Chinese Internal Martial Arts- My Personal Journey (Shang Style Xing Yi Training Guide-My Personal Journey)

This book had me hooked right from the opening chapter because I experienced the same feelings when I was growing up. The rest of the book is a good guide for the kung fu practitioner to gauge where they are in their skill level. I've known the author for decades and when we were training Hung Ga together, his skill level was tops in that lineages style. I've touched hands with him since he started his Xing Yi training and it's like night and day. The old "banging" style of his Hung Ga skills cannot compete with where he is today, with his Xing Yi. The most recent time we touched hands, around February 2020, the author's energy felt like electricity. That's the best way for me to describe it. His strikes produced energy like rolling electricity that kept coming from the point of impact, radiating continuously to my base. If I relaxed during our encounter, I could make it 2-3 techniques before being overwhelmed. If I was tense/stiff, I was lost immediately because he could sense my moves before I made them. This book is a no-nonsense guide to how the author got to this higher-level of kung fu, which is called "Go Sau" in Cantonese. One of the things I want to reiterate in his journey is the need to touch hands with your teacher. A good teacher will touch hands because that's how they test and guide you. If not the teacher (due to age or injury), then his top level student. Any system that does not touch hands in a free form encounter is not a "Martial" art, and just an art.I highly recommend this book (and his previous book) to any martial arts practitioner, but especially to kung fu practitioners.

Okay, I finished it and its very good and to the point! I may have an unfair advantage in that before he wrote this, all of this internal process was disscussed between us as he experienced it thru training and study. What I can say is that if you actually read it you have a road map to the internal that lies within you. I would recommend the book as opposed to those endless how to picture books where they teach you how to make a fist and how to stand in horse stance and before you know it your nauseous at what is clearly a lack of any real expertise and just a look at me picture book with no substance. I have bought dozens of books like that, in fact Dixon, who inherited most of them, know that I find these types of books appalling. Dixon's book is not like that, you actually have to READ. So if you want to elevate your Xing Yi Quan or need a straight forward explanation of what you'll experience doing internal kung fu, buy this book.

This is Dixon Fung's second book and is a continuation, however it dives deeper into his personal experience rather than a 'how to,' book, and discusses experience and understanding, rather than reading like a story, or biography.When learning Martial Arts, there are times when you will ponder, roll things over in your mind, make connections, and gain understanding. This book takes the reader through that mind/ body experience.For some going through that process, it will serve not so much as a guide, but as an aid.For others that think they are going through it , they will come to realize, they my not have reached that level of understanding and may have been deceived...either by their teachers,-or themselves.This book just might put them back on the path.This book is not only informative, it is inspiring.It makes one want to train. It's good for the person who already trains it, and sets a proper mindset for those who are just entering the system, or who are thinking about it.

What was touched upon in his first book, Dixon Fung expands on in this next installment. Shang Style Xing Yi is like nothing I've ever seen before. It's a style that is executed exactly how it is trained, and this book elaborates on just how effective it really is. To anyone who is interested in learning more about Xing Yi, I highly recommend picking this up to grow your knowledge on the style, and also your knowledge on martial arts in general.It is as fascinating as it is devastating.

I've read this book and found it interesting how the author presented his view on the subject. More an experience presentation than teaching compared to other books. I enjoyed reading it.