Radical Xingyi Energetics - Scott Meredith

RADICAL XINGYI ENERGETICS presents the classical Chinese internal martial art of Xingyiquan as MARTIAL NEI GONG, using stylized striking techniques to cultivate internal energy. This book is the first to explicitly link the concrete movements of the Xingyi techniques and drills to the internal energetic results and experiences. The core movements and principles that will enable you to generate the Sharp Energy and the Surge Energy are presented in detail.
The Five Element Fists of Hebei Xingyiquan and three key Animals styles from the Twelve Forms are covered. This minimal selection is intentional, as these moves are exactly what's needed to feel the energy.
In order to accelerate development, supplemental energy practices are included:

• BENG QUAN (Crushing) Variations (AN JING, Reverse, Truncated, etc.)
• SHEN JING Infusion Drill Set
• CHANG GUN Single Staff Drill Set
• CHANG GUN Double Staff Drill Set
• TONGBEI Drill Set

There is also complete analysis of Xingyi's 2 internal energies and new translations of carefully targeted selections from Xingyi master writings.
Most bad reviews of Amazon products open with: 'NOT WHAT I EXPECTED'. I am now going to spare you that awful letdown. This book does NOT present these:

• Combatives & Self Defense
• Full Set of Animal Techniques
• Combative Weapons
• Linking Choreography
• An Shen Pao
• Body Conditioning

This is not the complete art of Xingyiquan. That's one feature you can cross off your list. Second thing to forget about: This book does not present anything that will be of immediate use for street, sport, or stage (self-defense, UFC, dance videos). If you need that, forget this.
It's only eight techniques, supported by many unconventional energy drills, plus original analysis of Xingyi energy framework, with reference to the writings of the great Xingyi masters. RADICAL XINGYI ENERGETICS covers the experience of the two energies and how they are felt through the several dozen simple drills of this minimal, bare-metal art. Though the physical approach uses the common mechanics of the Xingyi Five Element Fists and Twelve Animals, the principles are unconventional, based on an exotic interpretation of the art seen through the lens of an old Chinese master teacher under whom the author trained more than 40 years ago.
The author has done his best to make the material learnable from stand-alone use of the book. However, everybody has a different learning style, and learning internal movement arts from a book is extremely difficult. RXE partially overlaps with the author's DVD "Xing Yi Quan" which teaches the same Five Element Fists and the same Three Animal forms, but lacks the special drills and the detailed energy commentary. However, many of the supplemental energy drills are presented on the author's free YouTube channel, so you may wish to assemble whatever you can for free.
If you have even the smallest doubt whether this book is a good buy, if you have any reason to wonder at all if this is going to work for you, listen to your doubts and do not buy it. Save your time and money and spare me the 1-star review. I know you can see the stupidity of proceeding despite this warning, wasting your time and money, then slamming the product with a 1-star review whining the usual: "HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. NOT WHAT I EXPECTED." That just damages all of us. (Though you should realize that if you only accept what you expect, you'll never learn anything.)
The upside is that if you train according to the radical energetic principles of this book, giving it a fair chance, it's likely that you will begin to feel the electric jolt of the "obvious energy" and the overwhelming flood of the "concealed energy" for yourself, as many others have.