Form Thirty-Six Take-Apart Fist (also a form) 108 individual techniques Secrecy Baiyuan Tongbeiquan masters followed the orthodox Chinese martial art model of keeping their teachings very secretive. Even other traditional wushu stylists often criticize this group as too conservative. Traditionally, Tongbeiquan instructors usually did not teach in public. Because of this conservatism, it was very difficult to join the group to study this skill. Tongbeiquan teachers would teach only behind closed doors. The masters always felt that the high-level skills should only be passed to morally upstanding people who must have a good personality, be smart enough to grasp the principles, as well as be diligent in practice. So all this prevented Tongbeiquan from having particularly large numbers of practitioners. The result of this lack of open teaching is seen in the rarity of the style. However, in recent years many teachers have become much more open and there are teachers teaching openly throughout China as well as in the West. Application of the Five Elements to Tongbeiquan theory Wuxing Tongbeiquan takes the five elements as its core and back-through as its application. Back-through Boxing takes the five elements of traditional Chinese philosophy as its basic theory. This philosophy believes that heaven is an macrocosm while the human being is a microcosm but the principles of the systems remains constant regardless of the size. The five elements of the heaven are metal, wood, water, fire and earth while those of the human being the heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney. The five elements of boxing are wrestling, batting, piercing, axing and boring. The Chinese boxing philosophy believes that everything in the world finds its roots in the five elements while all Boxing schools are also based on its five elements. The following table demonstrates the interrelations among the five elements of the heaven and those of the human being and boxing: Exercise and Shen Fa 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. Contemporary Wushu Tongbei is present in modern wushu as well and is practiced by the contemporary wushu athletes coming out of