The cover of an English book entitled Chinese Kung Fu, featuring a kung fu fighter from Shaolin Temple, a Buddhist institution known as a kung fu mecca thanks to Jin Yong’s historical kung fu novels. [Photo by Zhu Linyong/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Yi Jin Jing exercise is widely considered, by kung fu masters and swordsmen in the fictional kung fu world, one of the two fiercest techniques of the Shaolin sect, alongside the Xi Sui Jing (Marrow-Cleansing Sutra).

Proper practice of the skills, it is said, even in a short period of time, can turn a normal person into a grandmaster of martial arts. If one completes all nine stages of attainment of the Yi Jin Jing sutra, he or she would be utterly unbeatable in the kung fu world.

Of course, the author exaggerated and mystified the power of the exercise in his storytelling. But the manuscripts were not fabrications—the two sutras really existed.

It’s a pity only Yi Jin Jing has survived with full text and complete illustrations. Some claim to have retrieved the basic techniques of Xi Sui Jing by piecing together fragmented information from various classical texts, but their efforts have yet to be widely accepted.

A little bit more complex and physically challenging than Ba Duan Jin, the Yi Jin Jing exercise doesn't require much space or time either.

With 12 well-designed sequences of movement, the Yi Jin Jing exercise is widely practiced for building up one’s stamina and inner strength, and promoting one’s perseverance and peak performances both physically and mentally.