Yiquan Striking Online Course

Welcome to Advanced Combat Yiquan Study. Do not feel intimidated by the word “combat.” In traditional Chinese martial arts, combat training and health cultivation are not separate disciplines.

When practiced correctly, martial training not only develops real fighting ability, but also nourishes the body, strengthens the nervous system, improves coordination, and enhances overall vitality. For this reason, proper combat training can be regarded as one of the highest forms of health cultivation.

In Yiquan, Fali is trained as the expression of explosive power for practical combat. In this course, the basic Fali movements are developed into functional striking methods. You will systematically study punches, kicks, palm strikes, as well as knee, elbow, and head strikes. These striking methods are practical combat techniques built upon the foundation of whole-body power.

The Yiquan martial arts system consists of seven training steps. Alternatively, it can be understood as three major components: Zhanzhuang, Shili, and Fali.

Zhanzhuang (站桩)

course

Zhanzhuang develops the unified force (whole-body integration) through stillness or minimal movement. The training can be divided into two categories based on the type of footsteps: 

A. Parallel-step stances (introduced in Basic Zhanzhang Course

B. Combat-step stances (introduced in Advanced Zhanzhuang Course). 

As the fundamental of Yiquan, Zhanzhuang can be solely applied to improving a great range of health issues, especially chronic conditions.

(why does Zhanzhuang heal?)

Shili(试力)

Shili (Force-testing) refines the unified force through slow, controlled movement. It can be divided into Shili of the Hands and Shili of the Feet. Because footwork is essential in martial arts, Yiquan separates Shili of the Feet into a distinct practice known as Mocabu (Friction Stepping). As a result, the term Shili generally refers to Shili of the Hands for simplicity.

Yiquan Park offers three courses in this section:

1. Basic Shili course.

2. Basic Friction Stepping Course

3. Combat Shili combined with Friction Stepping Course

Fali(发力)

Fali (force-releasing) trains unified force through fast or instantaneous movement. It is a method of awakening and refining the explosive power rooted in natural human instinct. Without power, combat cannot truly be expressed; power is the engine of combat.

Fali training begins with fundamental exercises (introduced in Basic Fali/Fajin Course) and striking methods—the martial applications of basic Fali, presented in this course. From there, training progresses to pushing hands, sparring, and ultimately to free application.

This course was filmed over different periods of time and in various locations, as it required the assistance of different people and equipment setups. Considering my current level in Yiquan, I truly gave it my very best effort, and I believe I have completed a solid and meaningful project.

The course is mainly divided into four sections: Palm Strikes, Punches, Kicks, and Other striking methods. Please make sure to study the entire course thoroughly before focusing on individual sections in detail. It is important to first develop a complete and well-rounded understanding of Yiquan striking, and then proceed with more targeted and dedicated practice.

If you have any questions during your training, please feel free to contact me at any time. I can then create additional videos to address specific questions and provide further clarification.

I filmed some of the lessons with my disciples, Lyle and Hosh. They did their best to demonstrate when they were in a lesson. 

Course Curriculum

Lesson 1 – Palm Strike A
Lesson 2 – Palm Strike B
Lesson 3 – Palm Strike C
Lesson 4 – Palm Strike D
Lesson 5 – More Bag Work- Palm Strike A
Lesson 6 – More Bag Work- Palm Strike B
Lesson 7 – More Bag Work- Palm Strike C
Lesson 8 – More Bag Work- Palm Strike D
Lesson 9 Elbow Strike A
Lesson 10 Elbow Strike B
Lesson 11 Bring Footwork to Palm& Elbow strikes
Lesson 12 Bag Work – Palm & Elbow Strikes
Lesson 13 Yiquan Jab
Lesson 14 Yiquan Hook
Lesson 15 Yiquan Uppercut
Lesson 16 Yiquan Downward Punch
Lesson 17 Bag Work – Positioning of Punches
Lesson 18 Bag Work – Yiquan Jab
Lesson 19 Bag Work – Other Yiquan Punches
Lesson 20 Bag Work – Punches + Palm& Elbow Strikes
Lesson 21 Yiquan Kick A
Lesson 22 Yiquan Kick B
Lesson 23 Yiquan Kick C
Lesson 24 Yiquan Kick D
Lesson 25 Visible Punches, Hidden Kicks
Lesson 26 Head and Knee Strikes
Lesson 27 Yiquan Pivot
Lesson 28 Yiquan Pivot – Palm Strikes
Lesson 29 Yiquan Pivot -Punches
Lesson 30 Add Pivoting to Bag Work
Lesson 31 Yiquan Downward Punch 2.0
Lesson 32 Progress of Bag Work
Lesson 32 Other references

About the instructor

I am Song GAO, Yiquan inheritor& instructor, Zhanzhuang expert in health & wellness.

I was born in 1987 and grew up in a village in China. I began professional Yiquan and Zhanzhuang training with Master Zhang Yongmou, a fourth-generation Yiquan inheritor, in 2016.

Master Zhang’s teaching method and my own effort made me a qualified teacher with 4-year training, including 3 years of assistant teaching experience in his Yiquan school. I had taught Zhanzhuang & Yiquan in Czech and Peru before teaching by instructional videos in 2020. I became a full-time teacher in 2021. 

yiquan zhanzhuang standing meditation song gao stance post standing pile

Characteristics of  

 

  is a special exercise. It’s aerobic, very gentle, and doesn’t require much movement. No warm-ups before the exercise or ending routines are required. What you need is just a place (either indoor or outdoor) with good air circulation.   has a large number of postures (stances are the technical term), but there is only one basic posture which can be transformed into all other postures. So, when you master the one posture, it’s only a matter of time to master all of them. From this perspective,   is not a complex skill to learn.

 

The  training time of   can be adjusted by oneself. In general, practitioners start from 5 minutes and increase progressively up to one hour. However, a 5-min   has health benefits, too. So   is quite accessible since no minimum “dose” of time is required. In fact, men, women, seniors, juniors, the weak or strong, all can practice   according to their own situation at their preferred time and place.

 

There are usually four stages of the   learning process and there are various reactions during beginning stages of  .

03

Healing aspect of  

In general,   can correct and build a stronger body. With   postures, young men with hunchbacks can be corrected. Dysfunctional feet, knees, or legs can be fixed to a great extent. The middle-aged suffering from back/shoulder/neck/muscle pain, hemorrhoids, insomnia, bad digestion, etc., can expect to get rid of those with consistent practice of   over time.

 

  is the best option for the weak or elderly as   can gradually and constantly enhance their immune system – the human body’s own defense mechanisms. According to Dr. Yu’s clinical experimentation and tests, many kinds of chronic diseases such as chronic tracheitis, chronic gastroenteritis, chronic hepatitis, cardiopathy, high blood pressure(hypertension), neurasthenic, chronic rheumatoid arthritis and similar rheumatoid arthritis, adipoma, goiter, etc., may obtain unbelievable beneficial effects after   practice.

 

We only listed some of the health applications of  . There are more. Every day practitioners are discovering new benefits of this amazing exercise.

 

04

Why can   cure diseases?

 

  is not only standing still. It is not only meditation, either. The system of   training is a combination of physical and mental aspects. The physical and mental activities are not separate from each other in this exercise. Hence, both the physiological and psychological functions of the body are cumulatively strengthened. Why   heals is a huge topic. Dr. Yu had written many books about it. In this article, we are going to focus on how   is able to nourish the blood. We will talk more in our blog posts.

 

During  , the body is held relatively unchanged in correct structures and there is constant contraction and loosening between muscles and bones. This will mobilize blood vessels, which promotes blood circulation. Dr. Yu listed the following figures in the book of “  and Search of Wu” (Yu Yongnian, 2005, Shanxi Science and Technology Press).

 

After one hour of   the composition of the blood may sensibly change:

  1. up to 1520 000 additional erythrocytes (red blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
  2. up to 3650 additional hem leukocytes (white blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
  3. up to 3.2 gram of additional hemoglobin per cm3 of blood.

 

Red blood cells are able to carry oxygen so efficiently because of the hemoglobin they contain. Increase of hemoglobin can directly impact the quantity of oxygen. With this additional amount of oxygen brought to the organ systems, one will be in a special state of relaxation and wellbeing.  This is why   has particularly good results in treating neurasthenia, arthritis, angina, cirrhosis, cardiovascular diseases, etc.

 

 

 

05

Recommended for special people

The most important characteristic of   as a healing method is that there is no side-effect. From the medicine point of view, there are not so many optional exercises for people who are too weak to sit or stand and people with special diseases i.e., cardiovascular diseases.   is the best option for those people. There are lying-down postures, supported postures, sitting postures, standing postures, practitioners can choose appropriate postures and control the physical effort precisely by the time of practicing.

To conclude, with thousands of years of development and the support of Yiquan martial artists and medical professionals in the last 100 years,   has brought together the essence of Chinese well-being philosophies and western sciences as a mature, thorough and complete method of health maintenance and improvement. If you want to know more about   as a healing method, reading Dr. Yu’s books is a good start. Here are three recommendations:

< Zhan Zhuang and The Search of Wu > (Chinese, English versions)

<Zhan Zhuang: The Art of Nourishing Life> (Chinese, English, French versions)

< Zhan Zhuang and Dao De Jing> (Chinese version)

 

Characteristics of  

 

  is a special exercise. It’s aerobic, very gentle, and doesn’t require much movement. No warm-ups before the exercise or ending routines are required. What you need is just a place (either indoor or outdoor) with good air circulation.   has a large number of postures (stances are the technical term), but there is only one basic posture which can be transformed into all other postures. So, when you master the one posture, it’s only a matter of time to master all of them. From this perspective,   is not a complex skill to learn.

 

The  training time of   can be adjusted by oneself. In general, practitioners start from 5 minutes and increase progressively up to one hour. However, a 5-min   has health benefits, too. So   is quite accessible since no minimum “dose” of time is required. In fact, men, women, seniors, juniors, the weak or strong, all can practice   according to their own situation at their preferred time and place.

 

There are usually four stages of the   learning process and there are various reactions during beginning stages of  .

03

Healing aspect of  

In general,   can correct and build a stronger body. With   postures, young men with hunchbacks can be corrected. Dysfunctional feet, knees, or legs can be fixed to a great extent. The middle-aged suffering from back/shoulder/neck/muscle pain, hemorrhoids, insomnia, bad digestion, etc., can expect to get rid of those with consistent practice of   over time.

 

  is the best option for the weak or elderly as   can gradually and constantly enhance their immune system – the human body’s own defense mechanisms. According to Dr. Yu’s clinical experimentation and tests, many kinds of chronic diseases such as chronic tracheitis, chronic gastroenteritis, chronic hepatitis, cardiopathy, high blood pressure(hypertension), neurasthenic, chronic rheumatoid arthritis and similar rheumatoid arthritis, adipoma, goiter, etc., may obtain unbelievable beneficial effects after   practice.

 

We only listed some of the health applications of  . There are more. Every day practitioners are discovering new benefits of this amazing exercise.

 

04

Why can   cure diseases?

 

  is not only standing still. It is not only meditation, either. The system of   training is a combination of physical and mental aspects. The physical and mental activities are not separate from each other in this exercise. Hence, both the physiological and psychological functions of the body are cumulatively strengthened. Why   heals is a huge topic. Dr. Yu had written many books about it. In this article, we are going to focus on how   is able to nourish the blood. We will talk more in our blog posts.

 

During  , the body is held relatively unchanged in correct structures and there is constant contraction and loosening between muscles and bones. This will mobilize blood vessels, which promotes blood circulation. Dr. Yu listed the following figures in the book of “  and Search of Wu” (Yu Yongnian, 2005, Shanxi Science and Technology Press).

 

After one hour of   the composition of the blood may sensibly change:

  1. up to 1520 000 additional erythrocytes (red blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
  2. up to 3650 additional hem leukocytes (white blood cells) per cm3 of blood,
  3. up to 3.2 gram of additional hemoglobin per cm3 of blood.

 

Red blood cells are able to carry oxygen so efficiently because of the hemoglobin they contain. Increase of hemoglobin can directly impact the quantity of oxygen. With this additional amount of oxygen brought to the organ systems, one will be in a special state of relaxation and wellbeing.  This is why   has particularly good results in treating neurasthenia, arthritis, angina, cirrhosis, cardiovascular diseases, etc.

 

 

 

05

Recommended for special people

The most important characteristic of   as a healing method is that there is no side-effect. From the medicine point of view, there are not so many optional exercises for people who are too weak to sit or stand and people with special diseases i.e., cardiovascular diseases.   is the best option for those people. There are lying-down postures, supported postures, sitting postures, standing postures, practitioners can choose appropriate postures and control the physical effort precisely by the time of practicing.

To conclude, with thousands of years of development and the support of Yiquan martial artists and medical professionals in the last 100 years,   has brought together the essence of Chinese well-being philosophies and western sciences as a mature, thorough and complete method of health maintenance and improvement. If you want to know more about   as a healing method, reading Dr. Yu’s books is a good start. Here are three recommendations:

< Zhan Zhuang and The Search of Wu > (Chinese, English versions)

<Zhan Zhuang: The Art of Nourishing Life> (Chinese, English, French versions)

< Zhan Zhuang and Dao De Jing> (Chinese version)