The other day, I was training in Yiquan with my friend and teacher, Gary Wass. I was talking about how my Xingyiquan form was lacking in power. And he said something along the lines of Yiquan simply being the engine that you can put into any form. Coincidentally, this idea of a core basis of effort or power in each of the main internal martial arts styles had been percolating in my mind ever since taking a five-day workshop with Grandmaster Chen Xiaoxing. At that workshop, I realized that all of the Chen Taijiquan form is simply applying various strikes, kicks, grabs and take-downs to the Chán Sī Jìn (纏絲勁) or Silk Reeling Energy movement. I also realized that nearly identical concepts were used for the Mud-dragging Step (趟泥步 “Tàng Ní Bù") of Baguazhang.
