Tongbeiquan
Tongbeiquan (literally "Spreading Power from the Back Boxing", as tong means "through," bei means "back" and quan means "fist") is a school of martial arts popular in northern China. Tongbeiquan's basic precepts are Taoist in nature and many of the training methods in Tongbeiquan are similar to those of the internal styles. In traditional Tongbeiquan training, several parts are included: basic training (stance, arm techniques, leg techniques and conditioning), combinations, forms training, two-person free sparring, weapons training, and qigong training.
Originally, Tongbei may not have referred to a school of boxing but to a way of exercise. When the exercises are done, power is generated from the back to pass through the shoulders and then reach the arms. In this way, heavy blows can be delivered at the arm's length to control the opponent. Tongbeiquan emphasizes the combination of inner core and outward application.
Old Qi style:
Qi Xin’s Lao Qi Pai basic training is based on 108 single methods, sometimes called Chai Quan ("Divided Fists").
Qi Taichang's Shao Qi Pai variant is based on continuous use of the five kinds of palm strikes. Each kind of strike is correlated with one of the five elements (earth, metal, water, wood and fire), hence Shao Qi Pai is also called Wu Xing Tongbeiquan ("Five Elements Tongbeiquan").
Basic sets of Shao Qi Pai Tongbeiquan.
Da Peng Zhang Yi ("Great bird spreads its wings")
Qi Xing Hua Ji (Changing of forms and transformations of strikes)
Yi Zi Lian Ji Pao("Continuous cannon strikes of one word")
Shi Er Lian Zhu Pao ("12 continuous cannon strikes"). This style does not use single strikes, all strikes are linked together in sequences.
There are more advanced forms in Shao Qi Pai Tongbeiquan such as "3 Deadly Palms": "Palm of Entangling the Soul", "Palm of Hunting the Soul" and "Palm of Chopping the Soul."
Shi style:
Since the two Qi styles of Tongbeiquan are so widespread and has many more forms, this version of Shi family is not as well-known, it is considered a heterodox style and sometimes is called heiquan ("black fist"). The training syllabus of Shi-style Tongbeiquan constitutes the following:
Six Primary Skills
Eight Older Fists (a short form)
Twelve Linking Fists (the number of fists may vary depending on lineage)
Twenty-Four Posture Form
Thirty-Six Take-Apart Fist (also a form)
108 individual techniques.