bengquan.net

I came across this clip of Peter Consterdine (who I’d never heard of before but I like what I’m seeing) which I found really interesting. He’s basically describing something that is a lot like Xingyi’s Bengquan. I’m going to ramble on about the clip and what I like about it and while it should be obvious lets have a quick disclaimer up front - these thoughts are my interpretations of what he’s saying, and how I think what he’s saying applies to something like Xingyi however I’ve not met this guy (never heard of him until a few minutes ago) and so when I say that I think he is getting at something he might not be, it’s just my take on it. That said, I honestly don’t think I’m far off and while I’m not on his level I think that he and some of my teachers could have some very interesting discussions about striking technique.

It’s not exactly the same but the two things are more alike than you might expect:

First up, lets cover some stuff that is definitely not like Xingyi:

• he seems to encourage a wind up
• the weight comes forward (more like boxing than xingyi)
• missing ‘external harmonies’
  • He encourages a wind up - it’s probably not bad for a little while but it gives away what you’re doing and it would slow you down
  • The weight comes forward a bit too much, I think, though even within Xingyi different schools treat this differently. The point here is the same though - even if the body shape is a bit different - the idea is still the there should be alignment of your hips and shoulder. So it looks a bit different but the principal is very very similar.
  • I believe that it should whip out together - so rather than starting in the legs/hips and moving up as he describes it it really should be a single movement where everything moves in sync.

These are not trivial differences… ¹

When you look at how he moves the parts to come together quickly - it’s not the same as fajin, of course, and I’m not saying that this is Xingyi but it’s nice to see some sensible teaching which bears clear similarities with traditional teachings:

So, moving along, here are some things I noticed which are a lot like Xingyi:

• vertical fist like bengquan
• weight behind the strike
• body alignment

I like the guys enthusiasm and energy (feel a little bad for the Karate guy though). I think it would be a lot of fun to do a seminar with the guy. :)

There are some really nice things about what he’s trying to show here that maybe don’t come out in the clip but I think that he is really aiming at these things:

• natural movement - the punch he teaches is much more natural (and simpler!) than what the karate guy does (which could be called mechanical)
• full body power - this is a kind of internal martial arts jargon but you can see him putting his body into the punch
• relaxation - he doesn’t say this but you can see how relaxed his striking is  (really relaxation is a bit redundant here as it’s part of the other two.

Finally - heres a link to the guy’s site. It’s not an affiliate link but he does have stuff to sell you (be warned): peterconsterdine.com (and despite that he’s trying to sell stuff, he has to eat afterall, it appears that the stuff he’s selling is pretty good).

Update 2010-08-11: This has been picked up and discussed over at rumsoakedfist.org.

1. I think that the more traditional your point of view then the more important these differences may seem. That’s a fair attitude but I do think, at the same time, that it’s important to keep an eye on what this guy is talking about anyway which is, essentially, that it is important to hit hard with full body power rather than thinking about getting the correct technique. I completely agree with that part which is really an interpretation of what he’s getting at but I think it’s in the spirit of what he’s saying. ↩

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