When the evil emperors became the royal family of China, they decreed that martial arts be abolished because they threatened their rule. Consequently, pugilistic systems went into decline possibly because the invention of the gun made them unnecessary.  This author thinks, that the royal family didn’t want to be beat up.  To make a fist in public, in the presence of royalty invoked a public decapitation, hence styles using the palm only devised and were integrated into Chinese lore.  This essay and more seeks to give life to the internal systems of shaolin boxing, and reincarnate their being as exercise systems and basis for public pugilistic forays. 

The meaning “internal system” means that these are part of the inner sect of Chinese aristocracy.   In ancient history, people did not have computers or televisions so they would pay to view free for all fist fights, Chinese style, no holds barred, for recreation and passing the time.  The ancients noticed that three particular styles of over one hundred Chinese styles are paramount in the sense that they in contest would win most of the time.  The Chinese aristocracy integrated these systems into their daily lives and they became known as the internal systems. 

The internal systems are:

Hsing-I (The shape of the mind)

Pa-kua (The eight ways to produce unconsciousness)

Tai-chi (The supreme ultimate or The Best)

In Hsing-I a practitioners practice the forms of predatory animals and hypnotize themselves into becoming those animals.   The practice of Hsing-I over time involves making yourself like an animal who eats other animals.  The first step of predatory animals is to topple their prey and then begin feeding.  Hsing-I consists mainly of five postures of the Allosaurus plus a turning posture and a non-essential form.  This makes seven.  Hsing-I also includes the twelve animal systems of shaolin as extra exercises to fill the gaps and deficiencies of the seven postures.  Hsing-I is the style of the dragon.  Hsing-I is an attacking system that works best as long as the protagonist maintains the attack.  This is what dinosaurs do.   They attack and try to bring down their prey and start to feed or desist and run away.  They do not stand toe to toe and block.  It is either attack or run away and this is why Hsing-I is allied to the twelve animal systems, the animal systems give the style basis and diversity. 

The most powerful style of the internal systems is Hsing-I.   This system was the favorite of Lu-tang Sun.    The style bases on the equation force equals mass times acceleration.  Sixty percent of the style is footwork, and moving the body weight consequently with a strike or deflection gives each movement great impetus.   Using the steps to accelerate the body, a Hsing-I boxer can knock down an opponent with one punch if it connects.  A boxer after practicing the form of mind for twenty years or more can accelerate their body mass in as little as one inch and deliver a devastating punch.  A student practices the steps endlessly so he or she, at a moments notice, in the form of their mind, attack and destroy an opponent.  The steps practiced endlessly are:

walking step

Orthodox step

Flying step

Inch step

Treading step

Side step

Reverse step

Like anything good in life, practice makes perfect and a Hsing-I expert in the shape of their mind can in a moments notice converge and overwhelm an opponent.  Pracitcing Hsing-I over twenty or thirty years, an hour a day, makes a practitioner fit as a lumberjack and pliable as a child and deadly as a raptor.  Possibly, this is why, Hsing-I is not taught anywhere anymore except to people reading this work.   A Hsing-I expert only needs one punch to a vital area to destroy an opponent. 

The postures of the dragon are:

Crossing

Crushing

Drilling

Pounding

Splitting

Turn About face

Smashing or sky

Delineation of the of the postures and steps are subject of a book. Practicing the forms and functions as a life choice is a form of self-hypnosis and integrates the movements into memory in the primitive part of the brain. 

The twelve animal systems are

Komodo dragon

Tiger

Sparrow

Phoenix

Snake

Hawk

Horse

Monkey

Chicken

Mantis

Tortoise

Bear

Eagle

Using the animal systems gives substance to Hsing-I, a boxer can stand their ground and fight when predation alone is ineffective.  

Pa kua or the eight diagrams

This word translates loosely for westerners as “northern shaolin”.   Pa Kua consists of circles in every direction.  Pa-kua is the circle.   Because force = mass times velocity squared over radius, it is not necessary to step into a punch, rather a boxer moves in closer and swings a circular punch which has three time the force of a straight or linear punch.  The factor that makes a circular punch powerful is pi or 3.14. Pa-kua is the style of the insect.  Insects have very little weight, so to make a strike powerful, they swing their arms in a circle.  Pa-kua consists of the movements of several predatory insects, most notably, the mantis, the assassin beetle and the cicada.    The exercises of the style comprise vertical circles in the number eighteen and are also known as the eighteen steps.   This style is the most effective pugilistic system ever designed because it is fashioned to fight an opponent who wears clothes.   Most human beings wear clothes most of the time, not like in the ring with swimming trunks, and the eighteen steps teaches how to break a grasp and then circle the other hand to strike.  In a real fight death match, the grasp is just as effective as a strike and this is why Pa-kua is effective.  Professional boxers say the style is too looping to be effective in the ring and this is why northern shaolin is not found anywhere anymore.   The eighteen steps are very similar to the Chen system of Tai-chi or to Ken-po Karate.   It is interesting to note that when we fight, we have clothes on so they can be held as a boxer strikes an opponent with a circle.  The eighteen steps are the crux of the eight diagrams and the style that everyone wants to learn or Pa-kua Chang is merely an esoteric extension of the art.   Pa-kua Chang is also known as the style of the preying mantis or the circular style of sun.  the circular style is the topping on the cake and the reason this style is so great is because, IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO OVERCOME A HSING-I EXPERT.   A boxer circles their opponent until he or she can turn the corner and strike.   When an expert in an attacking system like White Crane, form of mind, Shotokan or Shito, attacks, a boxer circles to evade and strikes with a one two punch.  The main characteristic of Pa-kua besides the circles are the one two punch and double duty hand.   In Pa-kua chang, a person circles, turns the corner and strikes with a one two combination.  Any boxer in the ring knows they never throw more than two punches at a time because the opponent will parry and then punch and connect.  The double duty hand is using the arm to strike and then swing back with a hook in one movement or to deflect a jab or grab and then connect with a hook. 

The movement of Pa-kua chang consists of:

Single palm change

Double palm change

Snake

Bear

Lion

Dragon

Phoenix or two hands cutting

Stork

To make matter worse, Pa-kua also includes Pa-kua Chuan, also known as the Synthetic style of Sun.  this system is a complex system of unbeatable combinations best suited to people who like complex or systematic things.  Each form begins with a deflection, and if it connects, it is impossible to escape the rest of the form and by then the opponent is on the ground.  This author thinks that the synthetic style of sun is too complex except for those people whose mind consists of a myriad of little things.     Footwork is the side step and the expansive push or cat stance into expansive push and follow step to begin again.   This style is designed by man to combat a big wrestler who clinches, takes an opponent down and then punches them in the face.  Sun noticed that most big men will tackle a smaller man and then start punching the face. This system is designed to repel big wrestler MMA fighters.  Like all the internal systems, this style is both an exercise and a meditation that my wife refuses to learn.  If a practitioner can master the synthetic style, this is the way to go because it efficient and effective.   The author thinks the style has too many movements to his liking, and as he ages he feels the best system is the static system of the eighteen steps. 

The synthetic style consists of:

To open

To hold up

To shake

To feel

To erect up

To rebut

To cover up

To bind

To cut

To conceal

To hack

To scrape

To block

To walk

To uphold

To lower

To cross

To seize

Two punches

Inward leg hanging

The final internal system is Tai-chi or “the best” Western boxing is the equivalent of this ancient Chinese art.  Chinese martial art experts think that kicking in a real fight, is useless because a wrestler will grab a leg and take the fight to the ground.  On the ground, anyone will be killed by a jiu-jitsu expert unless a boxer gouges their eyes before they can get a submission.  This is why the Chinese do not teach grappling; it is subject to eye gouges and groin grabbing.  In Tai-chi, there exist only two kicks, “kick against kick”, and strike of the lotus.  These movements are used only in particular situations when nothing else works.  This author does not like kicks because he has been taken down too many times and beaten up.     The foot movements of tai-chi are: the parry, the expansive push and step to the side.  These are simple and economical movements and this is why western boxing essentially is the first five movements of tai-chi.

Tai-chi consists of over one hundred forms or postures depending on the system originator.  The first five forms used by western boxing are

The single whip (jab)

Step up and punch (the one-two)

Fan penetrates back (straight right hand)

Hands build clouds (Ali or bitch slap)

Step up and return to mountain (the hook)

Like the author states previously, there exist over 100 tai-chi forms and a practitioner can enlist different instructors and put together a set (Kua) that suits them.   Movements exist like “part the horse’s mane”, the haymaker, or “repel the tiger” the hooker cut below the belt.   Chinese internal systems are part mental and part physical and if practiced regularly convey good health and flexibility.  Causing the heart to use volume, “inotropy” rather than rate “tachism” makes one strong without causing damage.  The Chinese believe that the number of times a person’s heart contracts is a finite number linked to genetic heritage and to exercise without increasing the heart rate confers health and longevity and this is the entire basis of the internal systems, not punching someone out.