Departed Warriors the xingyiquan of Li Zhongxuan

Posted on March 29, 2009by yosaku

I recently came across an excellent book on xingyiquan called Departed Warriors (called Shiqu de Wulin in
chinese). The book contains the recollections of one man, Li Zhongxuan (now deceased), who had the good fortune
to study under three disciples of Li Cunyi: Shang Yunxiang, Xue Dian and Tang Weilu. The book, organised by Xu
Haofeng, contains Lis recollections of studying under his three masters as well as his thoughts on the practice of
xingyiquan. I have translated below a part of one chapter from his book:

(part 1)
Tang-chuan xingyiquan refers to the xingyi passed down by Tang Weilu. He was known as Tang xiao hou (little
monkey Tang) echoing the nickname of Sun Lutang, who was also nicknamed Sun the monkey in both cases, the
nicknames refer to their ability to scale walls. Amongst xingyi boxers the two men were known as the two lus,
derived from the lu part of their names, but also homophonous with the chinese for 2 deer, referencing both
mens ability to walk three or four hundred li (1 li = 500m) in a night.

Whenever M Tang visited Beijing, so as to not attract unwanted attention, he did so at night. He would sleep in
Ninghe (near Tianjin) during the day, set off at 7pm, and by daybreak the next day would have reached Beijing,
having had to slip past several tax office checkpoints along the way. Li Cunyi gave Tang Weilu the xingyi name of
Tang Jianxun the meaning of the name was to commemorate Tangs exploits. Li Cunyi appreciated Tangs fighting
ability it wasnt just because of his speed that Tang was mentioned in the same breath as Sun Lutang. Everyone
back then knew M Tangs fighting skills were a cut above.

Famed xingyi master Li Cunyi

M Tang always gave the impression of being languid he would always be carrying a teapot, if left to his own devices
he could easily spend a whole day sauntering around town, his teapot in hand. But he was very resolute in that he
would willingly accept any challenges that came his way. He once defeated a famed master who had founded his
own style, yet would not allow us to tell anyone this was M Tangs Wu De (martial morality). Its exactly because
M Tang was satisfied with the quiet life that his xingyi preserves more of the flavour of Li Cunyi. Readers interested
in the xingyi taught by Li Cunyi at the Tianjin Guo Shu Guan can use M Tangs xingyi as a reference point.

M Li Cunyis book on xingyi begins with the phrases Only xingyi is most skilled at defeating the enemy and obtaining
victory. Later, in an interview with a journalist, he stated A practitioner of wushu strengthens his body; a
practitioner of guoshu defends his home and country; xingyiquan can be called guoshu. These two statements led
to a misunderstanding, as other martial artists thought that M Li was trying to position xingyiquan as the national
art (guoshu). And so many people came to challenge him, saying M Li, is my art wushu or guoshu? M Li knew that
explanations were useless and simply accepted all the challenges. The wulin (martial arts community) in the old days
was like that, the slightest slip of the tongue could land you in big trouble.

M Li Cunyi was a man of noble-character who became embroiled in senseless disputes in his old age. It was lucky
that he maintained his reputation intact in that he was not defeated. But still, for a man of his years to have to meet
challenges every day must have vexed him sorely.

So what exactly did M Li mean by only xingyi is skilled? The answer can be found in old xingyi manuals: The martial
artists of the world need to be able to see to accomplish anything; thus, by day they can just about attain victory.
But how can they cope at night if they are confronted by the enemy? Only xingyiquan can deal with attacks at night,
by relying on feel and reacting to the slightest touch.

The essence of xingyi is not practicing your vision or hearing, but rather this physical response.

My shixiong under Shang Yunxiang, Shan Guangqin, told me that you could talk or walk around M Shang while he
was sleeping, no problem. But the moment you focused your attention on him, he would wake up. It sounds far-
fetched, but this kind of awareness is a necessary product of extended training in xingyi.

The Iron-foot Buddha, Shang Yunxiang

The xing'[form] in xingyi refers to everything external, whilst the yi [intent] refers to everything internal, thus
xingyiquan can be understood as training everything. The Xingyi 5 Element Classic also echoes M Shangs
approach, its about sensitivity. In addition, xingyis reacting to the slightest touch is unconscious, automatic.
One time, M Tang had gotten lost in thought whilst teaching his disciples. One of them, wanting to test out M Tangs
gongfu, suddenly launched a punch at him. M Tang managed to press the student to the ground, all the while still in
a bit of a daze. This student was very happy when he pulled himself off the ground, for he thought that he had found
out M Tangs real gongfu.

M Tang, on the other hand, from then on stopped teaching that disciple, saying So-and-so has already surpassed
me. Actually, this was his way of disowning that disciple. There needs to be sincerity between teacher and student.
The kind of person who still has an attitude of stealing the art whilst studying under you is not to be taught. Even
if such a person learns martial arts, they will only bring harm upon themselves and others.

Even after M Tang had passed away, this person still called themselves M Tangs disciple. Times are different now,
the younger generation cannot be held responsible for the actions of their elders. In order to avoid embarrassing
this persons students, I have deliberately omitted his name.

Xingyiquan (Form and intention boxing) is also known as Xingyiquan (moving intention boxing). The grandmaster of
our branch was Liu Qilan, who was known for his shenfa (body method), was praised as Long Xing Sou Gu (dragon
shape searching for bones). The later generations from this branch, Li Cunyi, Shang Yunxiang and Tang Weilu were
all known for their gongfu in the legs (tuigong) and shenfa. To retreat whilst fighting Li Cunyi was a big mistake; as
soon as you tried to retreat he would be upon you and knock you down.

Gongfu in the legs comes from zhan zhuang and [xingyi] walking. Tang Weilu specially emphasised walking to his
disciples. In the morning we would walk 5 km with our hands clasped behind our backs, either loosening up our
backbones or with a bit of martial intent. Sometimes we would omit the yi of xingyiquan and say that we were
learning xing quan [moving boxing] with M Tang.

M Tangs trademark weapons were the judges pens (pan guan bi). In xingyi, judges pens are basically double spears,
initially arms-length with rounded tips. After the practitioner has become familiar with their use, the pens used
become shorter, about the length of a forearm. I had a pair of bronze pens specially made; at that kind of weight,
theres no need to hit vital points, wherever you hit the opponent he will go down.

Normal judges pens (pan guan bi)

The double spears require more finesse than the double broadsword; because of the vivid descriptions in pingshu
[traditional chinese storytelling], I was very enthusiastic in training the double spear.

One time, when M Tang was visiting Beijing, he saw me practicing the judges pens and lost his temper, saying You
were supposed to learn sword from M Shang! If you learn boxing but not sword from M Shang, you will have come
to Beijing for nothing! M Tang also said, anyone can pick up a staff and fight people with it, but most people would
be at a loss to know what to do with a straight sword.

My name in Shang Yunxiangs school was Li Yixia, which was chosen according to the codex of names left behind
by Liu Qilan; the generation after me all had the character zhi [, ambition] in their xingyi names. In the Shang
tradition, learning the jian was a ceremonious affair. Every morning we would have to kow tow to the sword, as the
hilt of the sword represents ones teacher, hence the saying To have the sword there is like having ones teacher
there.
In gripping the sword, the little finger must be slightly hooked, out of respect for ones teacher. In actual fact there
is a reason to this hooking of little finger, namely that [in TCM] the little finger is connected to the eyes, if the little
finger is continually hooked it can damage your eyesight. Some people experience loss of acuity after practicing
xingyi, this is caused by hooking the little finger too tightly. This kind of thing is what led to the saying practicing
xingyi invites bad luck [zhao xie]; this saying is actually nonsense, the problems experienced by people after
practicing xingyi are because they have not been taught in detail, and go against their own physiology.
The Tang school of xingyi traditionally had good relations with the Yanqing school [Yanqing quan being another name
for Mizong, or lost-track boxing], a relationship which had started with Li Cunyi. There was an old Yanqing master,
a good friend of Li Cunyi, who was good at tie dang gong [iron crotch skill] and liked to demonstrate this skill at the
local public baths. Unfortunately, this master attracted the attention of a group of young men who started harassing
him with slingshots. Having no disciples of his own to assist him, he passed a message onto M Tang asking for help.

In order to further my training, M Tang sent me to deal with it. Because I knew I was going up against slingshots, I
packed a pair of judges pens into me knapsack. On the way to the bathhouse, I was waylaid by 3 muggers. I said
My bag is full of gold ingots, lets go into this copse, and Ill give you a share.

They were shocked, but still followed me into the copse. The moment I took out the judges pens, they turned tail
and fled. Maybe they thought I intended to kill them all of this stuff was just youthful hijinks. In those days, M
Tangs reputation was a strong deterrent. I invited these guys to talk it out. At first, seeing that I was young, tried
to browbeat me and just talked endlessly. Frustrated, I slapped the table (breaking a teapot in the process), at which
they immediately promised that they wouldnt harass Li cunyis friend any more. The truth is, they were afraid of M
Tang.

Before I went out there, M Tang had said to me, Dont fight, try to reason with them. I thought, if they were
reasonable they wouldnt have harassed an old man, that kind of person is not at home to reason.

That night, I stayed over at this Yanqing masters house. He was very chatty, and we eventually got to talking about
Xue Dian.

Xue Dians 12 animals, taken from David Deveres excellent website, http://www.emptyflower.com

He said that Xue Dian was one of Li Cunyis later disciples who Li was proud of, but who unexpectedly lost to his
shixiong, Fu Changrong. The two of them suddenly crossed hands on the upper floor of a restaurant. With a
returning body palm [hui shen zhang], Xue Dian was knocked down the stairs. After he reached the bottom, Xue
quickly stood up and, without a word, walked off. No-one knew where he had gone.
When Li Cunyi passed away, his friends came to pay their respects. Those who had come from afar would stay for 3-
5 days. At the request of the Guo Shu Guan students, they would often perform their gongfu after dinner. One of
them in particular, an extremely tall man, stunned the audience with his phenomenal speed. He announced himself
as one of M Lis disciples, causing one of the Guo Shu Guan students to say Our shifu never taught this, to which
he said: I am Xue Dian. Immediately subsequent to this, he issued a public challenge to Fu Changrong.