Hsing, the Martial Art You Thought You Will Only Find in the Movies

Have you ever watched Japanese or Chinese martial arts movies?  Are you familiar with Jackie Chan or Jet Lee?  Have you heard of monkey style, drunken style, eagle’s claw, tiger style and the like?  All these things are commonly seen in martial arts movies that has quite a big following.  To those who do not know it, these martial art styles are real and are taught to individuals who may be interested in learning the art to defend themselves.  They are not meant to only entertain people who are watching movies.  They are actually authentic martial arts derived from real techniques.  What is even more exciting to know is that martial arts like these can be learned by anybody.  All they need to do is check online which form of martial arts they want to learn and then find the school that teaches it which is located nearest you.  For those who may not have any idea, the Hsing may be an ideal form of martial art to study.   

            Hsing, also called Hsing-I Chuan or Hsing Yi Chuan or Xing Yi Ouan, is  also known as the Mind Boxing or Form Will Boxing.  It originated from Northern China and is believed to have been originated by General Yu Fei.  There are 5 distinct actions that characterize Hsing.  These five are the fist elements called the Crossing Fist, the Crushing Fist, The Pounding Fist, the Splitting Fist and lastly, the Drilling Fist.  The actions that comes from these five are crossing, crushing, pounding, splitting and drilling which are connected to the 5 elements of fire, water, wood, metal and earth that was derived from Chinese tradition’s philosophy and medical theory.  Aside from these, Hsing also trains students the twelve animal movement styles.  These twelve styles, which we usually see in the movies, are the Snake style, the Tiger style, the Dragon style, the Eagle, the Hawk, the Falcon an even the Turtle style, the Horse, the Cock, the Bear and the Swallow.  Each of these animal forms has their own stances, postures and way of fighting characteristic of the other.

            Like the Pa Kua and Tai-chi, Hsing is also an internal arts.  They also share the same types of training that makes use of weapons.  These weapons are the “Jen” or the straight sword, the “Chiang” or the long spear and the “Dao” or the curved sword.   Unlike the other two martial arts however, the Hsing involves more linear moves in combination with attacks that are straight forward.  In the Hsing movements, there is emphasis placed on the development of strikes that are quite powerful which can deliver “chi” or inner energy at the adversary.

It is really good to know that what was only seen in the movies before may now be learned in real life.  You may easily find out the details about this martial art from the internet.  Even the schools teaching this technique may be found online.  So to those who are interested, you may now start learning the art of Hsing and be the next Jet Li or Jackie Chan.  Simply check a Hsing school nearest you and start learning.