Hsing-I: Chinese Internal Boxing

This book was instantly my favorite book on martial arts. It is moderately detailed, but the pictures of the masters, as well as the great stories and advice, make this book priceless. I myself am not experienced in this beautiful art of Hsing-I Chuan (i hope to be in the future though), but I can definitely tell this book is something good--great, actually. I also liked the applications, though many most likely will not work in a real life conflict. The fact that two full forms are listed, and a comparison is made against the orthdox method (in which the whole form is shown, making it 3 forms in a way). This book is superb

This book was one of the earlier books on martial arts that I purchased. Not knowing a thing about martial arts at the time, I couldn't get my mind around much of what was presented. On the other hand, I loved the stories within and the "advice of the masters" segment right away. I remember staring intently at the pictures of Yuan Dao, Paul Guo and especially the little section featuring the five elements done by Wang Shu Jin. Taken in an unposed mid-action way, they really convey Wang's dynamic actions. Having since studied both Xingyiquan and Baguazhang for more than a decade, I have come to realize what a goldmine was presented here. This book still lays, beaten and tattered, littered with highlighting and notes, on my bookshelf. This is because the book presented Xingyi postures by highly skilled practitioners along with excellent guides to its meaning and practice. Newer books may show more material, or translate large tracts of key points, but this book still has the goods: first rate practitioners showing their art. Recently when giving a gift to a person I wanted to get interested in Xingyi, I still chose this book.

This is one of the best books available on the subject of Martial Arts. The book is on a specific subject - Internal Martial Arts (of China) known as Hsing-I. The illustrations with pictures are lucid. The book covers basic principles, basic techniques, philosophies, all the 12 style forms, brief history and biographies of masters, masters' advices, applications to self defence and a lot more. It very clearly explains why Hsing-I is known as Mind-Body Boxing. The author has put his heart into writing about Hsing-I. The scientific approach of a western mind combined with the author's expertise in the oriental subject make the book complete, thorough and interesting. The book is complete in itself on the subject. It also explains importance of Chi (Energy or Pran) cultivation that is the basis of all the internal martial arts including Hsing-I. The book provides a complete and thorough knowledge on Hsing-I. It is a complete reference on the subject. Very rarely have I seen a martial arts book so interesting, lucid and complete.

I totally agree with Carlos this is a true classic and its highly unfortunate its out of print. The other book by Robert W Smith & Alan Pittman does not bear comparision unfortunatley this one always seems available while the true classic is out of print. A whackey world or what ???? .I would love to get may hands on a copy

Allen Pittman and Rober Smith offer a simple, insightful introduction to the internal art of Hsing-I Chuan. A short history and some general guidelines are followed by a complete forms section including 5 Elements and 12 Animals sets. The book is not meant to be comprehensive, and it achieves its goal of giving the reader a real sense of what the art is about. The only down side is in comparison to Robert Smith's orignial Hsing-I book, this one comes out a bit the lesser. It is missing the pictures of the old masters, and their chapter of invaluable advice. It is also missing the two-man exercises and applications. Hsing-I players will want to have this book, however, as it gives a valuable reference in terms of forms comparison, and offers some valuable advice on the goals of practice. The final piece of which is :"Therefore, in order to best perfect your Hsing-I skills, always work hard and remain humble."