About Dennis
My name is Dennis and I am the guy behind XingyiMax.com, a blog on the core of the martial art named Xingyiquan (also known as Hsing-I-Chuan) and the heart of traditional Chinese internal martial arts in general.
Vivian and Dennis, July 2009
I was born in 1968, in Wellington, New Zealand. I resided to Sabah, Malaysia in 1969 with my parents, as my father has completed his tertiary education and returned to his home country.
I got into martial arts training in 1981 with my uncles in Taekwondo, Hongquan (Hung Gar) and also hard Qigong, when I was constantly bullied by others in school. I officially started my martial arts training under shifu Yong Kai in Taijiquan and Xingyiquan in 1982.
I went to Australia to further my studies in 1986 and moved to New Zealand in 1990. During the Australasia years, I have trained in various martial arts that I could found, such as, Boxing, Muay Thai, Wing Chun, Wrestling, etc. I have attended almost all the seminars held by the big names who went down under. I have started sharing my arts to friends and mates in 1992.
I returned to Malaysia in 1996 due to my father illness, where I live until today.
In 2005, I have packed up my backpack and went China in search of a higher level of martial arts. I met my Xingyiquan shifu, Zheng Mingxing, in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. I am also studying the basic of Ye Style Taijiquan under Jiang Lan in order to gain a better understanding of the overall Internal Martial Arts.
Zheng Mingxing and Dennis, April 2006
Zheng has granted me to share the art of Xingyiquan to others during his trip to Malaysia in 2006.
I am currently running an oil palm plantation business, training in Xingyiquan twice a day, sharing my Xingyiquan to others for free during my free time, and go to China to continue my studies in Xingyiquan and Taijiquan every now and then.
I am also the owner of WushuWG.com, a Chinese martial arts website in Chinese language, with my Taijiquan teacher Jiang Lan as the co-host of the site.
Location: Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China. Date: January 2012.
February 27, 2013 at 17:07 · Permalink ·
Hi Dennis,
i am the daughter of Master Di,Guoyong. Recently, my father just comes to Australia.
My father is keen on sharing his decades of technical experience and deep knowledge with all those who love chinese wushu and with those who want to research the arts deeper. He is currently seeking a good flatform to exchange or spread the culture of chinese traditional martial art. He has lots of students in overseas. if anyone learn with him, he/she wouldn’t regret it.
My father has a personal website, you could find more info about him.(www.diguoyongwushu.com) or google his name(diguoyong) on youtube to find more teaching videos.
i am looking forward your reply.
Regards,
Selina Di
April 8, 2013 at 04:59 · Permalink ·
Dear Selina,
Thanks for dropping by XingyiMax.com.
I’ve admired your father’s work for quite a long while, it’s good to hear from you.
Although I was educated in English, my mother tongue is Chinese dialect, so you can write to me in Chinese, and it won’t feel odd for two Chinese to communicate in English.
Regards,
Dennis
May 17, 2012 at 21:51 · Permalink ·
I am the webmaster of cnxingyiquan.com. If anyone insterest in Chinese Xingyiquan. you could also visit our website. We have a English column. Dennis’s website is really good. Hope more people know Xingyiquan in the future.
July 22, 2011 at 07:04 · Permalink ·
Hey, awesome site, I really appreciate this site and your taiji site, they are a big help! I was wondering if you can help me with something. I am a wing chun practitioner and am looking at starting xinyiquan or taijiquan, because I find both awesome. I was wondering, in your experience, which one would be more appropriate for a wing chun student to learn? Or, perhaps I should ask, what are the pros and cons for each art in terms of a wing chun student learning them? Personally, I feel like wing chun is right in the middle of the two…
July 23, 2011 at 23:49 · Permalink ·
Thanks for the support!
Well, It all depends on your character when it comes to choosing a martial art, which is best fit your character, which is easier for you to fall in love with. Your body type or athletic ability or previous martial arts background are not relevant at all, if you love the art chosen, you will put more afford, spend more time and willing to sacrifice in order to excel in it. You will also be far more enjoy your training and your life.
My recommendation is if you are a beginner, you should consider taking up Xingyiquan, it is easier for a beginner to break in. It also requires a much longer time to gain martial or self defense ability in Taijiquan. Since you are an experienced martial artist, your background should be able to cover the martial side while you are in the incubating stage of your Taijiquan practice. As I mentioned above, you should pick the one you are more likely to fall in love with, you will have more fun and much more enjoy your training.
Happy training!
July 17, 2011 at 21:45 · Permalink ·
Dear Dennis,
I would like to know if you are teaching Xingyiquan and Taichiquan in KK as I am interested in the art. My number 019 XXXXXXX.
thanks !!
raymond
July 17, 2011 at 23:02 · Permalink ·
Hi Raymond, thanks for showing interest in the internal arts, I’ve hide your phone number for privacy purposes, it’s getting late now, I’ll call you tomorrow.
June 11, 2011 at 15:26 · Permalink ·
Dear Dennis
Thank you for sharing your knowledge in this interesting site.
Best regards,
Abi (Xingyiquan, Israel)
June 11, 2011 at 18:48 · Permalink ·
Welcome to XingyiMax.com and thanks for the support!
January 24, 2011 at 10:24 · Permalink ·
Nice site! I have a question, do you know at what age Li Luoneng was when he started teaching Che and at what age he was when started teaching Guo Yunshen? I know he was much older when he started teaching Guo. Thanks
January 24, 2011 at 13:12 · Permalink ·
@Danny, Thanks for the support. Here are my findings:
Che Yizhai (1833 – 1915), Song Shirong (1849 – 1927) and other students of Shanxi Province learned Xingyiquan from Li Luoneng (1808 – 1890) during Li’s present in Taigu County of Shanxi from mid 1850s to late 1860s.
Guo Yunshen (1820 – 1901), Li Qilan (1819 – 1889) and other student of Hebei Province learned Xingyiquan from Li Luoneng after Li has resided back to his hometown, Shenzhou City of Hebei, at the age of 63 which was around the early 1870s til late 1880s.
Che Yizhai learned from Li Luoneng in 1856. Guo Yunshen’s actual strating date is not known, it should be in the early 1870s otherwise he is too old to learned from Li.
October 28, 2010 at 11:28 · Permalink ·
Really find your site a fantastic one, power packed with so much info on taiji especially.
Thanks for sharing.
September 22, 2010 at 03:43 · Permalink ·
I like your site
I train Hebei Style Xingyiquan and Yang Style Taijiquan.
I have never heard of Ye Style taijiquan if I may ask what is the source (lineage) of this stlye?
September 22, 2010 at 14:05 · Permalink ·
@Tim
Thanks for the comment.
Ye Style Taijiquan or Yejiaquan (Ye Family Boxing) is referred as the style of taijiquan practice and passed on by Ye Dami (叶大密, 1888 – 1973) by the martial arts circle around Shanghai and Zhejiang Province, which can also be referred as a sub-style of Yang Style Taijiquan.
I have drafted a couple of posts “Introducing Ye Style Taijiquan” and “My Taiji Teacher – Jian Lan” about half a year ago, I think I should complete and publish them.
October 23, 2010 at 23:36 · Permalink ·
Finally, the post “Introducing Ye Style Taijiquan and Ye Dami” has been completed.
November 14, 2010 at 11:07 · Permalink ·
Thank You that was very interesting
August 15, 2010 at 07:49 · Permalink ·
Do you lift weight? Isn’t internal martial arts against resistant training?
August 21, 2010 at 16:01 · Permalink ·
Yes, I do include resistant exercises as part of my daily training routine, however, I don’t training like a body builder with slow and strict motions, I do my resistant exercises in an explosive manner.
August 7, 2010 at 22:11 · Permalink ·
Thats an inspirational story! Gives me alot of ideas with my life. Keep at it!
August 11, 2010 at 17:49 · Permalink ·
@randy, thanks for dropping by. Here is randy’s Sanshou Xing Yi Quan website: http://sanshouxingyiquan.tripod.com/
August 2, 2010 at 14:11 · Permalink ·
Enjoyed the articles and info on the website and your post’s at MartialArtsPlanet.com Keep it up! :
August 2, 2010 at 17:23 · Permalink ·
@slipthejab, thanks for dropping by.