Tŭ Xìn (Snake spitting tongue). For a description and applications, click here.
Yīng Dŏu Chì (Eagle trembling wing). For a description and applications, click here.
Bō Shŏu (Blocking/grabbing hand). For a description and applications, click here.
Mă Xíng Chōng Quán (Horse form rushing fist). For a description and applications, click here.
Dān Bă (Single grasp). For a description and applications, click here.
Xiăo Tā Bă (Little collapsing grasp). For a description and applications, click here.
The routine and short forms of xīn yì liù hé quán mentioned in the novel The Superior Men of Xinjiang and its sequel The Vengeance of Superior Men are described in detail below.
Xīn yì liù hé quán is an old Chinese-Muslim martial art. In the West, it is called Ten Animals Xingyi, Muslim Xingyi, Henan Xingyi, or Six Harmonies Boxing. One of a number of literal translations of the Chinese name is “mind intention six harmonies boxing.”
Xīn yì forms consist of simple movements that are considered easy to learn but very difficult to master. Each form is performed in a linear manner. At its simplest, a form consists of a standard starting stance (qīn pū zhàn), striking from right side of the body to the front while walking continuously (or walking with repeated, brief pauses in gōngbù) for some distance (e.g., 20 meters), a simple turn, striking from the left side of the body to the front for the return to the starting position, same simple turn, and the standard finishing movements (tā bă). Xīn yì routines are collections of the simple forms, usually those considered related to one of the ten animals, with the exception of the important Sì Bă Quán routine.
Because of its basic simplicity, xīn yì requires exceptional boldness to use effectively in real combat.
The six harmonies consist of three external harmonies and three internal harmonies. The external harmonies are hands with feet, shoulders with hips, and elbows with knees; and the internal harmonies are heart with intention, intention with qì, and qì with power. The attributes of the ten animals that xīn yì practitioners strive to emulate are the bravery of a bear, fierceness of a tiger, feistiness of a chicken, swooping power of a sparrow hawk, grasp of an eagle, flexibility of a snake, speed of a swallow, jumping and stamping of a horse, agility and leaping of a monkey, and coiling of a dragon.
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From May 1996 to May 2000, I was a student of the eighth level xīn yì master Lĭ Zūn Sī in Shanghai, and on 21 November 1998 my friend Jarek Szymanski and I became disciples of Master Li. Mr Szymanski has continued studying under Master Li; and his website [www.chinafrominside.com/ma/index.html] is the best source of information about this style. Several short videos of Master Li performing Sì Bă Quán (posted by someone else) are available on YouTube.
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Abbreviations and terms used in the descriptions:
CW = clockwise
CCW = counter clockwise
LLF = left leg forward
RLF = right leg forward
gōngbù = bow step, with (for example) LLF and bent and right leg behind and straight (but not stiff)
jī bù = chicken step, with (for example) LLF in a deep crouch with upper left leg nearly parallel to the ground and right knee nearly touching left calf