Is Wing Chun related to Xing Yi?

only indirectly, I'd think. Wing Chun was developed in the 18th cent. by southern Shaolin to churn out effective fighters; Xingyi is Taoist, northern, and 8 hundred years older

plus, Wing Chun focuses on geometry and biomechanics, whereas Xingyi focuses on element and animal styles

Surely every style focuses on geometry and body mechanics otherwise you'd fall over every time you punched? I don't buy this 'scientific' approach as opposed to the 'traditional'

Every style aims to, and can come up with reasons why A is done a certain way. But the reason you don't fall over when you punch isn't because style X figured out a sophisticated application of biomechanics or physics.

That's like saying all resistance training methods focus on geometry and biomechanics, which they don't. The body only moves certain ways, and it's not difficult to figure out the 'wrong' ways through experimentation. This is not the same as analysis of the systems behind the movement, which allows you to capitalize on specific properties of the systems. That's why people involved in sports science right now make the big bucks: New discoveries can mean getting enough of an edge to win, which is everything in professional sports. But they have to be able to analyze the systems in a meaningful way.

Other martial arts besides wing chun focus on biomechanics and physics, but then there are others that don't, as well.

regards,

Mike

Unfortunately, a lot of people have bought into some sort of Hong Kong movie night martial arts. They hear 'animal style' and think everybody runs around making monkey noises. Its just a series of names created by people in a less scientific society. Frankly, I think the descriptive names are in many cases far more useful than the more streamlined and 'practical' names.

When I was first being taught the rudiments of hsing i, I was shown how moving my elbow outwards by as little as an inch could drastically reduce my body stability and the strength of a punch. I think many styles don't concentrate on body mechanics to the degree that, say, wing chun or hsing i do.

What kind of a zhlub do you have to be to fall over when you punch? Are there dojo full of white belts picking themselves off the floor every single time they punch? If so, let me know, that'd be fun to watch.

I always get a kick out of the ones that complain that the translated names are too poetic or flowery. Many of our own martial artists have been, also, poetic; Socrates, Leonardo, Lincoln- one must learn to find a bit of joy within our terrible craft. Besides, PaulyZinkstuff isn't the only sort of monkey; ours is more likened to being attacked by a mandrill baboon or a rock ape.

That's one of the basic benefits of solo practice forms, done very slowly. The difficult work is not visible- it's all happening on the inside. Uncle Paul says; 'we don't train to fight *harder*, we train to fight *easier*'. 'If you're in a fight, *relax*, enjoy it. Let the training take over.'

Chas http://members.xoom.com/kilap/Keepsafe.htm http://members.xoom.com/kilap/cane.html http://members.xoom.com/kilap/monkey.html http://www.kuntaosilat.com/

What do you mean indirectly? Is there some Xing Yi masters on Wing Chun lineage?

I have been wondering the same thing about wing chun. I had heard for some time that it was related to southern white crane but it doesn't seem to have the same sort of shaking jing as so. white crane. While living in Taiwan I asked about wing chun and several kung fu practitioners told me it was related to xing yi. Superficially I can see some relations between the styles - especially some of the footwork. Perhaps it is possible that somewhere the founder of wing chun studied some xing yi?