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This form is fascinating and beautiful.

It is unfortunate how hard spear forms are to learn and practice.
Perhaps by summer.

From http://www.plumpub.com/info/knotebook/boxxingyi.htm (where I buy most of my martial arts DVDs).

Xing Yi spends a lot of time on structural issues often considered quite advanced in other styles. Part of Xing Yi’s overall flavor and strength as a martial art is its reliance on the idea of STRONG SHAPES, that is postural formation which do a great deal of martial work just by the nature of their structure. In this general area Xing Yi starts with an excellent posture appropriate for both Chi Kung and martial training, namely the SAN TI formation.

SAN TI (which means Three Powers, those being Heaven, Earth and Mankind) is a stance with 60 per cent of the weight on the back leg, the front hand lightly extended and the rear hand pulling back toward the Tan Tien. This posture contains a series of animal shapes which act as reminders of general Xing Yi postural principles.

CHICKEN LEG = One firmly planted and the other lighter.
BEAR SHOULDERS = Shoulders rounded but stretched with energy.
EAGLE CLAWS = Fingers throbbing with power.
TIGER EMBRACE = Arms folded and enlivened with potential energy.

Other postural considerations include pressing the head upward, the tongue forward and
the arms forward. Strengthening the shoulders, extremities and teeth. Rounding the back, breast and Tiger Mouth (space between thumb and index finger). Sinking the Ch’I, shoulders and elbows. Curving the knees, shoulders and elbows.
Straightening the neck, spine and joints.
Embracing the chest with the arms, the navel with the ch’I and the body with courage.

Xing Yi also incorporates the famous and fundamental Six Harmonies idea of Chinese Kung Fu. These are simple correspondences that
are useful for proper body alignment and power generation.

SIX OUTSIDE HARMONIES
Shoulder to Hip
Elbow to Knee
Hand to Foot

SIX INSIDE HARMONIES
Heart to Mind
Mind to Ch’i
Ch’i to Strength

Another guide line for Xing Yi practice is San Dian or Three Points. This suggests that nose, fist and foot are always on line with one another. The body and Ch’I interplay subtlely in Xing Yi as the texts say when the body sinks the ch’I rises and vice versa.

Interesting to see the fundamental elements with each weapon.

[a previous post describes the animals and their qualities]

From others blogs:http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/?p=35

My own experience is that deep stance training is more effective than stretching and high kicks for re-making young Northern Shaolin students bodies so that they have a bigger range of movement potential. This is sometimes called, “getting the qi in the channels.”
While in my twenties, an hour a day of low stance training initially made my thigh muscles and shoulder muscles bigger, but as time passed and my alignment improved my muscles got smaller and smaller. This is sometimes called, “qi going into the bones.”

It’s true, my muscles got smaller. My alignment improved and along with it my ability to issue power, to connect (integrate), twist, and pulse (open/close). Believe it or not, I got weaker. Not lazy or deficient but muscularly weaker and functionally more sensitive.

Xinjyi Dragon and Tiger Stances: http://dojorat.blogspot.com/2010/04/chasing-another-dragon.html
More on the Dragon Stance: http://dojorat.blogspot.com/2010/05/xingyi-dragon-discussion.html

Doing this step back and forth across the room is a great exercise for the hips and leg twisting muscles. Bit hard on the knees.