I recently received Byron Jacob’s comprehensive reference book on xingyiquan “Dragon Body, Tiger Spirit” as a birthday gift. The more I read through the book, the more I realised how thorough the book is, certainly in terms of the theoretical underpinning of the art, which is what prompted this book review.
(For the sake of full disclosure, I have gotten to know Byron personally since I moved to Beijing last year and consider him a friend. However, I would like to think that not insignificant factor does not impede me from doing a relatively impartial review!)
Before diving into the content of the book, the ‘look’ and production quality of the book itself is top notch. Also, using the famous group photo of Guo Yunshen’s visit to Che Yizhai in Taigu, Shanxi in the 1880s was a masterstroke, this being possibly the only photo we have of these 2 titans of xingyiquan in the same photo.
THE FOREWORDS
A wise man once said that “a man is known by the company keeps”, and judging by the forewords that is some very exalted company indeed. There are forewords by Byron’s own teacher, M Di Guoyong, noted bagua researcher Kang Gewu and Byron’s kungfu sister (shijie) Andrea Falk. Not only that, the elusive Jarek Szymanski has penned one of the most balanced, objective histories of xingyiquan I have seen, demolishing several of the old myths about Yue Fei and Cao Jiwu.
THE CLASSIC TEXTS
The real ‘meat’ of the book is in the translations of and commentaries on Xingyi’s classic texts such as Cao Jiwu’s Key Extracts of 10 Methods, The 7 Fists, etc, and it is here that the book really shines. The xingyi classics can be abstruse to the point of impenetrability at times, especially for new learners, and a drawback with several other xingyi reference books in English is that they translate them literally, with little to no explanation. Byron, by contrast, has been studying traditional xingyiquan as his main art for close to two decades with an authentic teacher, and it shows. He manages the tricky feat of explaining esoteric theories like the 4 extremities (si shao) including the blood extremity (xue shao), flesh extremity (rou shao) and so on in down-to-earth, plain language.
Similarly, his explanation and discussion of 6 Body Shapes such as Dragon Body, Rooster Legs, Bear Shoulders, etc (which are inherited from Xingyi’s parent art Xinyi Liuhe Quan) is one of the clearest I have seen in English.
The discussion of the 12 Animals is similarly clear, and enriched by the inclusion of lifelike illustrations of each animal (see picture below), as well as Xue Dian’s notes on the animals as a contrast to the notes from his teacher.
THE BIOGRAPHIES
As an aficionado of xingyi history, it was a real treat to find that besides the bios of xingyi ‘superstars’ such as Sun Lutang, Guo Yunshen and Shang Yunxiang, Byron has included biographies of several xingyi masters such as Zhang Shude, Liu Weixiang and Geng Jishan who, although less well known in the West, made great contributions to the art and in each case left behind a group of highly skilled practitioners.
One point to bear in mind about this book is that it is not a ‘how-to’ or ‘teach yourself’ book about xingyiquan. (In fact it is arguable whether it is really possible to teach oneself xingyi from a book at all) Rather, it is probably the closest we have to a definitive reference book for the theory of xingyiquan, and from that perspective, would be a worthwhile addition to any true xingyi practitioner’s library!