Che Yonghong (1833-1914), also called Che Yizhai was born in Taigu in Shanxi Province. Coming from a poor family he first worked as a carter. In 1848 started his martial arts studies of Shaolin boxing under Wu Hongpu and Wang Changdong.
Taigu county in Shanxi province occupies an important place in the history of Chinese martial arts. Taigu is known as the’ birth place of Xingyi’. Taigu xingyi is not just an integral part of the history of the ‘Jin Shang’ (Shanxi merchant class), it also forms part of the development of China’s physical education in the early Republican period.
In 1856 Che was accepted by Li Laoneng as a student and learned Xingyiquan.It is in Taigu that Xingyi was born from Xinyi.
The common story is that it was Li Laoneng and Che Yizhai felt the name Xinyi Quan (heart and mind)only described the internal training, whereas the name Xingyi Quan(shape and mind) focused on the inner and outer methods and balance of yin and yang. After long study of the Tao and debating the name change Che Yizhai and his students agreed that the new name covered both the internal and external aspects of training in a more complete way. You can see from the clip below that Xingyi Quan is much more lively and active as opposed to Dai method, and Xingyi has more variations in footwork, you can also see the rounded back posture from Dai Xinyi within Che Xingyi,
With Li Laonengs permission, Che continually refined and improved upon Xingyi Quan adding and subtracting things that he and his students felt worked best for actual combat. Che had much experience in real fighting while working as a bodyguard for over 30 years. He and his students were very serious about developing a system that was for practical usage. Che was even recognized by the Chinese Govt and given a very high honor after defeating a Japanese Martial Artist in a challenge match.
