Learning Baguazhang

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On the tapes of Dr. Painter I have not seen that nor I support it.

Then perhaps you haven't seen Dr. John Painter teaching an intent drill at the annual Gathering of the Circle 2007.

YouTube - Using intent in Jiulong Baguazhang

Or this from a part of a series of demonstrations of the use of (Yi) Intention by John Painter at the 2006 A Taste of China Teachers demonstrations.

YouTube - Yi Xin Jin Intention Heart Energy

It appears that when he does demonstrations he makes sure to include these components.

Public demonstrations of this type of nonsense by people calling themselves "Master, Captain, Dr, Ranger, Etc" give the viewers the impression that this is accepted practice in the Art of Baqua, it is not, NO other lineage of Baqua has EVER claimed these "powers" in fact they laugh at everyone who demonstrates these "woo" concepts. The founder of Baqua was NOT noted for claiming to move people with his intent, nor his Chi, nor did his students makes such claims, But "Captain" Painter does, think about it.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm18/kingoftheforest28/drpberet.jpg

I'm not saying the guy is all bad, I enjoyed his acting in the Benji movies. I didn't see the Midnight Cowboy so I can't comment on his acting in that one.

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I gave you the two California suggestions but here's a NY option as well.

YouTube - Ba Gua Extravaganza

[Ghost]

Then perhaps you haven't seen Dr. John Painter teaching an intent drill at the annual Gathering of the Circle 2007.

YouTube - Using intent in Jiulong Baguazhang

Or this from a part of a series of demonstrations of the use of (Yi) Intention by John Painter at the 2006 A Taste of China Teachers demonstrations.

YouTube - Yi Xin Jin Intention Heart Energy

It appears that when he does demonstrations he makes sure to include these components.

Public demonstrations of this type of nonsense by people calling themselves "Master, Captain, Dr, Ranger, Etc" give the viewers the impression that this is accepted practice in the Art of Baqua, it is not, NO other lineage of Baqua has EVER claimed these "powers" in fact they laugh at everyone who demonstrates these "woo" concepts. The founder of Baqua was NOT noted for claiming to move people with his intent, nor his Chi, nor did his students makes such claims, But "Captain" Painter does, think about it.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm18/kingoftheforest28/drpberet.jpg

I'm not saying the guy is all bad, I enjoyed his acting in the Benji movies. I didn't see the Midnight Cowboy so I can't comment on his acting in that one.

lol thats totally hilarious. how do people get away with this crap. What i think is worse than this guy himself is the idiots in the audience that believe it and clap and so on thinking its real. Very entertaining thread this.

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So how about posting some video of what your styles is supposed to look like TT

An JianQiu Demos Baguazhang
YouTube - An JianQiu Demos Baguazhang

Xie Pieqi

YouTube - Xie Pieqi (1923-2003)

Wang Shunjin demonstrating his Bagua

YouTube - Wang Shujin & Liao Wuchang

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Yin baguazhang apps

YouTube - Yin baguazhang apps


An Wushu - Ba Gua Zhang

YouTube - An Wushu - Ba Gua Zhang

Yin Style Bagua Zhang Xie PeiQi

YouTube - Yin Style Bagua Zhang Xie PeiQi

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From the Ground Up
Bagua Zhang's Basic Training
By Adam Hsu


Around the time firearms conquered human flesh and sinew, roughly around the end of the 19th century, China--the center of the world--had to turn its eyes outwards.

Many martial artists suffered broken hearts and some just gave up their art. Others who lacked training in different professions had no choice but to continue teaching kung fu in order to make ends meet. But neither they nor their students approached these arts with the same serious attitudes of the past. Traditional martial arts and its masters had become obsolete.

Ironically, today, at the very beginning of the 21st century, people are once more finding value in kung fu. The fighting art eclipsed by guns a century ago has become a vital, valuable tool for health maintenance, fitness, self-enrichment, and recreation. What was once obsolete has again become useful.
Kung fu practice today, however, does have carry-overs from the dark days of its defeat. The lighter approach to training born a hundred years ago has merged with our society’s greed for instant gratification, resulting in a curious phenomenon: lack of basic training.

Because they needed to establish a rationale for this approach to training, teachers and promoters of a hundred years ago started over-emphasizing philosophical and religious ideas. This created an air of mystery, elevated quality and depth around their bagua. Training without effort or pain became justified and reasonable. Therefore the study of bagua today most often begins with the famous Eight Changing Palms form.

Around the same time, some clever but perhaps not very honest martial artists began promoting the idea of the so-called “internal styles.” No matter how fancy their words, what they were actually saying was that one can reach the highest levels without really sweating.

Would it be wise to believe a financial advisor who says we can become millionaires without investment or risk? If this isn’t mere fantasy, then it must be the lottery! I’m no expert on fantasy, but everyone knows that your chances of winning the lottery are very small.

In kung fu, “internal” and “external” are level distinctions, not style distinctions. No matter what styles people practice, everyone must begin with the external and work like hell: we’re talking about effort and discomfort; we’re talking blood, sweat, and tears. Through this physical and mental labor, we reach the higher levels in our chosen styles, where what is rightly called “internal” practice begins. When the external training reaches maturity, we’ve earned the right to study internal kung fu by reason of our developed and matured physical, mental, and psychological abilities.

Basic training builds more than physical strength and balance. It can also build character, enhance the inner awareness of the body, and cultivate patience, psychological endurance, discipline, and focus.

Bagua is a very different style. Not only different, but special. Compared to the others, more basic training is demanded if the door to the internal is to be opened. Therefore, in real bagua training, one must start with the basics and travel the step-by-step systematized training path, in order to walk in the real bagua circle.

Truthfully, the path to the real bagua is not an easy one. Is there an alternative route?

How wonderful! Practice the Eight Changing Palms the first day, first class, first hour. Bask in the glow of the fascinating palm changes, the lovely flowing circular movements of your hands and arms. And yes, how could we forget. Dive right into the ancient Chinese philosophy and get an immediate hit off the feeling that this art and its practitioners are doing something deep, holy, and righteous.

Some people have no desire to get into the depths and are happy with this instant elevation of their empty practice. Then we too can feel happy that bagua gives them some satisfaction. I also believe there are many people who don’t want to own a pretty, empty shell and have the vision and potential to reach for the deeper levels of the art. If they haven’t engaged with a real bagua master or school, they might be vaguely dissatisfied or feel something is lacking. Or, never knowing the treasures to be found in the real bagua, they might be somehow satisfied. I can’t feel happy about this.

If you don’t have the key, you can’t open the door--nor even the window. So can we talk about “back to basics?” To begin with, even if we start bagua training as a teenager, we’ve already spent 10 years plus developing the skill to walk on the earth’s surface. It’s become second nature to us. Normally, we don’t walk in circles. Without special basic training, how could a person walk the circle in the unusual way demanded by bagua: flat-footed, knees and ankles rubbing, always changing direction (as opposed to straight ahead) and unevenly (one step long, one short)? Some of my students have told me how extremely frustrated they became: it’s like being a baby and having to learn to walk all over again. That’s how difficult it is.

Secondly, the human race is rightfully proud of the hand. After all, the hand created civilization. In everyday life, activities are heavily focused on the hand--wrist, palm, fingers--with very little attention on the arm beyond its function as the hand’s distance and angle adjuster. Without special training, self-defense applications are limited to the hands and neglect the powerful potential of the entire arm.

In some ways, babies are very close to the animals: they act with their entire bodies. Pay attention when you see a mother picking up her child from a sitter. The baby’s whole body leans forward to greet his mother with a happy smile and a loud joyful voice. When the baby is unhappy, his entire body cries, twisting and squirming.

As we humans grow up, we part ways with the animals and learn to act and respond with sections of our bodies. Our motions may be skillful and sophisticated, but almost invariably they are executed piecemeal by separate body parts. Can the same be said of that master of grace, acrobatics, and deadly physical efficiency: the cat?

Many people perform physical exercise primarily from the arms and legs, with little or no real body movement involved. In contrast, bagua requires a great deal of body (torso) twisting, one move often containing twists to several different directions at the same time.

Do remember, even if you begin training in your teens, you’ve had an enormous head start in compartmentalizing the body, in forgetting the skills of your infancy. Without basic training, how could anyone perform the great style of bagua in the manner it requires? No matter how many years of experience you have in a baseless bagua, your movements can only indicate how far and how long you went in the wrong direction.

Nowadays, it’s possible to find classes that offer “bagua” basics. Often what these are general kung fu basics or xing-yi quan and taiji quan exercises adapted for bagua. Others have made up their own exercises.

Basic training, however, is a real treasure, an inheritance handed down from the many years of experience of the great grandmasters. Someone who hasn’t reached a very high level from within this inherited system can’t possibly know what must be done to lead others to reach the highest levels. Finally, some teachers begin with Chinese philosophical principles and create exercises to fit. This makes no sense either.

Quite often people study bagua from books, magazines or watching performances. While their training may look as if it’s the real thing, their way to do it is actually all wrong. Real bagua may be one of the most difficult kung fu styles to find anywhere in the world, China included.

Yes, you can see the Eight Changing Palms performed everywhere. And everywhere you can see great differences. Differences and similarities are not a valid basis for evaluation. Do they have the basics? That is what makes the difference between heaven and hell. The reason why the Eight Changing Palms can look so different is simple: the basics.

To undergo basic training is not an indignity or dishonor for the student. It doesn’t demote a practitioner to a low-level, second-class citizen. I’ve noticed that some people possess a strange, overly sensitive attitude about their kung fu identity. This attitude, along with the McDonald’s Syndrome (instant “fast food” results), gets in a student’s way, holds him back, and greatly damages his potential. Such attitudes must be transcended if one is to reach the deeper levels of the art.

In fact, I emphasize basic training out of a respect for people’s ability and potential. I believe students have the ability to build skyscrapers, not just cottages. If you drive by a brand new construction site for a multi-million dollar high-rise, do you see workers hauling in windows and doors? Are they putting up the walls? Would a tall building so begun last very long or even be safe? What you actually would see is a hole in the ground and it’s liable to be deep: they are laying in the foundation.

That’s why our bagua training doesn’t start with the forms. Beginning construction on a house by setting the very first bricks on the surface of the earth might make us feel good but we only cheat ourselves. For a period of time we aren’t going to see a pretty structure rising day by day from the ground but a cavern dug deeper and deeper into the earth.

This is very important to understand: basics are not low-level kung fu! They are the concrete and steel that shape and support your million-dollar bagua skyscraper. A martial artist who diligently practices the basics is one who truly respects his art and his abilities. Such a person can anticipate great rewards to come.

Well, have I scared you? There’s another way to look at all of this. Kung fu is a multi-purpose art and the needs of society have changed greatly since the times in which kung fu developed. Using cuisine as an example, no one confuses fast food with an elite gourmet meal. When I’m in a big rush, I head for the drive-in window at McDonald’s, sometimes eating my dinner while driving up the freeway. Of course, given the opportunity I’d prefer to dine on high-level cuisine at a four-star restaurant but both places do serve my particular needs quite well.

It is extremely important that the highest expressions of an art, for instance real Chinese gourmet cooking which is difficult to find even in the San Francisco Bay Area (no sweet and sour pork, won ton soup, egg fu yung, chop suey, or spring rolls!), be preserved. Why? Among other things, four-star restaurants help to keep the quality of fast food high. McDonald’s maintains certain standards of taste and cleanliness. You aren’t normally served burnt meat, spoiled lettuce and desiccated buns. But if McDonald’s is the highest-level cuisine available, then dining out on any budget might well become unappetizing. So in kung fu some people must sweat in order that quality on all levels does not deteriorate.

Of course not everyone has the desire, time, energy or talent to undergo the rigorous intensive training necessary to become a professional martial artist. For those with different needs, the basics--practiced correctly but with pace and intensity adjusted to fit their personal situation and purposes-- are still indispensable. People of all ages and backgrounds are capable of meeting this challenge and gaining the rewards. After all, if one doesn’t develop the ability to execute bagua’s whole-body twisting motions, the inner organs will not receive the benefit of this healing massage. Nor will energy flow freely throughout the entire body.

No one practicing bagua for enjoyment or health will be required to act as if a “1 BR, 1 BA” home is the Empire State Building. On the other hand, it is the basics that enable each individual successfully to build his own customized million-dollar skyscraper, a fulfillment of his own specific goals and a thing of beauty to behold.

AHKFS Home Page

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Tapping Bagua's Roots
Usage - The Real Foundation of Bagua Zhang
By Adam Hsu


The name, bagua zhang, consists of three Chinese characters. They are simple, easy, and everyone can translate them. "Ba" means the number eight. "Gua" means trigram. "Zhang" means palm.

Usually, people look at the name, put together "eight" and "trigram," and then assume there's an intrinsic relationship to the I Ching, the well-known Chinese philosophical book. Of course "palm" is what we use to defend or attack. Thus, they think, "ba gua zhang" is a martial arts style based on the I Ching principles. This is a misconception common both in China and abroad.

First of all, "ba" does not refer to the I Ching trigrams. In bagua zhang training, "ba" has two divisions: 1) eight areas or directions away from our bodies and 2) eight areas on our bodies. We can call the areas outside our bodies front, back, left, right, and the four diagonals in between. Or lets name them South, North, East, West, Southwest, Southeast, Northwest, and Northeast. It wouldn't even hurt to call them heaven, earth, thunder, water, mountain, wind, sun, and lake, names the I Ching gives its eight trigrams. They could also be called just plain one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight!

The eight areas on our bodies are foot, knee, hip, waist, back, shoulder, elbow, and hands. Each area has to be trained to perfection so that the bagua practitioner can apply the martial techniques effectively.

Regarding "gua" (trigram), yes the I Ching says there are eight and eight multiplied by eight makes sixty-four. But the basic message within this simple configuration is to give structure to the Chinese point of view in relation to the world, and show that this point of view is based on a theory. Checking one's fortune or fate is a narrow aspect of the work.

Big or small, the ancient Chinese based their lives on natural laws, lived with nature and searched for a harmonious society. The basis on which their lives were conducted was the good of the society, the smooth workings of relationships, and the individual's preeminent duty to serve the needs of society. For instance, unlike western thought which views progress like a straight arrow shot high and far, Chinese philosophy says that all things develop or progress like a circle, traveling around, and around, and around. The seasons constitute a cycle. There's a cycle of light and dark each day. The blossom at its most beautiful moment is already beginning to decline. And in the most frigid winter, one shouldn't despair because spring is just around the corner.

The Chinese look at the world this way, conduct their business this way, relate to each other and manage their own lives based on this theory. They believe that in the midst of success, always prepare for the fall (even squirrels know how to do this.) During the toughest run of bad fortune, keep up the struggle because the turning point approaches.

And yes, Chinese kung fu is based on this principle too. Bagua is no exception. But to say that practice of the bagua palm changes is based on the I Ching is inaccurate, untrue.

According to popular dictionaries, the translation for the Chinese term "zhang" is palm. However, Chinese martial arts uses many common terms in a specialized way and a word like "zhang" can't be adequately defined in normal dictionaries. Kung fu dictionaries are truly needed. China has published five or six. Hong Kong has one. In Taiwan, one was privately published and another, subsidized by the government, is being compiled. But a consultation with all available dictionaries shows that none sufficiently discusses the difference between martial art terms and common terms.

In kung fu, "zhang" does not refer only to the palm but must include the whole arm from fingertips to shoulder. When a practitioner's kung fu technique has reached the highest levels, the entire body becomes the palm. So the Chinese have a way to say it: "The whole body is one palm."

If anyone wishes to understand kung fu terms like "bagua zhang", even these three simple characters, they must recognize that dictionaries, books, and the I Ching can't help. Moreover, these sources will most likely mislead the research.

The correct approach is to check the bagua itself. And the way to do this is not by overemphasizing its beautiful movements. Nor can it be done by attaching special significance to its very beneficial role as a health exercise. The real meaning can only be found by returning to its roots: the usage. Health benefits and uniquely graceful movements are aspects of bagua which can only make it richer and expand its horizons. But without roots, the beauty is shallow and the exercise most likely will involve arms and legs while leaving the torso too inert to benefit the internal organs.

After all, bagua was created as a martial art--and it still is!

AHKFS Home Page

No doubt the videos and text will either fall on deaf ears or be answered by the obnoxious trolling that is usually the result of attempts to post legitimate lineage TCMA... While you ask yourselves how you can get new members, consider why all your old contributors gave up and left.

[jubaji]

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[jubaji]

Thank goodness Adam Hsu did all that writing for you!

[TTEscrima]

Pt1

Since I recommended Tim Cartmell's School here's an article he wrote on Baqua, I may have posted it before, I don't remember for sure.

AN INTRODUCTION TO BA GUA ZHANG

Ba Gua Zhang is recognized as one of the three orthodox "internal" styles of Chinese martial art (the other two being Xing Yi Quan and Tai Ji Quan). Ba Gua literally translates to Eight trigrams. These trigrams are symbols which are used to represent all natural phenomena as described in the ancient Chinese text of divination, the Book of Changes (Yi Jing). Zhang means palm and designates Ba Gua Zhang as a style of martial art, which emphasizes the use of the open hand in preference to the closed fist. Ba Gua Zhang, as a martial art, is based on the theory of continuously changing in response to the situation at hand in order to overcome an opponent with skill rather than brute force.

Although there are several theories as to the Origins of Ba Gua Zhang, recent and exhaustive research by martial scholars in Mainland China conclude without reasonable doubt that the Art is the creation of a single individual, Dong Hai Chuan. Dong was born in Wen An County, Hebei Province about 1813. Dong practiced local martial arts (which reportedly relied heavily upon the use of open hand palm techniques) from his youth and gained some notoriety as a skilled fighter. At about 40 years of age, Dong left home and traveled southward. luodexiub.gifAt some point during his travels, Dong became a member of the Chuan Zhen (Complete Truth) sect of Daoism. The Daoists of this sect practiced a method of walking in a circle white reciting certain mantras. The practice was designed to quiet the mind and focus the intent as a prelude to enlightenment. Dong later combined the circle walking mechanics with the martial arts he had mastered in his youth to create a new style based on mobility and the ability to apply techniques while in constant motion (heretofore unknown in the history of Chinese martial arts).

Dong Hai Chuan originally called his art "Zhuan Zhang" (Turning Palm). In his later years, Dong began to speak of the Art in conjunction with the Eight Trigrams (Ba Gua) theory espoused in the Book of Changes (Yi Jing). When Dong began teaching his Zhuan Zhang in Beijing, he accepted as student only those who were already accomplished practitioners of other martial arts. Dong's teachings were limited to a few "palm changes" executed while walking the circle and his theory and techniques of combat. His students took Dong's forms and theories and combined them with the martial arts they had studied previously. The result is that each of Dong's students ended up with different interpretations of the Ba Gua Zhang art.

Most of the various styles of Ba Gua Zhang found today, can be traced back to one of several of Dong Hai Chuan's original students. Among these students, three individuals were responsible for passing on the Art to the greatest number of practitioners. One of Dong's most famous students was a man named Yin Fu. Yin studied with Dong longer than any other and was one of the most respected fighters in the country in his time (he was the personal bodyguard to the Dowager Empress, the highest prestige position of its kind in the entire country). Yin Fu was a master of Luo Han Quan, a Northern Chinese "external" style of boxing, before he began his long apprenticeship with Dong. Another top student of Dong's was Chen Ting Hua, originally a master of Shuai Jiao (Chinese wrestling). Cheng taught a great number of students in his time and variations of his style are many. A third student of Dong's who created his own Ba Gaa Zhang variant was Liang Zhen Pu. Liang was Dong's youngest student and was greatly influenced by Dong's other disciples. Although Ba Gua Zhang is a relatively new form of martial art, it became famous throughout China during its inventor's lifetime, mainly because of its effectiveness in combat and the high prestige this afforded its practitioners.

The basis of the various styles of Ba Gua Zhang, and the practice all styles have in common, is the circle walk. The practitioner literally walks in a circle while holding various static postures with the upper body or while executing "palm changes" (short patterns of movement or "forms" which train the body mechanics and methods of generating power which form the basis of the styles' fighting techniques).

All styles have a variation of a form known as the Single Palm Change. The Single Palm Change is the most basic form and is the nucleus of the remaining palm changes found in the Art. Besides the Single Palm Change, the other forms include the Double Palm Change and the Eight Palm Changes (also known variously as the Eight Mother Palms or the Old Eight Palms).

These forms make up the foundation of the art of Ba Gua Zhang. Ba Gua Zhang movements have a characteristic circular nature and there is a great deal of body spinning, turning, and rapid changes in direction. In addition to the Single, Double and Eight Palm Changes, most but not all styles of Ba Gua Zhang include some variation of the Sixty-Four Palms. The Sixty-Four Palms include forms which teach the mechanics and sequence of the specific fighting techniques included in the style. These forms take the general energies developed during the practice of the Palm Changes and focus them into more exact patterns of movement, which are applied directly to a specific combat technique. Ba Gua Zhang is an art based on evasive footwork and a kind of guerilla warfare strategy applied to personal combat. A Ba Gua fighter relies on strategy and skill, rather than the direct use of force against force or brute strength, in overcoming an opponent. The strategy employed is aggressive in nature and emphasizes constant change in response to the spontaneous and "live" quality of combat.

In addition to the above forms and methods, most styles of Ba Gua Zhang include various two-person forms and drills as intermediate steps between solo forms and the practice of combat techniques. Although the techniques of Ba Gua Zhang are many and various, they all adhere to the above mentioned principles of mobility and the skillful application of force. Many styles of Ba Gua Zhang also include the use of a variety of weapons, ranging from the more standard types (straight sword, broadsword, pear) to exotic weapons, used exclusively by practitioners of the Ba Gua Zhang arts.

Each of Dong Hai Chuan's students developed their own style of Ba Gua Zhang based on their individual backgrounds and previous martial training. Each style has its own specific forms and techniques. In essence, all of the different styles adhere to the basic principles of Ba Gua Zhang while retaining an individual flavor of their own. Most of the styles in existence today can trace their roots to either the Yin Fu, Cheng Ting Hua, or Liang Zhen Pu variations.

Yin Fu styles include a large number of percussive techniques and fast striking combinations (Yin Fu was said to "fight like a tiger", moving in and knocking his opponent to the ground swiftly like a tiger pouncing on its prey). The forms include many explosive movements and very quick and evasive footwork.

Cheng Ting Hua styles of Ba Gua Zhang include palm changes which are done in a smooth and flowing manner, with little display of overt power (Cheng Ting Hua's movement was likened to that of a dragon soaring in the clouds, it is said each time he turned his body, his opponent would fly away.) Popular variations of this style include the Gao Yi Sheng system, Dragon Style Ba Gua Zhang, "Swimming Body" Ba Gua Zhang, the Nine Palace System, JiangRong Qiao's style (probably the most common form practiced today) and the Sun Lu Tang style.

Liang Zhen Pu's style can be viewed as a combination of the Yin Fu and Cheng Ting Hua styles. Liang's student, Li Zi Ming, popularized this style.

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Pt2

The basic focus and function of all martial arts is fighting. Since there are only so many ways humans can move in a martial context (strike, kick, push, pull, etc.), what distinguishes one style of martial art from another? Collections of techniques do not make up a style, neither does mimicking the movements of an animal, bug, or even another person constitute a style of martial arts. In the last analysis, a style of martial art is distinct and recognizable as a coherent system because it adheres to a set of specific principles.

luo.gif (8726 bytes) All styles are based upon a set of fundamental principles, and every movement, technique and strategy applied or created must be in alignment with the chosen principles of that particular style. These principles define and determine the nature of a style in two major areas, namely, body use (Ti) and application (Yung). The principles of a style will determine how things are to be done. For example, the principles of one style may dictate that the muscles must be tensed at impact when throwing a punch, while another style's principles demand total relaxation throughout the blow. Practitioners of both styles are punching, but there is a qualitative difference in body use (i.e. different styles of punching).

Just as the principles of body use determine the physicality of the practitioner and the specific methods of moving and generating power, the principles of application determine the technique base as well as the fighting strategies of a particular style. The evolution of martial arts: styles have always come about this way: A student of one or more styles of martial art comes upon a new principle or organizes a set of principles in a unique way, based upon his background, experience and personal bias. The result is a new style of martial art. It is new not because the founder added a few techniques to his existing style, but rather because he changed all that he had done before to align with his newly understood principles of body use and application.

The founder of Ba Gua Zhang, Dong Hai Quan, was an expert in a Northern Chinese style of martial art akin to Long Fist, which emphasized the use of the open hand. Subsequently, Dong spent a number of years living with a group of Daoists who practiced a method of walking in a circular pattern while chanting. The practice was used as a means of reaching enlightenment. Dong later combined the circular footwork and body method learned from the Daoists with the martial arts he studied in his youth to create a new martial art, later to become known as Ba Gua Zhang. Please note that the Daoists taught Dong absolutely nothing of a martial nature; what Dong acquired from the Daoists were the principles of circular footwork and a certain method of body use. Dong modified the movements and techniques of his original form of martial art around these principles, thereby creating a new style of martial art. It is very important to understand that Ba Gua Zhang as a style of martial art is not simply a collection of forms and techniques, but rather an art based on a set of unifying principles.

Dong Hai Quan only taught established masters of the martial arts; he accepted no beginners. The training was designed to allow his students (already masters of other martial arts in their own right) to modify their original arts in accordance with the principles of Ba Gua Zhang. Because of the diverse backgrounds of Dong's original students, their resultant styles of Ba Gua Zhang may differ greatly in terms of form and technique, but all are truly styles of Ba Gua Zhang as they adhere to the underlying principles of body use and application which define Ba Gua Zhang as a unique style. There will always be room for creativity within the Ba Gua Zhang arts. As long as a movement or technique adheres to the Fundamental principles of Ba Gua Zhang, it is Ba Gua Zhang.

What are the basic principles of Ba Gua Zhang? It is helpful to divide the analysis into two major categories: principles of body use (with the primary emphasis on the ability to generate power with the body as a coherent Unit) and principles of application

BODY USE:

The basic solo training in Ba Gua Zhang is designed to teach the practitioner how to control his or her momentum and timing in order to generate power with the entire body mass as a coherent unit. In the Chinese martial arts, this type of power is referred to as whole body power (Zheng Ti Jing). Whole body power enables the practitioner to issue force from any part of the body with the support of all other parts. Each part of the body coordinates with every other, generating the maximum amount of power available relative to the individual's size and weight. Whole body power is applied in all categories of Ba Gua Zhang techniques, striking, kicking, grappling and throwing. long_an.gif

In order to create whole body power in the Ba Gua Zhang format, as well as to facilitate the agile and evasive footwork utilized in the Art, all styles of Ba Gua Zhang emphasize complete physical relaxation, correct skeletal alignment, natural movements which are in harmony with the body's inborn reflexes and inherent design and that all movements are directed by the intent.

It is the fighting strategy of Ba Gua Zhang which most sets it apart from all other styles of martial art. Dong Hai Quan's unique background and combat experience, combined with his talent, resulted in a strategy of personal combat that had remained undiscovered in the preceding millennia of martial development in China. Basically, Ba Gua Zhang fighting theory advocates the complete avoidance of opposing power with power and adopts a kind of guerilla warfare mentality. The Ba Gua Zhang fighter continuously seeks to avoid the apex of the opponent's force and attacks or counterattacks from the opponent's weak angles. By circling around and circumventing incoming force and resistance, the Ba Gua Zhang fighter applies his own whole body power from a position of superiority This strategy allows the smaller and weaker fighter to apply maximum force from an angle at which the larger and stronger opponent cannot resist, effectively making the weaker fighter more powerful at that moment (for example, I have 10 units of total strength and my opponent has 20. I attack with my full 10 units of strength at an angle at which my opponent is only able to use 5 units of his total strength. I am, at that moment, literally twice as strong as my opponent).

In order to obtain a superior position, the Ba Gua Zhang fighter applies the basic strategies trained in the solo forms' practice, that is, circling around the opponent or rotating the opponent around oneself. The result is the same in both cases. The Ba Gua Zhang fighter avoids a head to head confrontation with the opponent's power and obtains a superior position from which to attack. Along the way, the opponent often becomes entangled in the Ba Gua Zhang fighter's limbs and loses control of his center of balance (correctly applied momentum overcomes brute strength every time). This loss of balance causes a commensurate loss of power and further weakens the opponent, leaving him vulnerable to the Ba Gun Zhang fighter's attack. Finally, the relaxed physical and mental state of the Ba Gua Zhang fighter makes it possible for him to change and adapt as the situation demands. His movements are spontaneous and difficult to predict. Fighters of all disciplines agree that the unpredictable fighter is the hardest to beat (especially when he circles behind you!).

Ba Gua



I provided several articles Adam Hsu wrote since I also recommended his school, hope you enjoy them.

[Tant01]

Cool...

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I provided several articles Adam Hsu wrote since I also recommended his school, hope you enjoy them.

I did and thank you.
In fact, I plan to save them in my notepad...

[jubaji]

Jubaji has never met a single instructor or student of our school but has over thousand posts calling us fags and frauds.

No one's forcing you to be.