《意拳正軌》王薌齋

This article is part 3 of the Good Work Library collection Yiquan and Dachengquan - Texts of Wang Xiangzhai and the Lineage.

The English translation was prepared directly from the captured Traditional Chinese source text. The Chinese source text follows the colophon.

Author's Preface

The path of combat is very difficult to speak of. The Book of Songs speaks of boxing courage, and the Book of Rites speaks of wrestling; these are all origins of combat. Down to the Han dynasty, Hua Tuo created the Play of the Five Animals, and this too had the substance of combat. Because there were very few practitioners at the time, it sank and became unknown.

When the Liang dynasty reached the Tianjian era, Bodhidharma came east. In the spare time left from lecturing on scriptures and teaching disciples, he also practiced the art of training sinews and bones. Taking the special strengths of the nature and spirit of birds and beasts, and joining them with the methods of washing the marrow and changing the sinews, he created Yiquan, also called Xinyi Boxing, Heart-Intention Boxing. Among his followers, many became skilled in this art, and the name of Shaolin became famous because of it. Later Yue Wumu gathered the essences of the various schools and compiled methods such as the Five-Technique Linked Boxing, free hands, and raising hands, calling them Xingyi Boxing.

In later ages the country became peaceful and secure, and the custom of honoring letters while belittling martial arts grew stronger day by day. Also, many who became refined in boxing skill loved courage and fierce fighting and brought trouble on themselves. Therefore scholar-officials all avoided it, with the result that this boxing art, containing deep principles of learning, was not valued through the ages. Once inherited custom had lasted long, it was hard to change. Even in later generations, those who had the way and held jade within their breasts were mostly buried in villages and lanes and did not dare become known for skill. Later students truly have deep cause to mourn this.

In the Qing, the Dai brothers of Taiyuan in Shanxi were refined in this art, and its detailed transmission was received by Li Luoneng of Shen County, Zhili. Master Li taught many students. The one who obtained Master Li's peerless skill was Guo Yunshen, of the same county. When Master Guo taught people to practice Xingyi, he first used standing practice as the first step of study. Many followed him, but those who could truly inherit his teaching were probably not many. Master Guo also sighed that unless the person was right, he could not study it; unless the person was right, it could not be transmitted.

I was from the same home area as Master Guo, and because of kinship there was the relation of elder and younger. He loved my intelligence and taught me. Even when he was near death he still showed me his peerless art, earnestly charging me to value it. In recent times, worldly customs are not ancient. Students mostly love the strange and different. They do not know that the true method and great way are only between daily use and ordinary things. People of the world often neglect it because it is near. This confirms the saying, "The way is not far from people; when people make a way and make it far from people, it is not the way."

I, Xiangzhai, have not sought fame or office through this. Yet in recent times worldly desires move toward the low, do not seek reality, and only work for empty names. Then people seeking profit, without learning of their own, copy rotten old writings and forcibly make them into tools for earning a living. Their pages are full of absurdity, deliberately entering mystery and emptiness. One moment there are mirage cities on the sea, almost pure imagination; another moment there are high mountains and distant waters, each unrelated to the others. They make students keep the books in their hands and enter a five-mile fog, unable to use even the smallest point of true and false.

Ordinary ignorant men still take this as the way of sages, beyond praise and veneration. Alas! When profit blocks the road, how can the great way flourish? Thinking deeply at midnight, how could I not sigh greatly? Though my natural endowment is not quick, I have privately delighted in the path of combat. Having obtained intimate guidance in the true method and great way, and finding that many of the words of daily instruction I received were worth recording, I joined them into a booklet. Following the teaching of benefiting oneself and benefiting others, I did not dare keep it private. I hope those who share this taste may all receive its benefit. I do not merely publish it for its own sake. This is the preface.

Written in the chrysanthemum month of the eighteenth year of the Republic of China, by Wang Yuseng of Shen County.

Changing Force Through Standing Methods

If one wishes to seek the marvelous use of combat, one must take standing practice and the changing of force as the root and beginning. This is what is meant by making the weak turn into the strong and the clumsy change into the numinous. It is like the student of Chan who begins with discipline, then becomes refined in concentration and wisdom, verifies the source of mind, awakens to empty space, reaches the extreme point, and only then can study the way. Chan work is like this, and combat is also like this.

At the beginning of study there are many standing methods, such as the Dragon-Subduing Post, Tiger-Crouching Post, Meridian Post, and Three-Powers Post. Here I remove complexity and take simplicity, adopting the strengths of the various posts and combining them into one. It is named the Hunyuan Post, the Whole-Round Post. It is beneficial for producing strength, convenient for actual fighting, refined for striking and guarding, and open to the study of qi. If students train for ten days, there will naturally be effects. Its spiritual marvel also cannot be expressed by brush and ink.

In the study of standing methods, the greatest taboo is using force with body and mind. If one uses force, qi stagnates. If qi stagnates, intention stops. If intention stops, spirit breaks. If spirit breaks, one is made foolish. One must especially avoid raising the head and folding the waist, and avoid making elbows and legs too bent or too straight. In general, it is best for them to seem bent but not bent, straight but not straight. The sinew channels should stretch open. The head should lift at the crown, and the pores of the whole body should seem released but not released. If it is so, inner force issues outward, weak points change into strong force, and it is naturally not hard to obtain the essentials.

Training Sinews and Bones

Force is born from the bones and connects with the sinews. When sinews are long, force is great; when bones are heavy, sinews are numinous. The sinews stretch and the bones must contract; when bones are numinous, strength is solid. If one stretches the sinews of the wrists and neck, meaning the four wrists of hands and feet together with the neck, then the sinew channels of the whole body all open out. The head and neck lift, the teeth clasp, and the heels contain and store, with something like the collapsing force of a spring. The six centers answer one another: palm centers, sole centers, original center, and crown center. The chest and back should be round; with a broad back the great sinews and powerful muscles are unusually strong, and qi naturally opens and develops.

The two upper arms brace horizontally and must be level, using the force of scooping, embracing, opening, closing, extending, and contracting. The two legs use the force of lifting, clamping, scraping, contracting, sliding, collapsing, twisting, and wrapping. The shoulders brace; the hips sink. The tailbone is centered and the spirit penetrates the crown. The three gates of the spine pass through to the mud-ball palace. Bones are heavy like a bow-back; sinews stretch like a bowstring. Moving strength is like a full string; issuing the hand is like releasing an arrow. Using force is like drawing silk. The two hands are like tearing cotton. When the four wrists lift strength, force is naturally solid. When qi sinks and the teeth clasp, the bones are naturally firm.

Imitate their forms: dragon crouching, tiger sitting, eagle eyes, ape spirit, cat walking, horse running, chicken legs, snake body. Examine their strength: lifting the waist, sinking qi, sitting the hips, lifting the knees, bracing, cutting, wrapping, sinking, sticking, fixing, transforming, and following. If one can obtain these essentials, then when one meets an enemy one can naturally move according to the moment and change without limit. No matter if the enemy has huge force and is a powerful man, one moves a single finger and plucks a thousand jin.

This is what is meant by the body like a level, the waist like a wheel, qi like gunpowder and the fist like a bullet: when the numinous mechanism moves slightly, even a bird can hardly rise. Add to this a small heart and great courage, a kindly face and a fierce heart, still like a scholar, moving like dragon and tiger. Take as the rule that emptiness and solidity are unfixed, and transformation leaves no trace. Then one can naturally obtain its spiritual and marvelous changes. Therefore the great earlier master Guo Yunshen often said: "Whatever has form and whatever has intention is false. When skill reaches no-mind, then wonder first appears." This is exactly the meaning.

Using Strength

The marvel of boxing art values having strength. The method of using strength is nothing outside hardness and softness, squareness and roundness. The hard is straight and upright; the soft is numinous and lively. Straight uprightness and long extension have attacking and guarding force. Softness, contraction, and shortening have startling spring force. Hard strength has a shape like a square. Soft strength is square outside and round within.

Extension and contraction, pressing down and raising up, long and short use one another. Hard and soft complete one another. There may be left hard and right soft, or left soft and right hard; the end section may be hard and the middle section soft. There is also the marvel of sometimes hard, sometimes soft, with emptiness and solidity changing, and the refined use of half-hardness. There is further soft retreating while hard advances, and hard retreating while soft advances. The unbroken light-lines of the whole body are the pivot.

Horizontal bracing and opening release, with light-lines vast and dim, is called square. Lifting, embracing, containing, and storing, with living qi hidden inside, is called round. Therefore the sinews issue force and the bones grow edges. When sending out the hands, use lifting, sudden settling, bracing, embracing, scooping, sinking, drilling, and wrapping. Move opposite to the force, making the round from the square. When dropping the hands, use contained, lingering, surging continuity, making the square from the round. Round strength can draw and lift; square strength can turn and suddenly settle. Opening and closing are like linked rings.

Like ten thousand strands of soft silk folding a hundred and a thousand times, it makes people unable to grasp it. Its exquisite openness is like a fine colt leaping a stream, neighing with a slanted face, spirit bright and beautiful, robust qi forestlike. Spirit is secured within, as if facing a great enemy. Even if swords and halberds are like a forest and blades and axes are like mountains, it is still as though entering a place with no one there. The body is like a strong bow or hard crossbow; the hand is like an arrow on a full string, about to issue. Sending out the hand is like a snake taking food; striking a person is like ground-shaking thunder.

In the way of using strength, one should not be too hard. If too hard, one easily breaks. One should also not be too soft. If too soft, one does not enter. One must use vertical strength to enter from the side, and horizontal strength to swallow, spit, and spiral around. This kind of method of using strength is not easily obtained unless the heart understands and spirit awakens. If one can practice it until fully familiar, then strength naturally becomes round, the body naturally becomes square, qi naturally becomes calm, and spirit naturally becomes one. Students, do not be lazy.

The method of seeking strength: slow is better than fast, relaxed is better than urgent, and not using clumsy force is especially marvelous. During movement, one must let all the joints of the whole body be natural, without the slightest place of stagnation. The bones must be lively; the sinews must stretch; the flesh must be comfortable and released; the blood must flow like a river, like a spring-vein in a well. Only in this way can there be the method of one body and force passing through as one line, while original force also does not leak outward.

If one anxiously practices boxing sets as dances, merely using violent force to seek speed and attractive appearance, then the qi pores of the whole body open and block wrongly, and there is great obstruction to the circulation of the blood system. Look at those who use urgent violent force: all of them glare and wrinkle their brows, stamp the feet with sound, first close the qi and afterward use force. When finished, they sigh loudly and release one breath. They do not know that they have already greatly injured their original qi. Often there are people with several decades of pure work who remain outsiders in the end; this can be seen with the eyes. Is this not caused by using clumsy force? There are also people who practice for a hundred days and show marvelous effect. From this one can know how deeply mistaken roads mislead people. Students should carefully weigh this method of seeking force. Then they can naturally have the mechanism of the sounds of nature. Yet this is not a way that mediocre men can obtain.

Training Qi

The Master nourished nature and trained qi in order to bring about order. Xuanyuan trained spirit and transformed qi in order to delight in the way. Bodhidharma practiced Chan, came east, and transmitted the way. He first transmitted the methods of washing the marrow and changing the sinews, and created Yiquan and the Dragon-Tiger Post. Therefore he is the founding ancestor of combat. From ancient times, famous worthies, great scholars, sages, heroes, and vajra-bodied buddhas have all nourished nature, trained qi, and practiced skill.

Zhuangzi says, "A skill advances into the way." Although skill is a small way, people do not know that its principles of learning are inexhaustible. Whoever studies this skill, unless his spirit is abundant and unrestrained, and unless he lacks the qi of frivolous, wild, dusty, worldly speech and can be matched with sages, worthies, famous scholars, and elegant music, is not fit to study it.

The study of training qi takes movement and use as its effect. It takes long exhalation and short inhalation through the nose as its work. It takes ceaseless river-flow as its main purpose. It takes listening to qi, purity, and emptiness as its extreme. The front is the path by which food-qi enters and exits; the back is the route by which kidney qi rises and descends. It is the art of supplementing the before-heaven by the after-heaven, that is, the turning wheel of the celestial circuit.

In the study of the celestial circuit, at the beginning one draws clear qi in through the nostrils, directly into the qi sea. From the qi sea it passes through the tailbone gate and turns at the waist. The original position of the two kidneys is at the waist, and this is truly the first of the before-heaven, still more the source of all the organs. Thus kidney water becomes sufficient. Afterward it rises up the governing vessel and reaches the mud-ball palace, then returns to the nose. Using the tongue to receive and draw the kidney qi downward, the lower abdomen becomes full, and gradually the elixir forms and enters the field. This is the essential meaning of the celestial circuit. It is named the secret formula of the celestial circuit. Students should not take it lightly.

Nourishing Qi

Nourishing qi and training qi come from one source of qi, yet the learning of nature and life, movement and stillness, and the arts of the formed and formless each have their differences. The study of nourishing qi does not depart from life. Spirit is nature, and qi is life. Therefore the art of nourishing qi must be entered through the question of nature. The way of nature and life cannot be fully described by language, brush, or ink. Moreover, the way originally has no words; what can be spoken is not the way.

Therefore Mencius said that when it is hard to speak and one speaks by force, only the way originally is without. Nonbeing is the source of heaven and earth and the root of the ten thousand things. Humans have life and death; things have damage and ruin; the way alone forever remains. Its greatness has no outside; its smallness has no inside. Looked at, it has no form; listened for, it has no sound. If eye, mind, and intention can all be forgotten, this is the roundness of all marvels.

If, facing objects, one forgets objects and does not sink into the demons of the six thieves; if, dwelling in dust, one transcends dust and does not fall into the transformations of ten thousand conditions; if one can truly observe inwardly the mind, and the mind has no mind; observe outwardly the form, and the form has no form; observe far off the object, and the object has no object; if all samadhi is awakened, then wind is empty space, what is emptied desires nonbeing, and even nonbeing of nonbeing is nonbeing. In general, human spirit loves clarity but the mind disturbs it. The human mind loves stillness but desire disorders it. Therefore one who speaks of spirit does not depart from nature, and one who speaks of qi does not depart from life. Like a shadow following form, this does not miss by a hair.

The Five Phases United as One

The five phases are the mother of generation, overcoming, control, and transformation, and also the root from which the ten thousand things issue. When worldly desire discusses the five phases, it says that metal generates water, water generates wood, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, and earth generates metal; this is called mutual generation. It says that metal overcomes wood, wood overcomes earth, earth overcomes water, water overcomes fire, and fire overcomes metal; this is called mutual overcoming. This rotten paired theory is hard to bring near the principle of boxing, and it also does not know what boxing art is.

Others say that a certain fist generates a certain fist, and a certain fist overcomes a certain fist. This theory may seem to have principle. But if we investigate it by boxing principle, when the two hands connect and strike against each other, how could there be leisure to reach this? If one must see with the eyes, think again in the heart, and only then send out the hand to control, I truly do not dare believe it. Even when one does not know one has struck and the hands and feet have already arrived, one still cannot say with certainty that one can control a person. If one measures with brain-force, thinks with heart and intention, discusses striking from a written method, and practices skill by discussing sets, one is an outsider and is not worth sitting with to discuss boxing.

What boxing art calls the five phases may be said in other words as metal force, wood force, water force, fire force, and earth force. When the sinews and bones of the whole body are hard as iron and stone, their nature belongs to metal; therefore it is called metal force. This is the meaning of skin and flesh like cotton, sinews and bones like steel. When the four limbs and hundred bones everywhere have the curved and straight form of trees, their nature belongs to wood; therefore it is called wood force. When the body's movement is like a divine dragon swimming in space or a lithe snake swimming in water, like the flow of water, with no fixed track and lively turning according to conditions, its nature belongs to water; therefore it is called water force. When sending out the hand is like the explosion of a bomb, and sudden movement is like fire burning the body, fierce beyond the ordinary, its nature belongs to fire; therefore it is called fire force. When the whole body is full, thick, sinking, and solid, with intention heavy like a mountain and edges born everywhere, its nature belongs to earth; therefore it is called earth force.

In every matter and every movement, there is this kind of inclusion of heaven and earth, filling of the six directions, blocking and filling of Qian and Kun, mixed containing of the universe. The study of nature and life is also the yin and yang of heaven and earth. Yet if one wishes to nourish qi and cultivate life, one must make heart and intention not move. The heart is sovereign fire; movement is minister fire. When sovereign fire does not move, minister fire is not born. When minister fire is not born, qi and thoughts naturally become even. Without thoughts, spirit is naturally clear. After clarity, heart and intention become settled.

Therefore it is said: "When one thought moves, all is fire. When the ten thousand conditions are silent and pure, truth is born. Constantly make qi pass and the joints sensitive; naturally essence becomes full and the valley-spirit remains." If movement with movement can come from nonmovement, and action with action can come from non-action, then in non-action spirit returns. When spirit returns, the ten thousand things are silent. When things are silent, qi disappears. When qi disappears, the ten thousand things are unborn. These five kinds of force can then be called the five phases united as one. In short, when unmoving, the whole body and the force passing through it are one. When moving, every large and small joint everywhere has the hundred kinds of two-way contending force above and below, front and back, left and right. Only in this way can one obtain the whole-round force of the whole body.

The Six Harmonies

The six harmonies have inner and outer divisions. It is said: heart and intention harmonize, intention and qi harmonize, qi and force harmonize; these are the inner three harmonies. Hand and foot harmonize, elbow and knee harmonize, shoulder and hip harmonize; these are the outer three harmonies. It is also said: sinews and bones harmonize, this and flesh harmonize, lungs and kidneys harmonize; these are the inner three harmonies. Head and hand harmonize, hand and body harmonize, body and foot harmonize; these are the outer three harmonies.

In short, spirit harmonizing, strength harmonizing, light-lines harmonizing, and the methods of the whole body harmonizing: this is what is called harmony. It is not that outward postures face one another and are called harmony. How deeply the six harmonies mislead people. Students, be careful, be careful.

Songs and Formulas

Songs and formulas are the essence within boxing art. If one can penetrate their meaning and exhaust their principle, one can naturally obtain the way.

The more focused the heart, the more intention obscures the three; the firmer the essence, the more settled the qi, the fresher the spirit. These are the five great essentials for studying skill.

One body passes through as whole muddled unity; when form is concrete, one must avoid scattering. The force of the whole body has no place not round and full; the meaning of inner roundness and outer squareness is taken and never slackened from beginning to end. The fist goes out like a shooting star; changing hands is like lightning. Change is swift, spirit is nimble, and decision is firm.

The tongue rolls and the teeth clasp more. The tongue is the tip of the flesh; flesh is the bag of qi. When the tongue rolls, qi descends and pours into the qi sea. It can also receive and draw kidney qi to form in the elixir field. The teeth are the tips of the bones; when they clasp, bones are firm.

The headtop is like a suspended chime. The head is the chief of the six yang; the five gates and hundred bones all root in this. If the crown is as if suspended, the three gates and nine openings easily pass through. Naturally there will be white clouds facing the crown, a little numinous light hanging from the headtop. This too is an essential of Chan learning.

The two eyes shine with spirit-light, the essence-light gathering inward and becoming sharp. The nose-breath and ears gather and restrain; the heart and eyes should look inward. Use the nose for the work of long exhalation and short inhalation; use ears, eyes, and heart for gathering sight and returning hearing. The waist turns like a pulley; the advancing foot is like a steel drill, nimble, lively, penetrating, advancing, drilling, and seizing position. Lifting, sliding, wrapping, scraping, contracting, rolling, filing, scooping, and twisting: movement and stillness must have these forces.

The fingers and toes have grasping force; the pores are like electricity being born. The fingers are the tips of the sinews; when they clasp, force naturally fills. The hairs of the whole body are the tips of the blood; blood is the courage of qi. If the pores do not open and the hairs do not stand, blood is not full. If blood is not full, qi is not aroused. If qi is not aroused, force is not solid. If not solid, fighting power is lost.

Classic Methods for Crossing Hands

People's original natures are each different. There are those who are clever, those who are wise, those with perseverance and constancy, those who are deep, settled, refined, and sensitive, and still others who are crafty, slippery, dark, and poisonous. Their natures differ, and their actions also differ. The same is true of striking methods in skill: some emerge with form and fall without form; some go in a losing posture and come with sound. The changes are thousands and tens of thousands, impossible to describe fully.

One must rely on pure and thick skill, courage and qi released freely, method everywhere, and spirit hidden in every action. Without expecting it, it is so; without knowing its arrival, it arrives. The body moves fast like a horse; the hands move swift as wind. In ordinary practice, from three feet outside to seven feet inside, it should be like facing the image of a great enemy. When crossing hands, it should be like entering a realm with no one there.

The neck must stand up, the waist must lift, the lower abdomen must be full, the two upper arms must brace, the two legs must clamp, and from head to foot one qi must pass through. If courage is timid and the heart is empty, one cannot win. If one cannot observe expressions and color, one also cannot take victory. In short: if the enemy does not move, I am sunk and still. If the enemy moves slightly, I issue first. This is the essential of striking and guarding, and also of striking first.

Unmoving, be like a scholar; moving, be like dragon and tiger. Issuing movement is like sudden thunder, too fast for the ears to cover. Yet what brings victory is all between movement and stillness; the interval where movement and stillness have issued and have not yet issued is called true movement and stillness.

The hands must be nimble, the feet must be light. Advance, retreat, and turn like the shape of a cat. The body must be upright; the eyes gather essence. When hands and feet arrive together, one is certain to win. If the hand arrives but the step does not, striking a person is not marvelous. If the hand arrives and the step also arrives, striking a person is like pulling grass.

Strike the throat above and the genitals below; the left and right ribs are in the center. A fist striking a zhang away is not far; what is near lies within one inch. The hand going out is like the sound of a giant cannon; the foot falling is like a tree planting root. The eyes must be poisonous; the hands must be treacherous. The step treads the center gate, drilling into the center of gravity and seizing the enemy's position. Even a spirit-hand is hard to defend against this.

When using the fist, there must be penetrating claws. When using the palm, there must be qi. Above and below, intention connects. In entering and exiting, the heart is master, and eyes, hands, and feet follow it. The weight of the two feet is four tenths forward and six tenths back; in use, they turn upside down and exchange. What has fixed position is step; what has no fixed position is also step. If the front foot enters and the rear foot follows, front and back naturally have fixed position.

Left, right, turning, and back are like a tiger hot in the mountain, riding the momentum, brave and impossible to stop. A chopping fist takes the center hall at the face-gate. Seizing above and seizing below, the posture is like a tiger. Hawk falling, dragon hiding, descending into the chicken yard; overturning rivers and seas, there is no need to hurry. Every phoenix-facing-the-sun posture is strong. Clouds cover heaven and earth; sun and moon cross. When martial arts contend, short and long are seen.

The three stars face each other; the four tips assemble; the five phases all issue; the six harmonies are tightly bound. Go forward bravely, vertically and horizontally, high and low, advancing, retreating, reversing, and turning sideways. If vertical, release his force, going bravely and not returning. If horizontal, wrap his force, opening and closing with nothing able to stop it. If high, raise his body, and the body seems to have the intention of lengthening. If low, contract his body, and the body seems to have the form of drilling and seizing. When it is time to advance, advance and crush his body. When it is time to retreat, retreat and lead his qi. As for turning the body and looking behind, one must also follow. Strike far; qi must crush.

The fist is like a cannon; the dragon folds its body. In issuing, one must cut off and use it according to intention. Opening its intention is marvelous like spirit. A sparrow-hawk enters the forest; a swallow skims the water. A tiger catches a sheep and shakes its awe. To take victory, the four tips must all be aligned. If one does not win, there must be doubt in the heart. Make sound in the east and strike the west; point south and strike north. Above empty and below solid, the numinous mechanism figures it out by itself.

The left fist comes out; the right fist arrives. One hand arrives, both hands come. The fist goes to the heart pit and issues toward the tip of the nose. The nose is the central earth, the source from which the ten thousand things are born. Break open the center, and the whole body is ruined. The two hands join and go out toward the face, naturally holding fast the five passes. The body is like a crossbow; the fist is like a bullet. When the string sounds, the bird falls, and strange freshness is seen. Meeting an enemy is like the body catching fire; strike through hard and enter with nothing blocking.

What is striking, and what is guarding? Guarding is striking; striking is guarding. Where the hand issues, there is the place. Strategy is refined in change; movement and turning use spirit. A poisonous heart is the best strategy; only hands and feet then overcome people. What is dodging, and what is entering? Entering is dodging; dodging is entering. There is no need to seek far away or value beautiful appearance. It is only within one inch before the eyes. Still as a maiden, moving like thunder and lightning. The shoulder hollow spits strength; qi penetrates the palm center; intention reaches before the fingertips; qi issues from the elixir field. Press solidly and use force; exhale qi and open the voice. When the incoming momentum of the enemy and my own meet, wind, cloud, thunder, and rain arrive together.

Dragon Method

There are six Dragon Methods: the Blue Sea Dragon Chant, the Cloud Dragon's Five Appearances, the Blue Dragon Probes the Sea, the Black Dragon Turns the River, the Spirit Dragon Swims in Space, and the Spirit Dragon Contracts Its Bones. As a creature, the dragon can stretch and can contract, can be hard and can be soft, can rise and can descend, can hide and can appear. Unmoving, it is like mountains; moving, it is like wind and cloud. It is inexhaustible like heaven and earth, full like a great granary, vast in qi like the four seas, darkly bright like the three lights.

Measure the opportunity of the incoming momentum; infer the enemy's short and long. Be still to wait for movement; within movement, settle stillness. Use advance as retreat; use retreat as advance. Go straight out and enter from the side; advance slanting and strike vertically. Softness goes and startling shake comes hard; hardness comes and coils around. Contract the bones and go out; release strength and fall. Contracting is issuing; releasing is also contracting. Armor wishes to penetrate bone and enter marrow; the intention of issuing strength lies within several feet.

Tiger Method

There are also six Tiger Methods: Fierce Tiger Leaves the Forest, Angry Tiger Startling Roar, Fierce Tiger Searches the Mountain, Hungry Tiger Shakes Its Head, and Fierce Tiger Leaps the River. Infer its nature and spirit: strong, refined, and robust; rushing horizontally and striking vertically; two claws pushing mountains; fierce advance and fierce retreat; using long years in short moments. It is like cutting food, like shaking the head, like a civet catching a mouse. The headtop and claws grasp; the whole body drums and stirs.

The rising hand is like a hard file, using chopping, resisting, crossing, scooping, and following. The falling hand is like a hooked pole, using splitting, scooping, moving, scattering, and bracing. Sink, support, separate, and twist; extend and contract, press and raise. The head must strike people; the hands must hit people; the body must crush people; the step must pass people; the foot must tread people; the spirit must pressure people; qi must raid people.

Borrowing method is easy; putting method on is hard. Still, putting method on is first of all. One who compares skill must not think and ponder. One who thinks and ponders finds it hard to move even an inch. It is better to teach one thought of advancing than one thought of retreating. Have intention, but do not carry form. If one carries form, one will certainly not win. Like a living dragon and lively tiger, chanting, roaring, scolding, and shouting, valley responding and mountain shaking: how majestic is the qi of dragon and tiger. Facing an enemy, if there is not the least emptiness, how could there be a principle by which one does not win?

In short, the Dragon and Tiger methods have no fixed posture in practice. Their posture is like a tiger running three thousand, their qi like a dragon flying ten thousand miles. Strength breaks but intention does not break; intention breaks and spirit connects. Unless orally transmitted and heart-transmitted, this cannot be obtained. I have only described its general meaning and have not been able to give all the details.

The Right Track of Yiquan

The right track of Yiquan is nothing outside the old Three Fists of the ancient postures and the two qi of Dragon and Tiger. The two qi of Dragon and Tiger are skill; the Three Fists are striking. The Three Fists are stepping, drilling, and wrapping. The stepping fist is hard outside and soft inside, with still force, also called lifting force. It is called the empty center and is used in containment while waiting to issue. The drilling fist is soft outside and hard inside, like iron wrapped in cotton, with spring force. It is called the solid center and is used for passive counterattack. The wrapping fist combines hardness and softness and has startling force. It is called the transforming center and is used actively. No matter how the enemy differs in a thousand ways and ten thousand kinds, one startle and he is immediately defeated. This is what is meant by the pivot obtaining the center of the ring in order to answer what is inexhaustible.

Colophon

Translated directly from the Traditional Chinese text of 《意拳正軌》王薌齋, captured from the HK Yiquan Society public article archive and live-verified against the archive index on June 2, 2026.

Published in the Good Work Library under rights clearance received by the New Tianmu Anglican Church on June 2, 2026.

The English translation was independently prepared from the captured Chinese source for the Good Work Library. Source-text punctuation and evident web or OCR artifacts are retained in the Chinese appendix; the English follows the sentence sense of the captured text.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: 《意拳正軌》王薌齋

Source: HK Yiquan Society article 3

自序

技擊一道，甚矣哉之難言也。詩言拳勇，禮言角力，皆技擊之起源：降至漢代，華佗氏作五禽之戲，亦技擊本質。良以當時習者甚少，以至湮沒無聞。迨至梁天監中，達摩東來，以講經授徒之余，兼習鍛煉筋骨之術，采禽獸性靈之特長，參以洗髓易筋之法，而創“意拳”，又曰“心意拳”。徒眾精是技者甚多，少林之名亦因之而噪起。岳武穆王複集各家精華，編為五技連拳、散手、撩手諸法，稱為“形意拳”。逮及後世，國家宴安，重文輕武之風日盛，又精拳技者複多以好勇鬥狠賈禍，於是士大夫相率走避，致將此含有深奧學理之拳術，不能見重於曆世。相沿既久，無可更易。即後世之有道，懷瑾握瑜者，率多埋沒於鄉村閭里間，不敢以技術著稱。此固使後之學者深資悼惜者也。清代晉之太原郡戴氏昆仲精於是技，而獨得詳傳於直隸深縣李洛能先生。先生授徒甚眾，複獲得李老先生之絕技者，厥為同縣之郭雲深先生，郭先生之教人習形意也，首以站樁為入學初步，從學者多矣，能克承其教者殆不多溝。郭先生亦有非其人不能學，非其人不能傳之歎。吾與郭先生同裏，有戚誼為長幼行，愛吾聰敏而教之，且于易簀之時猶以絕藝示之，諄諄以重視相囑。晚近世風不古，學者多好奇異，殊不知真法大道，只在日用平常之間，世人每因其近而忽之，“道不遠人，人之為道而遠人”之說益徵。薌不顧以此而求聞達，無如晚近世欲趨於卑下，不求實際，徒務虛名，於是牟利之徒，不自學問抄襲腐敗之陳文，強作謀生之利器，滿紙荒唐，故入玄虛；忽而海市蜃樓，跡近想像，忽而高山遠水，各不相干，使學者手不釋卷，如入五里霧中，難誤用半點真假。一般無知之士，猶以聖人之道，不可贊仰。嗚呼！利人當途，大道何昌，午夜深思，曷勝浩歎。薌雖賦性不敏，而於技擊一道，竊焉心喜，既獲得親炙真法大道之指導，每日承其教誨之語言多具有記載之價值者，連綴成冊，本利已利人之訓，不敢自私，以期同嗜者均沾斯益，非徒以此問世也。是為序。

中華民國十八年菊月 深縣王宇僧

樁法換勁

欲求技擊妙用，須以站樁換勁為根始，所謂使其弱者轉為強，拙者化為靈也。若禪學者，始于戒律而後精於定慧，證於心源，了悟虛空，窮於極處，然後方可學道。禪功如此，技擊猶然。蓋初學時樁法頗繁，如降龍樁、伏虎樁、子午樁、三才樁等。茲去繁就簡，採取各樁之長，合而為一，名曰渾元樁，利於生勁，便於實搏，精打顧，通氣學，學者鍛煉旬日，自有效果，亦非筆墨所能表其神妙也。夫樁法之學，最忌身心用力，用力則氣滯，氣滯則意停，意停則神斷，神斷則受愚。尤忌揚頭折腰，肘腿過於曲直，總以似曲非曲，似直非直為宜，筋絡伸展為是。頭宜頂，渾身毛孔似松非松，如是則內力外發，弱點換為強勁，自不難得其要領也。

鍛煉筋骨

力生於骨，而連於筋，筋長力大，骨重筋靈。筋伸骨要縮，骨靈則勁實。伸筋腕項（手足四腕與脖項）則渾身之筋絡皆開展，頭項齒扣，足根含蓄（含有若彈簧之崩力），六心相印（手心足心本心頂心也），胸背宜圓（闊背筋大雄筋異常有力）則氣自然開展，兩肱橫撐要平，用兜抱開合伸縮勁，兩腿用提挾扒縮淌崩擰裹勁，肩撐胯墜，尾閭中正神貫頂，夾脊三關透丸宮，骨重如弓背，筋伸似弓弦，運勁如弦滿，發手似放箭，用力如抽絲，兩手如撕綿，四腕挺勁力自實，沉氣扣齒骨自堅。象其形，龍墩、虎坐、鷹目、猿神、貓行、馬奔、雞腿、蛇身、骨查其勁，挺腰沉氣，坐胯提膝，撐截裹墜，粘定化隨。若能得此要素，如遇敵時自能隨機而動，變化無窮。任敵巨力雄偉漢，運動一指撥千斤。所謂身似平准，腰似車輪，氣如火藥拳如彈，靈機微動鳥難騰。更以心小膽大，面善心惡，靜似書生，動若龍虎，總以虛實無定，變化無蹤為準則，自能得其神妙之變幻。故郭雲深大先師常云：有形有意都是假，技到無心始見奇，蓋即此也。

用勁

拳術之妙，貴乎有勁，用勁之法，不外剛柔方圓，剛者直豎，柔者靈活，直豎長伸有攻守力，柔者縮短有驚彈力。剛勁形似方，如圖（一）。柔勁外方而內圓，如圖（二）。伸縮抑揚，長短互用，剛柔相濟，有左剛而右柔，有左柔而右剛，有梢節剛而中節柔，亦有時剛時柔虛實變化之妙，半剛運使之精。更有柔退而剛進，剛退而柔進，周身光線不斷為樞紐。橫撐開放，光線茫茫謂之方。提抱含蓄，中藏生氣謂之圓。所以筋出力而骨生棱。凡出手時，用提頓撐抱兜墜鑽裹，順力逆行，以方作圓，如圖（三）。落手時，用含蓄纏綿滔滔不斷，以圓作方，如圖（四）。蓋圓勁能抽提，方勁能轉頓，開合若連環，如圖（五）。若萬縷柔絲百折千回，令人不可捉摸，其玲瓏開朗，如駿駒躍澗，偏面矯嘶，神彩麗麗，壯氣森森，精神內固，如臨大敵，雖劍戟如林，刀斧如山，亦若無人之境。身如強弓硬弩，手如弓滿即發之箭，出手恍同蛇吸食，打人猶如震地雷。夫用勁之道，不宜過剛，過剛易折，亦不宜過柔，過柔不進，須以豎勁而側入，橫勁吞吐而旋繞，此種用勁之法，非心領神悟，不易得也。若能操之純熟，則勁自圓、體自方，氣自恬，而神自能一。學者其勿惰。

求勁之法，慢優於快，緩勝於急，而尤以不用拙力為最妙。蓋運動之時，須使全體之關節任其自然，不稍有淤滯之處，骨須靈活，筋須伸展，肉須舒放，血須川流，如井之泉脈然。如是方能有一身之法，一貫之力，而本力亦不外溢。若急急於拳套是舞，徒用暴力以求其迅速之美觀，如是則全體之氣孔開塞，而於血系之流通亦大有阻礙。觀諸用急暴力者，無不努目皺眉，頓足有聲，先閉其氣，而後用其力，既畢，則又長籲一聲，歎氣一口，殊不知已大傷其元氣也。往往有數十年之純功，而終為門外漢者，目見皆然，豈非用拙力之所致也？亦有用功百日而奏奇效者，可知謬途誤人之甚。學者于此求力之法，當細斟之，自能有天籟之機，然亦非庸夫所能得之道也。

練氣

夫子養性練氣以致治，軒轅練神化氣以樂道，達摩參禪，東來傳道，始傳洗髓易筋之法，而創意拳及龍虎樁，故為技擊開山之宗，自古名賢大儒聖人豪傑金剛佛體，未有不養性練氣及習技者。莊子云：技也，進乎道矣。然技雖小道，殊不知學理無窮，凡學此技者，非豐神瀟灑而無輕浮狂燥塵俗語之氣，堪與聖賢名儒雅樂相稱者，不足學此技也。夫練氣之學以運使為效，以鼻息長呼短吸為功，以川流不息為主旨，以聽氣淨虛為極致。前為食氣出入之道，後為賢氣升降之途，以後天補先天之術，即周天之轉輪。蓋周天之學，初作時，以鼻孔引入清氣，直入氣海，由氣海透過尾閭，旋於腰間—-蓋兩腎之本位在於腰，實為先天之第一，猶為諸髒之根源，於是則腎水足矣，然後上升督脈而至丸宮，仍歸鼻間，以舌接引腎氣而下，則下腹充實，漸漸結丹入田。此即周天之要義，命名周天秘決，學者勿輕視之。

養氣

養氣練氣，雖出一氣之源，然性命動靜之學，有形無形之術各有不同。蓋養氣之學，不離乎命，神即是性，氣即是命，故養氣之術須由性題參入。夫性命之道，非言語筆墨所能述其詳也。況道本無言，能言者即非道。故孟子云：難言而強言之，惟道本無也。無者天地之源，萬物之根，人有生死，物有損壞，道乃永存。其大無外，其小無內，視之無形，聽之無聲，而能目心意俱忘，即諸妙之圓也。如對境忘境，不耽於六賊之魔，居塵超塵，不落于萬緣之化。誠能內觀其心，心無其心，外觀其形，形無其形；遠觀其物，物無其物；三昧俱悟，即風虛空，所空欲無，無無亦無，大抵人神好清而心擾之，人心好靜而欲亂之，故言神者不離性，氣者不離命，若影隨形，不爽毫釐。

五行合一

五行者，生克制化之母，亦即萬物發源之本也。如世欲之論五行者，則曰金生水，水生木，木生火，火生土，土生金，謂之相生；金克木，木克土，土克水，水克火，火克金，謂之相克。此腐之配論，難近拳理，而亦不知拳術為何物。又曰某拳生某拳，某拳克某拳，此論似亦有理，若以拳理研究之，當兩手相接對擊時，豈能有暇而及此也？若以目之所見，心再思之，然後出手制之，餘實不敢信而然，莫知擊而手足已至，尚不敢說能制人。如以腦力所度，心意所思，出手論著，操技論套，是門外漢也，不足與座拳。蓋拳術中之所謂五行者，換言之曰：金力，木力，水力，火力，土力是也。即渾身之筋骨，堅硬如鐵石，其性屬金，故曰金力。所謂皮肉如棉，筋骨如鋼之意也。四體百骸，無處有若樹木之曲直形，其性屬木，故曰木力。身體之行動，如神龍遊空，矯蛇游水，猶水之流，行蹤無定，活潑隨轉，其性屬水，故曰水力。發手若炸彈之爆烈，忽動如火之燒身，猛烈異常，其性屬火，故曰火力。周身元滿，墩厚沉實，意若山嶽之重，無處不生鋒芒，其性屬土，故曰土力。凡一事一動皆有如是包羅天地、彌滿六合、塞充乾坤、混含宇宙，性命之學，亦即天地之陰陽也。然欲養氣修命，須使心意不動，心為君火，動為相火，君火不動，相火不生，相火不生，氣念自平，無念神自清，清而後心意定。故云：“一念動時皆是火，萬緣寂淨方生真，常使氣通關節敏，自然精滿穀神存。”若能有動之動，出於不動，有為之為，出於無為，無為則神歸，神歸則萬物寂，物寂則氣泯，氣泯則萬物無生，耳之五種力，此方謂五行合一也。總之，不動時周身及一貫之力，動時大小關節無處不有上下前後左右百般之二爭力，如是方能得周身之渾元力也。

六合

六合有內外之分，曰：心與意合，意與氣合，氣與力合，為內三合；手與足合，肘與膝合，肩與胯合，為外三合。又曰：筋與骨事，此與肉合，肺與腎合，為內三合；頭與手合，手與身合，身與足合，為外三合。總之，神合、勁合、光線合，全身之法相合謂之合。非形勢相對謂之合。甚矣哉，六合之誤人也，學者慎之慎之。

歌訣

歌訣者，拳術中之精粹也。若能參透其意，窮盡其理，自能得道矣。

心愈專；意昧三，精愈堅，氣愈安，神愈鮮（此學技五大要素）。

渾噩一身貫，形具切忌散（周身用力，無處不圓滿，取內圓外方之意始終不懈）。拳出如流星，變手似閃電（變化迅速，神捷果斷）。

舌卷齒更扣（舌為肉之梢，肉為氣之囊，舌卷氣降，注於氣海，又能接引腎氣結入丹田。齒為骨梢，扣則骨堅）。

頭頂如懸磬（頭為六陽之首，五關百骸莫不本此，頭頂若懸，三關九竅易通，自能白雲朝頂，一點靈光頂頭懸，此亦禪學之要素也）。

兩目神光耀（精光收縮而尖銳）。鼻息耳凝斂，心目宜內視（以鼻作長呼短吸之功，耳目心作收視反聽之用）。腰轉如滑車，進足如鋼鑽（靈敏活泌，進鑽奪位）。提淌裹扒縮，滾銼兜擰（動靜須有此力）。

手足指抓力，毛孔如生電（指為筋梢，扣則力自充。周身毛髮為血梢，血為氣膽，毛孔不睜，毛髮不豎，則血不充，血不充則氣不振，氣不振則力不實，不實則失戰鬥鬥力矣）。

交手經法

人之本姓，各有不同，有聰明者，有智慧者，有毅力者恒心者，有沈著精敏者，更有奸猾陰毒者，其性不同，其作為亦因之而民，如技術之擊法亦因之而民，如技術之擊法亦然，有具形而出，無形而落。敗勢而往，發聲而來。千變萬化，不能盡述。須以功力純篤，膽氣放縱，處處有法，舉動藏神，不期然而然，莫之至而至。身動快似馬，手動速如風。平時練習，三尺以外七尺以內，如臨大敵之象。交手時有入若無人之境。頸在豎起，腰要挺起，下腹要充實，兩肱撐起，兩腿夾起，自頭至足一氣相貫。膽怯心虛，不能勝，不能察顏觀色者，亦不能取勝。總之，敵不動，我沉靜，敵微動，我先發。所謂打顧之要亦其擊先者也。不動如書生，動之如龍虎。發動似迅雷，迅雷不及排耳。然所以能致勝者，皆在動靜之間；動靜已發而未發之間謂之真動靜也。手要靈，足要輕，進退旋轉若貓形。身要正，目斂精，手足齊到定要贏。手到步不到，打人不為妙。手到步亦到，打人如把草。上打咽喉下打陰，左右兩肋在中心，拳打丈外不為遠，近者只在一寸中。手出如巨炮響，足落似樹栽根。眼要毒，手要奸。步踏中門，鑽入重心奪敵位，即是神手亦難防。用拳須透爪，用掌要有氣，上下意相連，出入以心為主宰，眼手足隨之。兩足重量，前四後六，用時顛倒互換。夫有定位者步也，無定位者亦步也。如前足進後足隨，前後自有定位矣。左右反背如虎熱能山，乘勢勇犯不可擋，斬拳迎門取中堂，搶上搶下勢如虎，鶻落龍潛下雞場，翻江倒海不須忙。凡鳳朝陽勢為強，雲遮天地日月交，武藝相爭見短長。三星對照，四梢會齊，五行俱發，六合彌結、勇往前進，縱橫高低，進退反側，縱則放其力，勇往而不返，橫則裹其力，開合而莫擋，高則揚其身，而身若有增長之意。低則縮其身，而身若有鑽捉之形。當進則進摧其身，當退則退領其氣。至於反身顧後，亦要隨，打要遠，氣要摧。拳似炮、龍折身，發中要絕隨意用，解開其意妙如神。鷂子入林燕抄水，虎捉綿羊抖威風。取勝四梢均要齊，不勝必有懷疑心。聲世擊西，指南打北，上虛下實，靈機自揣摸。左拳出，右拳至，單手到雙手來。拳中心窩去，發向鼻尖前。鼻為中央之土，萬物產生之源，衝開中央全體皆糜。兩手結合迎面出，自然把定五道關。身如弩弓拳如彈，弦響鳥落見奇鮮。遇敵猶如身著火，打破硬進無遮攔。何為打，何為顧，顧即是打，打即是顧；發手即是處。計謀精變化，動轉用精神，心毒為上策，手足方勝人。何為閃，何為進，進即是閃，閃即是進。不必遠求尚美觀，只在眼前一寸間。靜如處女，動若雷電。肩窩吐勁，氣貫掌心，意達指尖前；氣發自凡田。按實用力，吐氣開聲，遇敵來勢兩相交，風雲雷雨一齊到。

龍法

龍法有六，曰：滄海龍吟、雲龍五現、青龍探海、烏龍翻江、神龍遊空、神龍縮骨。其為物也，能伸能縮，能剛能柔，能升能降，能隱能現，不動如山嶽，動之如風雲，無窮如天地，充實如太倉，浩氣如四海，玄曜如三光。度來勢之機會，揣敵人之短長。靜以待動，動中處靜，以進為退，以退為進，直出而側入，斜進而豎擊。柔去而驚抖剛來而纏繞。縮骨而出，放勁而落。縮即發也，放亦即縮。甲欲透骨而入髓，發勁意在數尺間。

虎法

虎法亦有六，曰：猛虎出林、怒虎驚嘯、猛虎搜山、餓虎搖頭、猛虎跳漳。揣其性靈，強而精壯，橫沖豎撞、兩爪排山，猛進猛退，長年短用，如剖食，若搖頭，猶狸貓之捉鼠，頭頂爪抓，鼓蕩周身，起手如剛銼，用斬抗橫兜順，落手似勾杆，用劈摟搬撒撐，沉托分擰，伸縮抑揚，頭要撞人，手要打人，身要摧人，步要過人，足要踏人，神要逼人，氣要襲人。借法容易上法難，還是上法最為先。較技者不可思悟，思悟者寸步難行。甯教一思進，莫教一思退。有意莫帶形，帶形必不贏。猶生龍活虎，吟嘯叱吒，谷應山搖。其壯哉如龍虎之氣，臨敵毫不虛，安有不勝之理哉？總之，龍虎二法，操無定勢，勢猶虎奔三千，氣若龍飛萬里，勁斷意不斷，意斷神連。非口授心偉，莫能得也，聊述其大意，未克盡詳。

意拳正軌

意拳之正軌，不外古勢之老三拳與龍虎二氣。龍虎二氣為技，三拳為擊。三拳者，踐、鑽、裹也，踐拳外剛內柔有靜力（又曰挺力），曰虛中，以含蓄待發之用。鑽拳外柔內剛如棉裹鐵、有彈力，曰實中，乃被動反擊之用。裹拳剛柔相濟，有驚力，曰化中，乃自動之用。任敵千差萬異，一驚而即敗之。所謂樞得其環中，以應無窮。

Source Colophon

Source text: article 3 of the HK Yiquan Society article archive, captured in articles_with_content.json on June 2, 2026, and live-verified against the public archive index the same day.

The source appendix includes only the article text. Photographs, book scans, manuscript images, and separate book-page editorial matter are not reproduced here.

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