The Xingyi Quan of the Chinese Army

Book excerpt: Huang Bo Nien’s Xingyi Fist and Weapon Instruction was the first manual to systematically adapt a traditional Chinese martial art for modern military training. When it was first published in Chinese in 1928, it was heralded as an exciting new approach to martial arts; today, it remains an important work for close combat enthusiasts, traditional martial artists, and Chinese and military historians alike. While organized as a means of progressive training—from empty-hand fighting to combat with weapons—no actual applications are given in Huang’s original manual. Building upon a new translation of Huang’s text, The Xingyi Quan of the Chinese Army also expands and illustrates his instructions with xingyi training drills and combat applications taught to select units of the Chinese army prior to and during World War II. These applications are not speculative reconstructions, but are based on actual training methodology from the Central Military Academy at Nanjing, taught to the author by Colonel Chang Xiang Wu. Also included are theory sections and background material from the Chinese army training for empty-hand and two-handed saber—material never before published in any book on xingyi.