One purpose of Yiquan training is to enhance your spontaneous reflexes and develop your instinctive self-defense abilities.  To develop basic skills to achieve this, we have examined Yiquan’s emphasis on:

 

1.         Whole-body synthesis (Zheng Ti Xie Tiao, 整体协调):  combining proper musculoskeletal alignment and whole-body core connected-ness (Lian Tong Yi Guan, 连通一贯) by using appropriate mentally induced internal isometric opposing force pairs (Shen Nei Zheng Li, 身内争力) with natural whole-body movement and with rotation of your core and limbs to act as one harmonious unit.

 

2.         Whole-body balanced force (Hun Yuan Li, 浑元力):  combining the rotation of your core and the twisting of your limbs in a natural movement to cultivate and develop pathways for the transmission of your balanced force (Xun Zhao Jing Lu, 寻找劲路) from the ground to your contact/impact point (Li Dian, 力点), merging all force components into one (Quan Shen Li Yi, 全身力一). 

 

These attributes are cultivated and developed primarily by relaxed standing (Zhan Zhuang, 站桩) and trial and feel (Shi Li, 试力) exercises.  However, genuine Yiquan training is much more than developing basic skills.  For ease of discussion, in Yiquan Beginners’ Guide (available as download in the BOOKS section of this website), we have separated Yiquan training into seven overlapping categories:  Relaxed Standing (Zhan Zhuang, 站桩), Trial and Feel (Shi Li, 试力), Footwork (Zou Bu, 走步), Breath Control (Shi Sheng, 试声), Power Discharge (Fa Li, 发力), Push Hands (Tui Shou, 推手), and Sparring (San Shou, 散手).  These categories merge into one another.  They are not sequential and must be practice together, integrated, and synthesized into one; and over emphasizing any one category is not genuine Yiquan training.  As a practical matter, every Yiquan training session should include all these categories and the only short cut to acquiring Yiquan self defense skills is to training hard every day.    

 

However, you must not train aimlessly; you should train with purpose to eliminate your “weakest links”.  While repetition is the mother of all skills; realistic training is the key to any expertise.  You acquire practical fighting skills only by actually doing and/or reacting with push hands and sparring exercises, not from meretricious solo exercises.  Push hands and sparring (using body protection) must be your “daily bread”; winning or losing is not important in training, learning from the experience is.  Learn to see Yiquan principles in practice; learn to see what Yiquan tactics look like when translated into actions.  During these practices, you must treat your partner as a real opponent; do not hold back.  Always follow through with an explosive push power release (with maximum force) or with a strike/blow because once you get into the habit of holding back, you will not be able to turn-on your power when your need it.

 

Explore the differences between various forces:  resistance forces, pushing forces and impact/striking forces.  Practice Fa Li with a variety of techniques from various angles and positions.  While Fa Li training should consist mostly of soft relaxed Fa Li (Song De Fa Li, 松的发力) interspersed with hard tensed Fa Li (Jin De Fa Li, 紧的发力), you should include “intervals training” where you would take your body to the limit, to your extreme endurance (mentally and physically).

 

Open your eyes and mind to all martial arts; adopt and absorb anything that is useful (Wu Zhang Bu Hui Ji, 无长不汇集); refine and invent techniques and tactics that suit your mentality and fighting style.  Training is “work-in-progress”.  Make training your daily activity and make all daily activity your training.  You must train continuously and keep re-inventing and refining to make your maneuvers into “habit”. There are no instant habits; it takes time to make a maneuver/technique into a habit; you must practice constantly to develop it.  The more a maneuver/technique runs counter to your instinctive natural abilities, the more you have to think about that maneuver/technique in order to accomplish it.  It is therefore harder for that particular maneuver to become a habit.  Thus, training a maneuver/technique that is against your instinctive natural abilities is futile because that training would fail under stress.

  

Finally, the hardest obstacle to overcome in training is perhaps to admit your mistakes and correct or eliminate them.  Whether in concepts or in techniques, we are inclined to think that we are correct and are reluctant to discard or modify them.  You should examine why things do not work; experiment; the answer can usually be found by sparring.