Hsing Yi (; lit. "Form and Thought Boxing") is a northern Chinese martial art tradition attributed to the legendary Chinese General Yue Fei (岳飛) around 1100 AD.

Hsing Yi claims to specialize in deceptively soft, linear, low attacks and quick yet solid footwork appropriate for the battlefield and the military. Although considered by some to be the most simple and linear of the Chinese soft styles (the other styles being Pa Kua Chang and Tai Chi Chuan), Hsing-i is also known as a subtle and sophisticated art form. Its power generation derives directly from the well-known spiraling and circling characteristics of the internal Chinese martial arts. The spiraling and circling movements only appear to be linear in Hsing-i's "long arm" approach.

Hsing Yi uses five distinct elements or forms as metaphors assigned to represent the details of different combative methods. Usually called, "the five fists" within the context of hsing-i, these Five Elements or Five Phases (五行 Wǔ Xíng or Wu Hsing) are based on Taoist cosmology, and practitioners of the art are taught that reactions to attacks and counter attacks should be conditioned by which of the elements an attack is considered to be coming from. As combatants or "elements" interact their conflict is said come to an end result predictable by wu hsing theory. Proponents also say that in Hsing-i Ch'üan there are at least three outcomes in a combat situation; the constructive, the neutral, and the destructive. Hsing-i students train to react to and execute specific techniques in such a way that a desirable cycle will form based on the constructive, neutral and destructive interactions of wu hsing theory. Where to aim, where to hit and with what technique - and how those motions should also work defensively - is determined by what point of which cycle they see themselves in.

The advanced training forms varies and combines the five fists together. Depending on the lineage, some of these advanced forms includes linking forms, the "eight hands", the "eight tigers", and twelve animal forms.

Most practitioners of Tai Chi Chuan, Pa Kua Chang and Hsing Yi consider Hsing Yi to be an internal style, with an emphasis on qi development and coordination in their training. Traditional Chinese weapon training is another feature of Hsing Yi as a martial art.

See also

• ching
• kung fu
• nei chin
• Sun style T'ai Chi Ch'uan
• Wushu

External links

• Emptyflower Xingyiquan
• Mike Patterson's school of Xingyiquan