Reference
Glossary — Term Pages
These terms have a page of their own: a fuller account of what the glossary entry states in two sentences. The short form stays in the glossary; the term page is the deeper version, not a second source.
The complete list of all terms is in the Glossary A–Z on the home page, with Chinese characters and spoken pronunciation.
- Bodywork · ComparisonAlexander TechniqueThe oldest of the three Western methods Leos Horky sets beside Yiquan — and the only one whose core is not doing rather than doing.
- LeitmotifDemystificationIn 1988 Yao Zongxun rejects occult myths five times over: empty force, killing by pressure point, running up walls. The sharpest contrast in the art.
- Method · Stage 5Fa Li 发力The synthesis of Zhan Zhuang, Shili and Mocabu in one impulse: four factors, two phases — and straight back into relaxation.
- Anatomy · BackgroundFasciaNo primary Yiquan text speaks of fascia. Three of their properties touch the training directly all the same — as background, not as doctrine.
- Bodywork · ComparisonFeldenkrais MethodSomatic learning work that came out of martial art — Feldenkrais was a judoka. Of the three foils, the one that comes closest to Yiquan.
- PostureFu Hu Zhuang 伏虎桩The lowest and most demanding combat posture in Yiquan: a large stance, palms at the knees — and a reserve of strength found nowhere else.
- Principle · PracticeInternal Connections 身内争力The contending force broken into named connections: fingers, wrists, elbows, knees — and in the stance the two diagonal main connections.
- CategoryJi Ji Zhuang 技击桩All combat stances follow one principle and differ only in position and angle — so that Hunyuan Li stays available in any situation.
- Method · Stage 8Jian Wu 健武The free, dance-like synthesis of every method — between intent and no intent, in four classical sequences from bailing waves to the startled snake.
- Body · StructureKua 胯The joint region between trunk and leg: why no English word fits it, why Yao Chengguang calls it the big spring — and how to check it in the stance.
- Method · Stage 4Mocabu 摩擦步The footwork of Yiquan: feet as though through mud, soles almost brushing the ground. Three stages from fixed step to large step.
- Bodywork · ComparisonRolfingIda Rolf's manual bodywork: in ten sessions someone else realigns the body. The resemblances are convergence, not influence.
- Method · Stage 7Sanshou 散手Free fighting — the crystallisation of every training method and the direct test of what the exercises have built.
- Anatomy · BackgroundTendonsTendon, fascia and bone consist of the same collagen. From that follows why Yiquan trains slowly — it is not a matter of style.
- Method · Stage 3Shili 试力The key of the method: it carries the force built up in standing over into slow, controlled movement — the test of force is its source.
- Method · Stage 6Tuishou 推手The partner exercise: sensing the other's force through contact and controlling him — the jewel of Yiquan, the key to victory.
- PostureXiang Long Zhuang 降龙桩The only combat stance that carries the weight forward: a very long step, the trunk twisted, the gaze back — the rule and its exception.
- Core principleYi 意The principle that names the art: true force comes from mental focus, not from muscular training — and runs through every stage.
- Method · Stage 1Zhan Zhuang 站桩The fundamental exercise everything else rests on: outward stillness with inner movement — and the rooting every force draws on.
- Principle · fundamentalZheng Li 争力Simultaneously acting pairs of opposed force in six directions: the pre-tension that holds the body as one elastic unit.