I Chuan Heart Method -- Master Yao Chengguang's I Chuan Career and Martial Arts Philosophy

Author: Xie Yongguang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-06
Features: If life is a river, then time is the endless flowing water in it. Thus, the space of history echoes the lament of a wise man, "All things pass away!" I remember it was still in the summer of 1999 when the author came to Beijing Zongxun Wushu Hall to learn Iqin from Teacher Yao Chengguang. Since it was a beginner's class, I had to carefully organize the content taught by the teacher every night into notes and contemplate them diligently. Gradually, I discovered that Teacher Yao's teaching style was unique. Unlike traditional martial arts masters who inspire you with "Zen and I Ching-like insights," he had his own systematic teaching outline. For every technique he taught, he provided meticulous and insightful explanations both in terms of technique and theory, enabling students to understand not only "what" but also "why." From that time on, I consciously recorded the content taught by the teacher, and to this day, the tens of thousands of words of practice notes have undoubtedly become a valuable asset to me.
After graduating from university in 2002, the author began to gradually organize these notes into a series of articles, which were subsequently published in magazines such as "Wuhun," "Zhonghua Wushu," "Boxing," "Wushijia," and "Wudang." In late 2002, the author also began compiling the book "Elucidation of the Heart Method of Iqin." This book mainly consists of three parts: The first part is "Iqin Shines on China—A Virtuous Martial Arts Journey—Teacher Yao Chengguang's Martial Arts Path," which primarily narrates the 40-year martial arts journey of Teacher Yao Chengguang. The second part is "Research on Teacher Yao Chengguang's Martial Arts Philosophy," which mainly records the systematic elaboration of the principles and theories of Iqin by Teacher Yao, accompanied by selected explanations of Teacher Yao's Iqin techniques. The third part is "Teacher Yao Chengguang's Wushu Quotations," which organizes and categorizes Teacher Yao's wushu notes exactly as they were originally written.