Xingyiquan or Xingyi is one of the three main Internal Chinese Martial Arts. The other two being Taichichuan (Tai Chi) and Bagazhang (Bagua). Tai Chi and Bagua both have many circular movements while Xingyi is almost entirely straight direct attacks. And while there are defensive techniques taught, it's generally built into the offenive tehniques. Again this demonstrates the aggressive nature and directness of the system.   These next two posts will cover the Five Elements of Xingyi. In fact, this art is often known as Five Element Fist. There are five personalities and each once of them corresponds with an element. Here…

One of the best ways to improve your punches is by using a wooden staff. Watch the video to learn more and see what it's all about!  

Out of the three best known Chinese Internal Martial Arts (Tai Chi, Bagua, and Xingyi), it is Xingyi which is by far the most applicable to Wing Chun, Boxing, and other striking arts. Xingyi (or Xingyiquan) translates to “Strength And Intent Boxing” and is based upon linear attacks from spear techniques. So the backbone of the system is aggressive linear attacks along the centreline. These are also known as The Five Element Fist, and the five elements are a fundamental part of Chinese medicine and martial arts. The system does have Twelve Animals as well, but those came later. The…

The centreline is one of the most important concepts in the martial arts. People use it and are aware of it even if they don't realize. There are actually three separate centrelines and each one has its importance.    MIDDLE CENTRELINE - This line runs right down the front of your body and it's the line along which many of your vital organs are located   MOTHERLINE - This line runs right down the middle of your body and is responsible for your balance. Leaning too far forward, backward, or sideways will compromise this. You must always by balanced even if your weight is not…

The weapon is an extension of the person who wields it. This is an extremely important concept in the martial arts. After all, hand to hand fighting systems have their origins in weapons. You can take straight punches, hook punches, and uppercut punches, and you can see all of them in the staff. The key difference is that with weapons, everything is larger. Steps are larger, body rotation is larger, etc. But when we switch to hand to hand fighting, things become much tighter and closer. This is why we sometimes like to say "TRAIN BIG, FIGHT SMALL".   Take a look…

Our society has evolved in such a way that we've made things very easy for ourselves. Too easy. In fact it's so easy that we hardly have to move and can sit the majority of our day sitting. As a result of this, back pain and stiffness are extremely common. The human body was never meant to spend this much time sitting and we're paying the price for it.    Fortunately there are some exercises we can do that can help with that. Check out the video in today's blog post to learn more!  

I believe meditation must be a part of your health and fitness program. It can help teach you proper breathing, help deal with stress, balance the body with softness in contrast to hardness and tension, and much more. There are different types of meditation that can be done, but by far my favourite type is moving meditation. This is also called Silk Reeling in the Internal Chinese martial arts. In this video, I cover the basics of moving mediation of this type.   A few things to remember is a simple formula 1. ROOT 2. BREATHE 3. CONNECT   So looking at these one at a time, ROOT refers…

The sledgehammer is one piece of equipment that may of course seem very unconventional. But it does have numerous benefits. Although regular dumbbell and barbell training is extremely valuable, the sledgehammer allows you to train along angles and planes of movement that aren't possible with conventional weights. These movements come from weapons training and in the ancient world, weapons training was the primary form of strength training for soldiers. Take a look at the video to see what it's all about!  

The ability to remain calm in a real situation can be very difficult indeed. It almost seems like a contradiction. It sounds very strange to relax while you're trying to hit someone and avoid being hit, but you must do this. One of the keys to doing this is learning to control your breath. This is done through Qigong breathing exercises. If you practice these exercises regularly, it will have tremendous benefit to your overall health and the ability to remain calm.   RELAXATION, AWARENESS, INTENT are the keys to combat. You must stay relaxed inn order to be properly aware and you…

I've spoken in the past about the importance of the Sil Lim Tao form for Wing Chun and other martial arts. Now it's time to break it down move by move, section by section to get a better understanding of it. To start, there are three sections of the form. The first section is done to teach proper positioning and energy, particularly the forward elbow energy so necessary for Wing Chun skill. The second section is to teach you to recover from a bad position. And the third section is to teach energy release and power. All are needed for…

One of the less glamourous, but certainly essential elements of fitness, is body alignment. My first gym I trained at was Mack's Gym in Toronto which was run by Mack Miya. He was one tough SOB and was a very old school trainer. His philosophy was that you had no business handling any weight unless your alignment was spot on. So in order to teach me, he had me doing squats with a broomstick. This seemed very unusual to me at the time and I didn't understand it, but as the years went by I truly appreciated it since I've…

Having some "Go To" strikes that you can use when needed might save your neck one day. In a self defense situation, high fancy kicks and other similar strikes are completely worthless and might even land you on the ground which is the last thing you want. There is no place for being fancy in a self defense situation. The martial art of Ving Tsun (Wing Chun) is perfect for that and can be used even if dealing with a larger and stronger adversary. In fact, it's the only martial art I know of that was developed by a woman.…

The heavy bag is certainly one of the best pieces of equipment you can use. It's a fantastic cardio workout, develops explosiveness, power, timing, and so much more. And of course it's essential to develop your strikes for all martial arts. It is important however to use it properly. Learn to form a fist correctly and also use the proper energy. The golden rule (and this may sound a bit strange) is this:   IF YOU TRY TO HIT HARD, IT WON'T BE.   I'm sure that sounds very weird, but the reason why I'm saying that is if you think about trying to hit…

In this video I go over the fundamental concepts that you need to know in order to practice Qigong properly. Remember that in Qigong there is a Sinking or Dropping energy to everything. Also proper relaxation is important as is breathing properly through the nose (not the mouth). Take a look and see what it's all about.   For more information, click here

Footwork is without question the most important element of martial arts. It's the foundation for everything you do. One expression my Boxing coach always likes saying is "You box with your legs, not your hands!". Anyway in the video I go over some basic exercises that can be used to develop the footwork. There are four drills in total.   1. Half Step Drill 2. Full Step Drill 3. Two Step Method 4. Four Corner Stepping  

  One thing that's not often spoken of from the Chinese martial arts is its health benefits. Its based around the theory of the five elements and its a fascinating study. I'm certainly not a Chinese doctor, but I do have some understanding of it through the martial arts. I'll explain more in the video but here's a quick summary.   Metal = Lungs = Chopping Water = Kidneys = Drilling  Wood = Liver/Gallbladder = Crushing Fire = Heart = Exploding Earth = Stomach / Spleen = Crossing   So the movements can both heal and injure the organs. By practicing the movements, there is tremendous therapeutic…

There are many misconceptions about Qigong. I've heard everything from people stiffening $10 bills to some idiot who told me I was dealing with satanic energies! The fact is it's nothing more than coordinating proper movement and body rooting with breathing. Make no mistake, it takes a long time to really develop this ability. But there's absolutely nothing mystical or supernatural about it. Watch the video to see what it's all about   For information about In-Home or Online Virtual Personal training click here

Qigong is one of those things you may or may not have heard of. However Qi or Chi is something many people have heard of. It's been featured in countless movies and tv shows. It was even spoken about in the movie Kung Fu Panda! So what is Qi and what is Qigong? Qi is your life energy or life essence as some people like to call it and Qigong is the method which cultivates it. However unlike how it's portrayed in movies or by scammers, it is NOT some type of magical power or energy you have in your body.…

We're living in a very chaotic time right now. In December , nobody knew what the Coronavirus was and now it's all over the news in what seems reminiscent of the Spanish Flu of the early 20th Century. We will get through this with positivity, social distancing, and being careful and responsible. In the meantime however, managing stress is super important. And one of the best ways I know of is through Qigong Meditation. I've practiced it for many years now and it's really helped me at particularly stressful points in my life.   There are many ways of practicing this. It…

Let's face it. Anxiety and stress is a part of life. Not a particularly pleasant part of it, but if you don't learn to cope with it somehow you're going to have a very hard time to say the least. Now I'm sure we've all heard that we need to live a stress free life. However when you hear some bad news, that may prove to be a little difficult. What we need therefore is a way to cope with it and even better than that, eventually not even needing to turn it on and off.   We all know about the valuie of…