Li Luoneng () (1807–1888) was a Chinese martial artist from

Shen County Shen County (), or Shenxian, is a county of western Shandong province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the south and southwest and Hebei to the west. It is the southernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Liaoc ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

. He was also known by several other names, including Li Feiyu (李飞羽), Li Nengran (能然), and Li Nengjiang, and was nicknamed "Divine Fist Li". Li learned the

internal Internal may refer to: *Internality as a concept in behavioural economics *Neijia, internal styles of Chinese martial arts *Neigong or "internal skills", a type of exercise in meditation associated with Daoism * ''Internal'' (album) by Safia, 2016 ...

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...

of Xinyi (Heart and Intention Boxing) from Dai Wenxiong, the son of Dai Long Bang, and later modified the style into

Xingyiquan 形意拳, Xingyiquan , or Xingyi, is a style of internal Chinese martial arts. The word approximately translates to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". The style is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements, and expl ...

(Form and Intention Boxing). Luoneng initially studied local martial arts, such as

Bafaquan Ba Fa, or Eight Methods, is a Chinese martial art developed by Li De Mao () during the Qing dynasty. He combined the techniques of Fanziquan (), Paochui (), Tantui (), Tongbeiquan () and Xingyiquan () into a new style based on the theory of ...

, in his hometown of Shen County, Hebei, before traveling to

Shanxi Province Shanxi; formerly romanised as Shansi is a province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi and Datong. Its one-character abbreviation is ( ...

to study with his teacher. By 1836, he had excelled in the martial arts of Tongbei and Gongliquan. To study Xinyi, he journeyed to

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

to learn from Dai Wenxiong. Although Dai initially refused to teach him, Li eventually convinced him by acquiring a plot of land and starting a farm in the area. Li grew vegetables and delivered his produce to the market daily, providing the Dai family with free produce. This act of goodwill led Dai Wenxiong to accept Li as a student. Li Luoneng trained with Master Dai for ten years and became one of the most renowned Xinyi masters of his time, helping to popularize the art. Luoneng introduced several modifications to the style he learned from his teacher. He replaced the

Piguaquan Piguaquan (), also known as Piguazhang () due to its emphasis on palm techniques, is often practiced along with Bajiquan () and is a style of wushu (Chinese martial arts) that features explosive, long-range power. It originated in Cangzhou, ...

technique, which involves a splitting fist, with a palm strike. Additionally, he changed the name from Xinyi (Heart and Intention Boxing) to Xingyi (Form and Intention Boxing). Later, he had a number of students; one of his students,

Guo Yunshen Guo Yunshen () (1829 - 1898) was a famous xingyiquan master. He represented the xingyiquan martial philosophy of preferring to become highly proficient with only a few techniques rather than to be less proficient with many techniques. His skil ...

, became the teacher of

Wang Xiangzhai Wang Xiangzhai (; November 26, 1885 - July 12, 1963), also known as Nibao, Zhenghe and Yuseng, was a Chinese xingyiquan master, responsible for founding the martial art of Yiquan. Biography Wang Xiangzhai was born in Hebei province, China. A ...

, who later popularized the

Qigong Qigong ()) is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation said to be useful for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese medicine, Chin ...

exercise known as

Zhan zhuang Zhan zhuang ( zh, t=站樁, s=站桩, p=zhàn zhuāng, l=standing ike apost) is a training method often practiced by students of neijia (internal kung fu), such as yiquan, xingyiquan, baguazhang and tai chi. ''Zhan zhuang'' is sometimes tran ...

(post standing).

References

{{reflist Chinese xingyiquan practitioners Neijia People from Hengshui 1888 deaths Martial artists from Hebei 1807 births