upper breath gently so that fear has no place in which to take hold; and hold your ribs safely within the elbows, so that there is no way for danger to approach them.
6) When you sink your ch'i down into your tan-t'ien, you will become as stable as a mountain. When you sink your shoulders, your arms will spring to life, "urged" on by the elbows. When you sink your arms, they naturally protect the ribs.
7) When you bend your arms, strength will be abundant. When you bend your knees, you will be rooted to the earth with strength. When you cup your palms, strength will concentrate in them. When you bend or curve these parts of the body, they naturally contract and expand, thus unblocking the flow of energy.
8) When you straighten your neck, your head will become erect, as though floating in the air, and your ch'i will rise up strongly. When you straighten your spine, your strength will reach the four extremities (the top of the head, the hands, the knees, and the feet) and ch'i will fill the whole body. When you straighten your knees, the flow of your ch'i will be calm and your spirit will be harmonious, making you like a tree sending roots down deep into the earth, from which it absorbs energy.
9) Hold you arms so that they embrace the chest, protecting your heart and ready to strike out like a tiger lunging at its prey. Keep your ch'i down so that it embraces the tan-t'ien, allowing the ch'i to flow freely throughout the body. Let your courage rise up and embrace the body; this will let your ch'i flow so freely that it covers the body with a mantle of protection.
OTHER POINTERS
Some other pointers that should be kept in mind when practicing are:
1) The tip of your nose, your fingertips, and the tips of your toes should be kept on one imaginary line.
2) Your body should fall as your ch'i rises, and should rise as your ch'i falls.
3) Your hands should rise like iron spades and fall like scythes.
4) When you use but one hand, it should thrust out like a hawk raiding a forest and fall like a swallow sweeping over the surface of a lake. When you use both hands, they should rise up like a tiger leaping out of its lair and fall like a sledgehammer breaking bricks.
5) The fundamental tactic—and one that the old masters practiced by the hour—is the same as in Pa-kua: rise, drill, fall, and overturn (Figs. 3-7). Each part must be clearly differentiated; all must be done like lightning. This is eased by keeping your body relaxed until the final instant. The tactic can be used—either quickly or slowly—in all directions to close up the distance between you and your opponent.
6) Summarizing, your
waist — sinks
shoulders — shrink
chest — withdraws
head — pushes up
tongue — touches the roof of the mouth
hands — feel as if pushing upward
sacrum — circles inward and upward
4
Practicing the Five Fists
Hsing-i's five basic forms are also called the five elements (wu hsing), after the five essential elements of traditional Chinese cosmology—metal, water, wood, fire, and earth. Each of these elements is capable of generating or destroying another element, as shown in the diagram below. The lines forming the pentagon indicate generation, while those forming the star indicate destruction.
The FIVE FISTS were originally arranged in the same sequence as the order of generation of elements from metal to earth, and some schools of the orthodox Chung-nan line, such as Wang Shu-chin's, still follow that order, each fist symbolizing an element that generates the next one. Sun Lu-t'ang, Yuan Tao, Chen P'an-ling, and others in the orthodox school, however, reversed the order of water and wood, placing CRUSHING before DRILLING (Table 2). Thus, that is the sequence we have presented here.
The FIVE FISTS are as natural as a baby's movements. But because they are natural, they are difficult for people in a tense world to learn, and, after long practice, they can be dangerous if not controlled. They are correlated with the five elements, the organs of the body, and the flow of ch'i as follows:
Table 2. The Five Correspondences
| Fist | Element | Organs | Action of ch'i | |
| 1. | SPLITTING | Metal | Lungs, | Rises and falls like |
| (p'i-ch'uan) | Large Intestine | an axe | ||
| 2. | CRUSHING | Wood | Liver, | Expands and contracts |
| (peng-ch 'uan) | Gall bladder | simultaneously | ||
| 3. | DRILLING | Water | Kidneys, | Flows in curving eddies |
| (tsuan-ch'uan) | Bladder | or shoots like lightning | ||
| 4. | POUNDING | Fire | Heart, | Fires suddenly like a |
| (p'ao-ch'uan) | Pericardium | projectile from a gun | ||
| 5. | CROSSING | Earth | Spleen, | Strikes forward with |
| (heng-ch 'uan) | Stomach | rounded energy |
PREPARATION
The static INFINITY POSTURE (wu chi), a balance between suspension and rootedness, is the basis for Hsing-i movement. Your feet are at 45°, left foot facing front and heels touching, with the legs straight but with the knees slightly bent, and the pelvis is held in a natural position. Your head is suspended, allowing your spine to straighten. Relaxed shoulders that hang naturally in line with your hips allow the weight of your upper body to fall directly over your pelvic girdle and into your legs, creating the sense of "suspended by the crown of the head and rooted in the feet." Your mind and ch'i are centered in the tan-t'ien (Fig. 8).
BEGINNING
Stand in the INFINITY POSTURE and raise both arms out to the sides, palms down, twisting your torso slightly rightward (Fig. 9). Take your hands past your shoulders overhead, shoulder width apart, palms still down (Fig. 10). Continuing with your torso turned to the right, keep your knees together and sink your