Q: I love your AXE Xingyi book! Extremely productive drills and concepts. Will there be a volume 2?
A: Thank you for picking up AXE Advanced Xingyi Energetics. Your Q gives me a good chance to make a point I've been meaning to address. Though I don't know your practice at all (so forgive if this point is mis-targeted but for sure I'm hitting bullseye on some of my readers with this), the thing is: are you (or anybody) sure you've explored what's already present in AXE or my other stuff, explored all the way down to the bottom of the glass?
I'll give you one example where somebody contacted me and we were dialoging about the practice and the book and we realized that he'd totally skipped over, never even tried, one of the most powerful Xingyi practice methods of all, which is presented in AXE. I guess I didn't dress it up enough with flaming Vegas-style neon. So consider this post to the the Welcome to Las Vegas sign for this extremely foundational and instantly 'productive' drill method for Xingyi. This drill pays cash, listen up.
In the AXE chapter 'Strike Solidification Protocols', on page s104-105 (print edition) you'll see a couple of pages with headers: 'Training Mode' and 'Testing Mode'. Most important is the page on 'Training Mode' there. It shows the implements you can use for this drills (thick piece of chalk, large marker pen, anything like that. When I was taught this my teacher used two short chunks of bamboo stalk as shown above).
You hold one marker in each vertical (Xingyi style) fist while practicing lines of Crushing (崩拳). You need to work on gripping it fully yet softly. Very important that you not clench the marker tightly with muscle, or the energy power won't come through to your fist. I cover all that in the given section. You grip the markers as you walk though lines of Crushing. You don't rush like YouTube Xinyi people mostly do, just to try looking badass. Nor do you go slow-mo like Tai Chi. The speed will naturally pick up by itself if you just move 'at the speed of daily life', like walking briskly and purposively but without crazy haste down a city street to be on time for an appointment (not rushing like you're late but not window shopping either).
Now here's a further key that will help you get the most from this drill. As you begin each Crushing punch, alternating sides each time left/right, you want to very slightly 'firm up' your grip on the marker so that your maximal hand engagement with the marker happens just as the Crush strike culminates at its further extension. You begin that 'firming' from the very start, as the punch leaves your hip area, and the firming or 're-engagement' (NOT clenching!) progresses as the overall strike and follow step progress, all together. But to get the very most from this drill, don't just grip all your fingers jointly all at once on the marker. Instead, make it a continuous 'rollup'. You are already holding the marker pen in your curled fist fingers. As you begin extending the punch, slightly re-engage or firm up (but still softly) your curled pinky/little finger, then smoothly maintain that firming while doing the same with ring finger, then middle finger, finally index finger and thumb together, forming the Tiger Eye at the top of your standing fist. This slight firming process should culminate as the Tiger Eye firming at the very end extension instant of the strike. If you try a few times you'll get the feel of what I mean by light or soft gripping and conscious re-engagement. It's mostly a mental thing, very slightly physical.
You can call this 'progressive fist rolling' (捲起術 in my teacher's terminology). Super secret, super effective.
And - IT IS SUPER POWERFUL. Actually your Crushing practice time allocation should be 70/30 of this 'progressive gripping' mode vs. just punch in Crush. Mostly this curling/sequential protocol. Then stand XYQ mode upright (in book also) after a few lines. Within a week you'll be amazed at your augmented 'charge' in arms and fists when you do ANY technique later on.