Q: I've read your new Xing Yi book AXE - it's fantastic. Question, I've noticed that sometimes you come out with volume 1 of your books or films (but it seems that the vol 2's never actually appear?) Anyway I'm wondering is there anything else left to say about Xing Yi, would there be a volume 2 ever?
A: Thank you for kind assessment of AXE. Absolutely there's more I could say. But AXE is already 'advanced' in the sense that you'd have to work with what's in there for some time before you'd have the slightest damn what the hell I'm raving about in there (the experience of the intrinsic energy in your body). Even AXE is in some respects just pre-requisites.
But since you've taken the trouble to ask so courteously, I'll give you just one small example of a yet more AXE-y teaching that isn't in the actual AXE (Vol. 1 lol) That has to do with balanced charging. If you're reading AXE I'll assume you have some knowledge or practice of the basic 5 Element fists, so I'll go from there. You notice that most of them involve an asymmetric strike, meaning you have a lead hand and an 'off' hand being used for blocking or just being put out of the way of the main strike.
In AXE, I talk about how to tangibly project the energy into the main striking hand on every rep. That's all foundational (though advanced in the sense that it's not easy to get the power going at first, but it will come with time). It's human nature to ask, and a few people have, is the energy part of these strikes asymmetrical too, same as the physical dynamics are?
For example, in the AXE teaching of the Crushing strike (bengquan), I talk in great detail about the power 'crossing' from the outside of the striking hand/fist to the inside (tiger mouth or tiger eye, depending on the striking hand shape). If the previous sentence makes no sense to you, you need to go back and re-read AXE before continuing with this post.
So the question is simple: you know you are to physically retract the 'off' fist in a Crushing strike, while extending the lead punching fist. But should you do anything energetically with the retracted fist, something analogous to the energetic 'crossing' protocol that you're doing on the lead/striking fist? You guessed it, you should. Just try to achieve the same energy surge out to both fists as I describe in AXE for the striking fist alone. That is activation and crossing within your fist by lightly activating/gripping (99% mental!) the fingers of your fist. It's all in the book I don't want to rewrite everything here. Just read the section on the Crushing technique and try to do what it says there for both fists as you do each rep, not just the striking fist. Balance them.
It's very simple in a way. But if you don't first master the single surge crossing in Crushing, you attenuate the whole project. The point isn't actually to get the charge particularly in one fist or the other. The point is the whole body training effect of projecting and 'crossing' through one, and later both, fists. If you have got an idea about the single charge version, then based on that you can move to the double charge version, which feels weird at first because you aren't hitting anything. You're just pulling back. But that's a good test of how seriously internal you are, because the physical gesture is the least important thing. 'Charge' is all in this game. Doing this double charge thing will give about 10x greater overall internal charge in your entire body, over time.
Anyway I haven't mentioned this double charge Crushing thing in AXE, because it was hard enough just to describe the single charge version of crossing your fist (note: not to be confused with the Crossing technique of the 5 Fists, read the book!). And I figured nobody's likely to get this far any time soon. But since you have asked, this is the answer.