Many practitioners of Xingyi Quan (形意拳) encounter a very real predicament: during daily practice, the Five Elemental Fists (五行拳) are performed with formidable power, the routines are memorized to perfection, and movements flow like water. Yet once they put on boxing gloves and engage in sparring, their minds instantly go blank. They frantically search their memory: how does Pi Quan (劈拳) start? How does Beng Quan (崩拳) close in? But their hands move faster than their minds, and what comes out is wild flailing punches, leaving them to cover their heads and take hits. Many begin to doubt themselves: what have I been practicing every day: actual Xingyi Quan, or just Xingyi exercises or calisthenics?
The root of the problem is actually quite simple: you have turned the forms into dead motions, and lost the principles behind them. The ancients did not create the Five Elemental Fists for us to repeat as fixed routines. Pi, Beng, Zuan, Pao, and Heng, their essence is five distinct combat thinking patterns, five underlying logics for seizing advantage. Being fixated on the external postures already places you at a lower level; it is only by fully digesting the thinking logic behind them that you can truly step across the threshold of Xingyi Quan.
Techniques Perspective of the Five Elements
Pi Quan (劈拳): Interception plus “crash-and-claim,” integrating defense and offense
Many people mistakenly believe that Pi Quan means swinging the arm downward to chop the opponent’s head from above. This is a grave misunderstanding. In real combat, no one stands still waiting for you to chop them. The core of Pi Quan lies in “combining defense and offense.” In plain terms, it is interception: the moment the opponent begins to lift a leg, you preemptively seal control of their thigh root; the moment they start to throw a punch, you preemptively control their forearm, cutting off their attack route at the source. Immediately following, you borrow the opponent’s incoming force, your arm adheres to theirs like a “crash-and-claim” maneuver, and you smoothly chop down on their face. Defense and attack are fused into one, achieving the principle of “acting later but arriving first.” This does not rely on superior absolute speed, but on predicting the opponent’s line of action. Practicing Pi Quan trains your eyesight and courage, cultivating the instinct to anticipate the opponent’s moves and preemptively block their path.
Zuan Quan (钻拳): Exploiting gaps and striking like a hidden arrow, seizing every opening
Do not mistake Zuan Quan for an uppercut. The soul of Zuan Quan lies in “seizing every opening.” In close-quarters combat, when both fighters’ arms are tangled together, the upper body is heavily defended. At this moment, you must seek gaps. Zuan Quan thrusts suddenly through the gaps between the opponent’s arms and from their blind spots, targeting the solar plexus, chin or throat with precision. The motion is compact, the power release crisp and fierce, with emphasis on catching the opponent off guard. Practicing Zuan Quan hones keen observational insight, enabling you to quickly spot weaknesses in chaotic engagement and calmly deliver a decisive strike.
Beng Quan (崩拳): Hard frontal pressure and chain fire, breaking by striking
Many equate Beng Quan with a straight punch, but this understanding is not entirely correct. An ordinary straight punch focuses on striking; Beng Quan emphasizes “drilling” (扎) and “filing” (锉). In actual combat, the essence of Beng Quan is one word: “hard.” But this hardness is not about arm strength, it is about the firmness of your rooted stance and the unyielding will within. When the opponent throws a punch, Beng Quan does not evade unnecessarily; instead, you step directly into their center gate. The fist does not strike the opponent first, you first use your forearm to file open and break through their defensive arm, then smoothly drill into their chest. This is the approach of “breaking by striking.” Beng Quan emphasizes chain attacks, alternating left and right, pressing forward step by step. Practicing Beng Quan tempers your ferocity and confidence, plainly attacking the middle road while making it difficult for the opponent to stop you.
Pao Quan (炮拳): Rolling defense like a stubborn blade, integrated with explosive offense in close quarters
Pao Quan is not simply blocking and countering; it is specifically designed for clinch fighting. When the two fighters are locked close together, wide-swinging techniques become difficult to execute, and Pao Quan comes into play. Its essence is “rolling” , the arm rolls over the opponent’s body like an iron rod, neutralizing their force and shifting their center of gravity. In the fleeting moment when their balance wavers, your other hand erupts like a cannonball, delivering a heavy blow to the chest. The rolling and parrying may appear defensive, but in reality, every roll paves the way for a heavy counter, this is the ultimate expression of “combining defense and offense.” Practicing Pao Quan forges your courage, daring to fight aggressively at extremely close range, turning your own body into a weapon of combat.
Heng Quan (横拳): Twisting like a towel and sweeping the leg, rotational control and disruption
Heng Quan is most easily misunderstood as a wide, horizontal swing, this is a misconception. The power of Heng Quan comes from rotation, it is a force of horizontal twisting and crushing. When engaged at close range, you rotate your body and twist your arm. Rather than relying on heavy impact to knock the opponent away, you twist their body like wringing a towel, disrupting their center of gravity and causing them to lose balance. Once the opponent loses balance, all subsequent initiative falls firmly into your hands. Practicing Heng Quan refines your whole-body integrated power, teaching you to rely on body weight and structural leverage to control the opponent with skillful force.
The Five Elemental Fists are not just a set of fixed movements, but also five modes of combat thinking. When actually fighting, you need not agonize over the names of techniques; you let your body’s instincts take over, automatically selecting the most advantageous fighting logic based on distance and angle. This is what the masters meant when they said: “The punch strikes without the opponent knowing.” The movements that come out may not match the textbook illustrations perfectly, but once the fighting logic is alive, that is a living, combat-effective Xingyi Quan.
There is no need to obsess over the exact height of Pi Quan or the standard fist shape of Beng Quan. Instead, devote more effort to contemplating the combat logic behind each technique, engage in more sparring and exchange, and internalize these five modes of thinking as natural instincts. That is the true treasure our ancestors have left us. Practice one year of Xingyi kung fu well, and you will benefit for life, both in health maintenance and in self-defense.
The Five Elements Fist trains five kinds of energy
When you begin practicing Pi Quan (劈拳), you should find an open area. It is like climbing a high mountain, as your view opens up, you cannot help but let out a long exhale. In an open space, your breath can easily expand.
The posture of Pi Quan is a reaching out and withdrawing of the hands, like an inhalation and exhalation. When you practice continuously for four to five hundred meters, your breath becomes increasingly long and deep, and your energy becomes abundant. The movements of the hands stimulate the whole body, and gradually you will feel your breath surging and your pores opening and closing across your entire body. Xue Dian (薛颠) once said: “Those who practice boxing must learn body breathing.” The subtlety of breathing can be experienced through practicing Pi Quan.
Many people have hidden ailments in their bodies, and using Pi Quan to train the breath can eliminate them without a trace. Moreover, as people age, the body becomes depleted, and it is necessary to supplement the qi (气) through breath training.
Abundant breath is the foundation of martial arts practice, which is why Xingyi Quan begins with Pi Quan. Pi Quan already contains the posture of Zuan Quan (钻拳), so after mastering Pi Quan, it is relatively easier to move on to Zuan Quan. This follows the principle of “Metal generates Water” , Pi Quan corresponds to Metal, and Zuan Quan corresponds to Water. However, learning a completely new form, such as Beng Quan (崩拳), is more difficult.
Pi Quan nourishes the lungs, and the two arms have a direct effect on the lungs. The arm exercises in children’s calisthenics, such as chest expansions and stretches, work the arms to strengthen breathing and the lungs. The legs, on the other hand, correspond to the kidneys. A person suffering from impotence is said to have “insufficient kidney water.” In terms of fighting application, Zuan Quan trains the elbows or finger joints, but in terms of training method, it trains the legs, using active leg movement to nourish the kidneys.
Thus, the footwork of Zuan Quan does not move straight back and forth, but advances in a spiral. This allows the legs to have a relaxed freedom, so that with ample lung qi and vigorous kidney water, both the upper and lower body are well cultivated, and one can then advance to higher study. That is why Zuan Quan is practiced after Pi Quan.
During the Pi Quan training stage, practitioners often encounter such sensations: the skin on the body feels thickened, like elephant hide; the fingers feel as thick as carrots; the palms seem to have two small whirlpools; the ten fingers curl up spontaneously and firmly, unwilling to open, these are all illusions. This is because the qi in the body has become abundant, and the emotions become more active, you find yourself busying with one thing after another, like a child full of zest for everything. This is a necessary stage. Once you notice yourself becoming like this, it means your skill has begun to take shape.
At this point, there is no longer a need to practice in an open area. Since ancient times, Xingyi Quan has emphasized “practicing in a space where an ox can lie down”, you can train wherever there is room to shift your feet. Practicing in an open area is merely a convenient method for beginners.
Since Pi Quan trains the breath, this skill takes a year to achieve. First, it eliminates illness; then it strengthens the body. Through breath training, the qi in the body is nurtured, and the mind frequently experiences inspiration. At this time, learning boxing becomes truly enjoyable.
After Pao Quan (炮拳) is delivered, there is a backward shrug, this is an upward thrusting spear technique. Thus, Pao Quan contains two elements: the obvious downward thrust of the spear, and the hidden upward thrust. One is in the form, the other in the power. It uses a downward thrusting fist form to achieve an upward thrust, this is what makes it subtle. Pao Quan should be understood through the staff or spear, but that comes later. At that stage, every thrust will have its own specific nuances.
The training method for Heng Quan (横拳) is to advance a small step diagonally and retreat a large step horizontally. Heng Quan is essentially practiced in reverse, which is exactly how you train “stepping on a lotus leaf”, when your foot touches the ground, you should feel as if you are standing on the stem of a lotus leaf, supported by only a single thread. You must use the tactile sensitivity of your foot to detect that thread.
In Xingyi Quan, one must cultivate the habit of “being empty above and solid below”: the upper body should always remain relaxed and unburdened, with the power stored in the lower body.
Pi, Beng, and Pao all follow this basic pattern in their fundamental forms, whereas Zuan and Heng incorporate this “heavy withdrawal” into their movements: Zuan Quan advances one large step and retreats one small step; Heng Quan advances one small step and retreats one large step. In their variations, Pi, Beng, and Pao all have retreating footwork. The most famous is Beng Quan’s “Retreating Beng.”
In Pao Quan, the front hand is horizontally framed in front of the brow, while the rear hand drives straight out from the face to strike the opponent’s face. Taking the imagery of firing a cannon, the front hand is called the gun carriage and the rear hand the cannonball. The rear hand’s punching path is straight, and it must have an explosive force (beginners can start with elastic force).
When practicing Pao Quan, if the rear hand does not strike straight but instead slants outward, this is exactly the principle of “encountering the enemy is like fire burning the body”, like a drop of oil falling onto a fire, it is not just a small flame that leaps up, but the entire fire that surges. Pao Quan makes the whole body’s power leap, the force is not in the outermost hand, but in the inner root joints, and the hand swings out following the power rising from the roots.
The Five Elemental Fists are not about practicing forms, but about practicing five different types of power. That is why the turning posture for each fist is different. The turning postures are established for the sake of power, and practicing them more often helps with understanding power.
What does the word “Beng” mean? Is it just a bursting force? In fact, the subtlety of Beng Quan lies in tension and relaxation.
The Five Elemental Fists are the mother of all fists, one can never be without them, and one benefits from the very first practice. Only after learning all the subtleties of the Five Elemental Fists can the true skill of Xingyi emerge. The Twelve Animal Forms (十二形) are derived from variations of the Five Elemental Fists, and those who practice the Imitative Arts (象形术) can transform them back into the Five Elemental Fists. Once you practice, you will realize that they come from the same lineage.
The mother fist of Xingyi is the Five Elemental Fists, and the mother fist of the Five Elements is Heng Quan. Heng Quan corresponds to Earth, all things return to Earth, Earth nourishes and gives birth to all, giving rise to Pi, Beng, Zuan, and Pao. That is why Heng Quan is formless. The Heng Quan power is the most distinctive element of Xingyi Quan.
Heng Quan is formless, while its tangible form is Snake Creeping (蛇行), by turning the body sideways, you develop wrapping, enveloping, losing, and topping. When I was young, I tried hands with someone (trying hands means testing, not fighting for life) and suddenly sent him flying. I was puzzled, what move was that? Reflecting on it, it felt like Snake Creeping, and with that, I also understood Heng Quan.
Turning a straight punch into a circular one, and turning a circular movement back into a straight punch, that is the training method for Beng Quan.
“Beng Quan has nine variations; Zuan Quan has six.” Among Zuan Quan’s six variations, learning two gives you the whole. One is: press down on the opponent with the front hand, pulling and leading as the rear hand drills in like a gimlet. The other is: with a flick of the front hand, you find yourself colliding with his rear hand, like a magic trick, not sleight of hand, but a change in body posture.
The two differ in the positioning of front and rear, and in the distinction between full and empty. Overall, Zuan Quan is not about drilling with the fist; it is about drilling with the body. In old Beijing, winters were cold, and shops hung heavy cotton curtains. When entering a shop, a person would lift the curtain with the front hand and then drill the body inward. As the body moved, the weight on the hand was released, and by the time the person entered and the curtain fell, they had slipped through a gap. This is a phenomenon of shifting between full and empty in daily life, the “changing shadows” (换影) in Xingyi Quan is the same idea.
The power of the fist originates from the waist. Only when the head is lightly lifted can the waist generate strength. The purpose of stance training (站桩) is first and foremost to develop waist power. When the spine becomes sensitive, the stance should be enlivened with movement, you can try Xue Dian’s Snake Form. Snake Form uses the shoulders to strike, “the rear hand only hides beneath the hip”, the rear hand wraps around behind the hip, next to the coccyx, and lifts upward. Just as a horse’s tail bristles up before it can run wild, when you support this force and the coccyx is raised, the shoulders can deliver the strike. This is the integration of stance into fist technique.
From Xue Dian’s perspective, the starting posture of Pi Quan and the Half-Step Beng Quan are both Monkey Squatting (猴蹲身). In this way, the Twelve Animal Forms are like the Five Elemental Fists, this is actually what the Five Elemental Fists should contain.
One cannot rely solely on striking the postures of Pi, Beng, Zuan, Pao, and Heng to win a fight. You must not be rash, or else your opponent will borrow your force against you. The same principle applies to dealing with people: once you have trained your skill, you must keep it hidden. If you cannot hide it, you will offend others, and once you offend, you offend a great many. Moreover, you must hide it deeply. Only reveal it when necessary.
The Five Elements of Forces
In Xingyi Quan (形意拳), there is a theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. The commonly circulated notion of the mutual generation and mutual overcoming of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, and its association with the mutual generation and overcoming of Pi, Beng, Zuan, Pao, and Heng, these are all far-fetched analogies and have no real boxing significance. As early as the 1940s, Wang Xiangzhai (王芗斋) stated in an interview: “One should know that in the authentic transmission of Xingyi… there is also no theory of mutual generation and overcoming of the Five Elements. These are merely substitutes for five types of force, not techniques or routines… It is not like today’s people who casually say that one fist overcomes another. If you rely on what your eyes see, ponder it repeatedly, and then make a move to counter the opponent, you will rarely escape defeat.“
“Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth” are actually figurative expressions used by the predecessors of Xingyi Quan. They are all manifestations of contending force (争力), differing only in their forms of expression.
Metal Force (金力): “The sinews and bones of the whole body are hard as iron, the mind is firm as stone. When applied, the force transforms from insubstantial to substantial, possessing the ability to attack. Its nature belongs to Metal, hence it is called Metal Force. This is the meaning of ‘the skin and flesh are like cotton, but the sinews and bones are like steel.'” (New Chapters on Boxing Science: Applying Force《拳学新篇•运力》). Metal Force is a form of force emission, used to attack the opponent. Its characteristic is “hardness,” appearing relatively “tense.” It is a sudden burst of power from stored energy, with sinews and bones as strong as steel, like a sharp metal weapon that is unstoppable. This is exactly the principle of “softness passes through the exertion, hardness lands at the point.” To assist the explosion of Metal Force, one may clench the teeth as if to break sinews, raise the hairs like bristling spears, and sink the breath while emitting sound. Of course, the explosion of Metal Force is not a rigid, unyielding block, but rather the feeling of “iron wrapped in cotton.” The highest level of Chinese martial arts should achieve the separation of bone and muscle, striking with the skeleton, which can be described as “the bones issuing forth their edge.”
Wood Force (木力): “It is present everywhere in the four limbs and the hundred joints, like the curvature of a tree. Its force is substantial yet contains movement, and its nature belongs to Wood, hence it is called Wood Force.” The human body should establish a three-dimensional structural frame, so that offense and defense can be executed freely. Like a tree, whose branches and trunks curve to form triangular supports, there should never be planar surfaces. The torso is like the trunk, the limbs like branches, supporting in all eight directions, creating a whole-body contending force. It appears relatively “solid,” with staggered and interlocking structure, stable and firm. A tree is not a dead wooden stake, it is substantial yet contains movement, never rigid. Like a towering ancient tree, though its external form appears motionless, internally there is endless, unceasing movement. “Power is stored through curvature and is always in reserve,” and “the body carries five bows.”
Water Force (水力): “The movement of the body is like a divine dragon traversing the sky, or a nimble snake swimming through water, moving without fixed trace, flexible and turning at will, like the flow of water. Its force is insubstantial, and its nature belongs to Water, hence it is called Water Force.” In the authentic transmission of internal martial arts (内家拳), whether Taiji, Xingyi, or Bagua (八卦), the principle is “when one part moves, all parts move”, an integrated whole-body movement, commonly known as “the body being alive.” The flowing movement is like a divine dragon crossing the sky, or a water snake swimming in the water. Water Force is most typically manifested in force-testing practice (试力). The Dachengquan (大成拳) exercise “Divine Turtle Emerges from Water” (神龟出水) gives one the feeling of a divine turtle floating and moving in the water, its agile body movement brings aesthetic pleasure. Water Force is characterized by softness, flexibility, and spiritedness, which is why the Liuhebafa Fist (六合八法拳, Six Harmonies and Eight Methods) is also known as the “Water Fist.” Water can be regarded as an important characteristic of Chinese internal martial arts. To attain the subtlety of Water Force, one must wash open all the joints of the body, especially the shoulders and hips. Most people’s joints are like rusted screws, unable to move freely, how then can one speak of the body being as agile as a swimming dragon and as fluid as water?
Fire Force (火力): “The hand strikes like an exploding bomb, the impulse is like fire scorching the body, extremely fierce. Its force transforms from insubstantial to substantial, and then returns to insubstantial, moving with great speed. Its nature belongs to Fire, hence it is called Fire Force.” Fire Force is like gunpowder exploding, characterized by: (1) sudden and fierce: it explodes at the slightest touch; (2) the direction of force is explosive and radiating, not confined to a single direction. The head, back, buttocks, hands, elbows, shoulders, feet, knees, and hips, every part can emit force. This “whole-body explosive force” was figuratively described by the ancients as Fire Force. Fire Force is fast and fierce, with a large range of force emission. When a master applies it, it can cause the whole body to tremble. The explosive force in stepping includes single explosion and double explosion, shaking the ground with a thud and rattling the windows, as formidable as a bomb blast, awe-inspiring. When Fire Force takes hold of the body, its power is immense, and every punch becomes a heavy strike.
Earth Force (土力): “Complete, solid, and substantial: as weighty as a mountain, yet with edge emerging everywhere. Its force is transformed, possessing the subtle interplay of insubstantial and substantial. Its nature belongs to Earth, hence it is called Earth Force.” Earth Force is thick and solid, with sudden explosive force between rising and falling. During force-testing, one feels the body is very heavy, never floating, truly as stable as a mountain and as sinking as the earth. The sinking and settling power of Earth makes the post standing practice solid and stable. “Push it and it does not move; strike it and it does not fall; crash into it and it does not open; lift it and it does not rise; slap it and it does not scatter.” Only with substantial Earth Force can this be achieved.
In summary, Metal Force is hard and rigid, Wood Force provides structural support, Water Force is soft and yielding, Fire Force explodes, and Earth Force is solid and substantial. Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth are all varied manifestations of contending force. One may grasp their spirit and essence through feeling, but must never rigidly match them to specific forms, applying them mechanically. To seek them through fixed appearances is like blind men feeling an elephant, close yet fundamentally wrong.
