The Xingyi Quan of the Chinese Army

Huang Bo Nien's classic text "Xingyi Fist and Weapon Instruction" is regarded as one of the foremost works on the application of Chinese martial arts to military combat training. Until now, however, there have been no instructional works to explain how xingyi has been used within the Chinese military. Here Dennis Rovere builds on his training with the Chinese Military Police to present - for the first time in any language - actual Xingyi combat applications, as taught to select units of the Chinese army. Huang Bo Nien's manual was the first attempt 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 the original manual is 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. Using Huang's text as its basis, "The Xingyi Quan of the Chinese Army" expands and illustrates his instructions with xingyi training drills and combat applications as taught to select units of the Chinese army prior to and during World War II. For this publication, the previous translation has been reformatted with the original photographs. Also included are applications, theory sections, and background material from the Chinese army training for empty-hand and two-handed sabre - material never before published in any book on xingyi.