qixing & changhuxinyimen

[LFJ]

keeping with the shaolin forms history theme we've had as of late, i'd like to discuss the history and development of these two sets:

1. 七星拳 "qixingquan" (eng.: seven star boxing)
2. 长护心意门拳 "changhuxinyimenquan" (eng.: constant protection of the mind-gate boxing)

they are called "mother and son" sets, just as xiaohongquan and its matching dahongquan set. however, as we have determined most of the shaolin material evolved from rouquan and emperor zhao kuangyin's hongquan sets, i thought it would be interesting to discuss the origin of these two sets which seem to have a very interesting and unique style of their own.

changhuxinyimen is said to have been created by song dynasty monk huiwei, then altered in the yuan dynasty by jinnaluo, and in the ming dynasty by juexun, tongxiang and other warrior monks.

so any discussion on the origin of the sets, history of the creator and contributors, or the significance of their names, the style, etc. is welcome. i'd like to learn more about them if anyone has anything.

[Pk_StyLeZ]

seven stars came from 7 stars that landed on earth and they were about to attack the monks
the monks needed a new way to defend against the stars, so they made a new form called seven star form to fight off the 7 stars that came to earth to invade the monks
lol..jk..that was gay..
im bored

[GeneChing]

And I just started qixing. Qixing is really different. It's almost an anomaly. The stancework is unique, the use of the fengshou, and the fact that it's a cross pattern instead of a straight line. I just have the first half of it and am only one week in, so it's a pretty superficial understanding. I don't see the relationship between the two forms yet.

I do see the relationship between dahong and xiaohong. One totally jams the other during certain sequences. I often find that if I work one significantly more, the other collapses into it.

[LFJ]

yes, the qixing set is laid out upon the formation of the big dipper rather than the usual straight line. hence the name "seven star".

qixing and changhuxinyimen share the "rooster" steps along with the hand formation and some similar applications.

but thats the reason i ask, because they are so unique compared to the rest of the shaolin material. they must have interesting origins. even their names draw interest. "constant protection of the mind-gate" sounds as if its referring to mindfulness which in buddhism stands guard at the "six sense doors".

[sha0lin1]

One thing that I have noticed on qi xing quan is that all the video I have seen of this being done, everyone does the movements the exact same way. None of the positions are modified, added, or deleted as in other Shaolin forms. Each practitioner has his own interpretation of the flow of the form and how he emphasizes the movements but there is no variation of movements.

When I learned this form I remember thinking that this was the most unusual form that I had learned, the 7 star stance is very different, quite different from most of the traditional forms.

[GeneChing]

Well, I have the form anyway. I don't have the concluding section of changhuxingyimen yet, but I'm only a few moves away. I've been chipping on that one for several months now. Changhuxingyimen is quite long for traditional Songshan. Qixing is quite short. It was transmitted in a week. Of course, learning the move sequence and getting it are two vastly different things and the feel of qixing is pretty different; it's very challenging. I'm still grappling with applications and flow (but I'm still grappling with that in all my Songshan forms - they're so dense).

I've been pondering the changhuxingyimen and qixing as a muzi. I did notice that my changhuxingyimen jibengong lines were all messed up last night, which is typical for me for muzi forms. I've been working dahong a lot lately, and my xiaohong is totally messed up now.

This thread is super timely for me personally.

[LFJ]

One thing that I have noticed on qi xing quan is that all the video I have seen of this being done, everyone does the movements the exact same way. None of the positions are modified, added, or deleted as in other Shaolin forms. Each practitioner has his own interpretation of the flow of the form and how he emphasizes the movements but there is no variation of movements.

i've seen a few variations. for example, there were a couple kicks at the very beginning in one version i saw. and the elbow at the end of each line is sometimes different.

for example the way shi yongzhi does it is a straight elbow in gongbu. while the way i learned it is an upward vertical elbow with the feet together.

but basically they are not as varied as some other shaolin sets which can have pretty huge differences.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=w2awOCDRtrc
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2RuX7jh40hc
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OVTIWYlncC8&feature=related