Henry Look’s 8 Yiquan Posts

and Han Family Yiquan

 Introduction
I have only been training in Yiquan since 2017 and have had the pleasure of
learning from a few Tri Internal Martial Arts students. My Yiquan teacher, Nick
Domich, is an inspiration of athleticism and received a student certificate from
Grandmaster Look and trained in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nick has primarily
taught me the Han Family Yiquan developed by Han Xing Qiao and his son Han Jing
Chen. Since Henry Look passed away this is what the Sacramento Yiquan group
practices now. We have also done some comparison of the 5 Elements and 12
Animals he learned from Henry Look with various practices I’ve been exposed to
through the years from Kenny Gong’s school and other Jiang Rong Qiao related
lines.

Via Tim White I was able to meet Ray Carbullido and learned arm swings and how
to integrate those mechanics with footwork and Baguazhang. Once I was incredibly
fortunate to see Han Jing Chen in his private practice near the California State
Capitol in Downtown Sacramento as I walked to work one morning in the summer
of 2014. Han’s torso moved like boiling water and his limbs and face were
completely still as he stood in the Embracing Post.

Nick has encouraged me to seek out other students of Henry Look’s to enrich my
training as Henry’s Yiquan is very similar to that of Han Xing Yuan who was Han
Xing Qiao’s younger brother. The Yiquan material from Xing Qiao is more Liuhebafa
influenced and that from Xing Yuan is more akin to Xingyiquan’s Bear Standing. As
a former Chen Xinjia practitioner through Chen Xiaowang’s line I have truly enjoyed
learning the Guang Ping Yang material as well. It is an understatement to say I
have been privileged to learn with Henry’s students Dug Corpolongo and Matt
Peterson as well as with Dug’s student Rick Clark.

I have purposefully chosen to use Pinyin transliteration when I can. These pictures
of Grandmaster Henry Look are from his Yiquan Visual Aid and were taken from his
website that has since been archived in the Way Back Machine. Included below are
pictures of Han Xing Yuan in his 8 Standing Posts that I saved many years ago from
a magazine article, I can’t recall which. The picture of Han Jing Chen is from Hiden
magazine and reads top to bottom, right to left. The lineage information presented
here is what was provided to me by Uncle Dug from Grandmaster Look’s
unpublished book and I got the information about Han Xing Yuan from James Carss’
book Yiquan Fighting Art of the Han Brothers.

-Matt Parsons, November 2023

 Xingyiquan and Yiquan Lineage

Yiquan Postural Guidelines

The postures may be practiced individually or in sequence. Beginners should start

with 5 to 10 minutes and work their way up to as much as 45 minutes at a time.

● Head coordinates with the coccyx (end of the vertebrae)

● The neck coordinates with the waist
● The shoulders coordinate with the inner side of the thigh (gua)
● Elbows coordinate with knees
● Left shin coordinates with right shin
● Left toes coordinate with right toes
● Mind coordinates with the spirit (shen)
● Mind coordinates with qi
● Qi coordinates with inner strength
● Internal qi and shen coordinate with the external form
Position 1

Key Points

● Head suspended.
● Fingers and palms should be in contact with
an imaginary sphere. Fingers are expanded
apart with palms below chin and angled 45º
upward.
● Elbows are 6 inches to 8 inches from the
body.
● Sink downwards to the chi center (just
below the navel) The spine is in alignment
from the crown of the head to the buttocks.
● The knees are slightly bent toward the front
of the toes. They should be comfortable
without straining.
● Feet are shoulder width apart.

Position 2

Key Points

● From position 1, turn palms over to 45º

down.
● Continue to imagine a sphere, fingers and
palms in solid contact.
Position 3

Key Points

● Continue to imagine a sphere.

● Palms are held at the midpoint between
chest and navel.

Position 4

Key Points

● Continue to imagine a sphere.

● From position 3 turn the palms over to a
45º angle downwards.
Position 5

Key Points

- Continue to imagine a sphere.

- Palms are in line with the nose.

Position 6

Key Points

● Continue to imagine a sphere.

● Palms are held facing each other at shoulder
height and shoulder width apart.
Position 7

Key Points

● Continue to imagine a sphere.

● Rotate palms downward slightly below
shoulder height with fingers pointing
forward.

Position 8

Key Points

● Continue to imagine a sphere.

● Palms are held waist high with fingers
pointed 45º downward.
Han Xing Yuan’s 8 Yiquan Posts
Han Jing Chen’s 8 Yiquan Posts