sifu phillip starr - founder of the yiliquan system
Yiliquan is a composite martial art, systematically
teaching baixingchuan ( a shaolin derived style),
xingyiquan, taijiquan, and baguazhang in
Progressive stages. The techniques and principles
of these classical martial arts are combined and
blended with special principles and concepts which are unique to yiliquan to produce an internal form of kungfu that is second to none.
Yiliquan is translated as “one principle boxing”. Training is rigorous and is very traditional. it includes not only striking and kicking as well as a full repertoire of grappling and joint twisting techniques, traditional kungfu weaponry, nerve-point attacks, and training in qi gong(the art of manipulating ones vital force)
Whilst the student is progressively taught baixingquan (originally hoquan), xingyiquan, taijiquan and baguazhang he/she is taught the yiliquan 8 shapes, these are 8 different ways of avoiding an attack whilst countering with a decisive response yourself to bring the fight to an end.
This progressive training program is in a class of its own,if you want to know how to fight with the traditional internal martial arts of china, and not just do forms and dance like movements, this is the style for you.
About the styles
Baixingquan
this northern shaolin kungfu style was
originally called hoquan,named after a shaolin monk who lived during the ming dynasty, the style was renamed baixingquan by master WC Chen, the name means white star fist. master chen studied this style in
Beijing with sfu tai, baixingquan is known for its powerful striking techniques and joint breaking and throwing
manoeuvres.
xingyiquan
originally named xin yi quan (heart mind/intent boxing) it was later renamed as xingyiquan, xing meaning shape, so it could be translated at mind/intent shape boxing. We teach the shanxi style of xingyiquan created by zhao chiwu. This style is known for its linear practice methods and its five fists and twelve animals. This style is a very powerful and destructive method of combat. Whilst many xingyiquan systems use the theory of the wuxing (5 elements) and spend more
time intellectualizing the many internal aspects of this art, we still teach the old methods, that is, we teach this style for combat. A true xingyi practitioner is easy to indentify, he/she will strike like the hammer of Thor!!! This style can be summed up in the saying "there is two strikes, you strike, I strike you, fight is over"
taijiquan
Best translated as grand ultimate/terminus boxing, there are 5 major styles of taijiquan today. chen, yang, wu, wu, sun. We teach the yang style 24 step taijiquan to beginners, this was developed in the 1970's from the orginal older yang style form devloped by yang luchan, for advanced practitioners we teach the yiliquan advanced taijiquan set which is a composite of yang and sun styles, and with the use of angles that are not found in most taijiquan sets today,this makes the form a method of actual teaching you how to fight and not just running through a set of movements.
baguazhang
Originally called zhuanzhang "turning palms" this style is said to have been created by dong haichuan. We teach 2 main styles of baguazhang (eight trigram palms) zhangshi baguazhang and lungxing baguazhang. baguazhang is known for its practice method of walking the circle, this however is very much an over simplification of what is actually going on, we use special methods of walking named rippling step some call it mud step and the rolling step. bagua training is often divided up into xientein training and houtein training (before and after heaven training).
throughout the process of learning these systems the student is taught yiliquan, a system of its own, it has its own unique forms, training methods and philosophy. So whilst the student does learn traditional shaolin, xingyiquan, taijiquan, baguazhang.
The student is actually studying yiliquan (one principle boxing) it is through the yiliquan training methods that the student is able to understand and able to apply the traditional forms. It could be said that any system could be yili-ised, it is a unique method of teaching and training.
