Yi Chuan

THE WAY OF THE
FOCUSED FIST

by Don Warrener

Whether it be the crack of pine boards splitting in two from a reverse punch or the devastating power one can attain from the rotational momentum of a spinning hook kick it is easy to conjure up the power in either technique. Contrary to this it is difficult for most of us to see how any power can be attained from the so-called internal arts or soft arts such as Tai Chi, Paqua, or Hsing I.

Master Li Jiang Yu is a master of Yi Chuan, The Way of the Focused Fist.  Yi Chuan is one of the internal or soft Chinese martial arts. Master Li is one of the Chinese masters challenged with the responsibility of bringing to the forefront the health benefits of the internal arts and continuing its teaching in the 21st Century. His teacher, Wang Xiang Zhay, was the master who brought the internal arts out of the 1800¹s and into the 1900s. Master Wang moved to Beijing after World War II. Master, Li trained with Master Wang from 1944 to 1963 in Beijing. Now Master Li is charged with the responsibility of bringing these little known arts into the 21st century.

For those of you who have trained in martial arts for a considerable amount of time I am sure that you have heard of the feats such as killing bulls with a punch or chopping 1,800 pounds of ice in two with bare hands. When you research these super human feats you find out that they are nothing more then scientific principles that any 200 pound man can do with a little confidence and minimal training.

But I am here to tell you that I saw Master Li do something that I consider to be one of the most spectacular feats I have ever seen. To some it may seem like nothing but to me it was amazing. I saw this 75 year old man run at full speed down an escalator like a 16 year old boy! He did not even hold the handrail! The escalator was three floors high and was abnormally steep as well. Again, it may not be a martial arts feat of magic but it was real and to me it made me want to know more about his style called Yi Chuan. Yi Chuan translated it means the way of the focused fist.

When I interviewed Master Li just before shooting a videotape for Rising Sun Productions, he explained how the postures of Yi Chuan actually work. He explained that our breathing and our blood are brothers and work together to insure our overall good health. Our breathing must be deep in our lungs so that the maximum oxygen is taken in with every breath and that when this happens the oxygen is diffused into our blood stream promoting our overall health. In my follow up research to this article, I found that modern research has just discovered that cancer can not live in oxygen proving Master Li¹s theory to being correct.

He went on to explain that internal health is only of value if you also have external health meaning that muscle tone etc., etc must also be worked. This is why stretching is so important and physical training is even more important the older we get and as our youth decides to leave us.

From a self-defense point of view Yi Chuan is extremely difficult to master but once mastered one touch can be devastating as the energy is focused at the right point and at the right time. More importantly, though a master of Yi Chuan is able to pick up an adversaries negative intentions and avoid
contact with the person and therefore avoid any physical confrontation.

Chinese history goes back 5,000 years to its early cultural beginnings. Indeed Chinese medicine and self-defense arts go back the same length of time. While it is difficult to trace martial arts lineage's back further than the Shaolin Temple, traditional heroes such as the Yellow Emperor Huang Di, the founder of acupuncture, date back to 3,000 BC in Chinese history.  Master Li can trace his roots back to the 1700¹s when his master Wang learnt from Gu No Shen.

During the interview I could not help but think how valuable this information would be in the next 25 years when the North American baby boomers move into the senior citizens category.
It is this writers opinion that the Chinese internal arts will experience a dynamic growth over the next ten years as the overall population continues to grow older. Yi Chuan, The Way of the Focused Fist, will be there to help the old stay young. Maybe by then we will have the youthfulness in our step that Master Li has.