In xingyiquan classics there are three levels of practice described: ming jin, an jin, and hou jin. Ming jin is called "visible practice," where skill is evident in the characteristics of movement and motion. An jin is called "hidden practice," where technique is expressed inside the body. Hou jin is called "dissolved practice," where the body is transformed.
As part of my Vajrayana (Buddhist) practice, I have been reading a book on the Bön Religion, Healing With Form, Energy, and Light by Tenzin Rinpoche, wherein the three-body theory (trikaya) is described. The three bodies are: nirmankaya, sambhogakaya, and dharmakaya. The nirmankaya can be the moving body which is manifested in time and space. The sambhogakaya can be the wisdom body which is is manifested in the stillness of meditation. It is the interface between the physical body and the dharmakaya – the reality body which embodies the boundless principle of enlightenment.
Similarly, there are three main internal martial arts: xingyiquan, baguazhang, and taijiquan. Taiji is often said to be the study of emptiness (thus, emphasizing hou jin), while bagua is the study of change (emphasizing an jin), and xingyi the study of force (emphasizing ming jin). In some way, we have a holographic principle at work: different arts being viewed similarly as different stages of practice within an art, and the same as different stages within the development of the mind. Of course, just as in Tantra, one needs all three aspects (in this case – ming, an, hou) working in balance and concert, playing the role they naturally should, in order to realize a practitioner's, or art's, full potential.
One can overstate analogies such as these, but it is interesting to see the idea of three bodies in Tantra, and also the idea of three stages of the transformative process within certain schools of Taoist martial arts. One wonders if there is not a certain universality to these ideas, which like shamanism and transformation in general, transcend cultural boundaries.
Xingyi Video Links
- Zhang Junfeng (1902-1974) filmed in 1957. Zhang Junfeng was the xingyi and bagua instructor of the Hung brothers (Hung Yixiang, Hung Yimien, and Hung Yiwen).
- A composite video where at 1:31 Hung Yixiang (1925-1993) is performing the xingyi linking form.
- Hung Yixiang's student Su Dong Chen in his 30's, demonstrating elements of taiji, bagua, and xingyi – Su is doing the same linking form in the middle of his clip.
And, of course, if you have not yet watched the old BBC series called "The Way of the Warrior", featuring Hung Yixiang, some of the clips are available here: part one, part two, part three, part four.
