Grand Master Visits New Zealand

------------Stephen Yan 1998

Master Long-Chang Yan is one of the top Kung-Fu masters in China today .He is the leading master of the Xin Yi Six Harmony internal Kung-Fu system ,which is recognized in China as the most powerful and secretive martial art ,and is also regarded as being the most vicious, and therefore the most feared system. It is also known as Ten Animal Xin-Yi Six Harmony.

The ten animals that the system bases its movements on ,are the Dragon, Tiger, Bear, Horse, Monkey, Snake, Chicken, Swallow, Sparrow Hawk ,and the Eagle .It has a huge difference from the Twelve Animal Xin-Yi Six harmony .Ten Animal Xin-Yi Six Harmony is not as popular as the Twelve Animal Xin-Yi system ,because of the strict criteria for selecting students to carry forward the art .

Each movement requires different parts of the body to possess the characteristics of five of the 10 animals. These are as follows .The body should contract and expand ,like a dragon .The legs and feet should move like a fast walking chicken .The head and neck should contract and expand like a tiger before, and as it strikes .The shoulders and arms should be relaxed, like a bear ,and the hands and fingers should be like the claws of an eagle .All of these are governed by delivering the internal power from the Dan Tian,called “thunder”.

The art also requires six harmonies—three external,and three internal .The external harmonies are the shoulder matching the hip,the elbow matching the knee,and the hand matching the foot . The internal harmonies are the spirit matching the mind,the mind matching the chi,and the chi matching the strength. These six harmonies make the internal and external components of the body move in unison ,as one .

The body as a whole is broken into three sections ,and each section is further broken down to three subsections .The three main sections are the arms ,which are considered the end section ,the body ,which is the middle section ,and the legs ,which are the root section .The Arms (end section )are further divided into the hands ,being the ends of the arms ,the elbows are the middle of the arms ,and the shoulders are at the root .The legs are divided into the feet ,which are the end section ,the knees ,which are the middle section ,and the hips ,which are the root section .The body is also divided into three sections .The head is the end section ,the back and chest is the middle section ,and the dan tian is the root section of the body .Each of these nine sections are used as weapons for striking ,and they are called the “15 fists”—two shoulders ,two elbows ,two hands two hips ,two knees ,two feet ,one head ,one back ,and one dan tian .

Xin-Yi Six Harmony is mainly practiced by repeating single movements until excellence in that movement is achieved .A different movement is then practiced .During the practice of each movement ,the continuity of the movement should be unbroken .When all of the movements are mastered ,then the movements are practiced flowing from one to the next ,instinctively ,with no pre-arranged order.

In free-sparring ,Xin-Yi Six Harmony places emphasis on the body movement and footwork primarily .It requires one single strike to finish the encounter .If the first strike does not end the battle ,then the rest of the movements are instinctively generated to take advantage of the available gaps in the opponents’defence.

This is thought of as “chasing the wind” or “racing the moon” (across a cloudy night sky ),without a moments hesitation ,until the opponent is finished .After striking the opponent down ,the fighter still looks down on himself for not hitting the opponent harder and faster .

Xin-Yi Six Harmony not only has 10 animals ,but also includes 5 elements (fists),and the different weapons training.

In 1983 ,a Japanese martial arts delegation traveled to China to visit Master Yan .They wanted to photograph and film Master Yans’art ,but were refused .Master Yan demonstrated the art for them ,and afterwards ,invited anyone in the delegation to come up and spar with him ,but no one dared .

In the last 300 years ,only a few people from each generation have had the opportunity to learn this system .The world outside China has never been introduced to Xin-Yi Six Harmony until Master Yans’ visit to New Zealand .

Master Yan will give demonstrations and workshops to martial artists of all styles.

For further information ,please contact his New Zealand disciple –Stephen Yan.

on (04)471-1818.

New Zealand Wu Tao Academy.

Please note any spelling mistakes or gramatical errors belong to the translator and not Dr. Yan