Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #233874 in Books
• Published on: 1996-01-29
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 312 pages

Customer Reviews

A must-read for any serious student of internal martial arts
First of all, the title shown here is wrong; the book is "Xing Yi Quan Xue;" the "Nei Gong" refers to a book compiled and translated by Dan Miller and Tim Cartmell.

Sun Lu Tang was the first known master of the three major internal Chinese schools: Xingyiquan, Taijiquan, and Baguazhang. This book was the first of its kind, a scholarly study on a Chinese martial art which catapaulted the study of Chinese martial arts to a new plateau, that of a "serious" and "intellectual" level, something that was not recognized until that point.

Sun, also adept in certain Taoist practices, successfully integrated traditional Taoist thought structures and scientific philosophies into his explanation of Chinese martial arts. *Xingyiquan Xue* is a perfect example; Wuji and Taiji are perfectly coordinated into the practice and application of Xingyiquan.

A note to potential readers; contrary to common belief, Xingyiquan is not a "soft" art but a "hard" one. Xingyiquan emphasizes attack, a "hard" philosophy, where "soft" arts emphasize reception of attack. Therefore, hard and soft refer to fighting philosophy and tactic; Xingyiquan is an "internal" art, one that uses body energy and coordination to generate power and movement, rather than overt muscular power (example, tae kwon do). Therefore, if you want a "soft" art, look for books on Yang style Taijiquan (Liang, Shou-Yu and Yang, Jwing-Ming have written some good ones) and on Aikido.

This text also features Sun's photos and drawing delineating his style of Xingyiquan, which is the Five Elements/Twelve Animals style (versus the Six Harmonies/Ten Animal styles). Also featured is a section showing the famous two-man form, "An Shen Pao." While the transitional movements are not shown, practitioners of Xingyiquan should be able to immediately figure out what's going on. Baguazhang practioners, such as myself, take a little longer time.

If you are a person with an express interest in furthering your internal martial arts education, this book is absolutely essential. Even though he died in the 1930's, Sun Lu Tang's classics show that his understanding of martial arts back then far surpasses that of 99% of the martial artists alive today. I am fortunate to be studying under someone of that 1%; perhaps this book can give you direction to find yourself as good a teacher as mine.

A must-read for those involved in the internal martial arts.
Sun Lu Tang's classic book is the best and most authentic book you can read about Hsing-I Chuan. I am a student and teacher of Hsing-I, and was very impressed with this book. It will help give you a thorough understanding of the philosophical foundation and excellent advice on technique for performing this powerful martial art.