There are many theories of what Master Dong actually practiced before he started to teach Bagua zhang but no one really knows much about Dong’s martial art background.ĭong is believed to have been involved in daoist sects that practiced circle walking methods for meditative purposes.

However, there are also speculations that states that some of the content that appears in bagua have a much longer history. Most historians claim that the system was founded by Master Dong Haichuan (董海川) about two hundred fifty years ago. However, the martial art, Baguazhang, is actually believed to be a relatively new martial art. The book of Changes is believed to originate from the the Western Zhou period (1000–750 BC). These trigrams are symbols which were used in ancient times to explain all natural phenomena and the change between different forces interacting with each other in nature. Ba Gua literally translates to eight trigrams. The name bagua zhang or Pa Kua Chang (八卦掌) originates from the ancient Book of Changes, Yijing (易经). An-family bagua is an offspring of Gao Yisheng’s Cheng-style bagua but has it’s own characteristics. We also practice Baguazhang as taught by the An family (An Desheng and his son, An Jianqiu). Our art comes from both Liu Jingru’s most prominent student, Han Yanwu as well as Cheng bagua as taught by Sun Zhijun through Wang Yanji. In our school we practice Bagua Zhang that can all be traced back to the Cheng style lineage which is one of the oldest systems. Sometimes the art is compared with guerilla warfare because of the practitioner’s ability to rapidly change directions to evade the opponents while using the hands to distract the opponents from devastating kicks, strikes and throws. The art also includes strategies and techniques that teaches you to fight multiple opponents at the same time. The change of the body may be explained as the training works as a kind of qigong, it cultivates the body internally but it also teaches the practitioner to generate power in a dynamic way. The concept is built around blocking the opponents attacks through changing the direction of the attacks. What is Bagua zhang (Pa kua Chang)?īaguazhang is a very complex martial system and with strong ties to ancient Chinese philosophy and ideas.

Eventually these hand-postures will evolve into various martial techniques (palm changes). Of course these are principles that appears in other martial arts but the bagua system has typically much more spiraling moments than any other system.Įxcept the circular walking patterns that are trained to build up the basics for bagua, practitioners of this system also train different hand-postures while walking. The aim is to build up a good footwork and a rooted and balanced body structure.īaguazhang is distinguished from other systems by emphasis on coiling and uncoiling movements. The practitioners of this art typically start the learning process by walking in circles during the practice. One of the fundamentals of the practice is the stepping method, in particular circle walking. The characteristics of this art is constant movement and change, and the ability to fight while moving. Expect to make progress by engaging in The Art of Change.īagua Kicking: The Fine Art of Leg DrillingĮnough information for over a year's training using this book and its companion DVD, Bagua Zhang: The Art of Change.Bagua is considered to be the most circular and spiraling system of Chinese internal martial arts (Neijia). It companions with our very popular DVD, filling in strategy and background information, complementing everything shown on 'Bagua Zhang: The Art of Change.' This text takes fundamental movements and builds them into a complete Bagua practice that will aid ANY style of Bagua Zhang. We at PLUM consider this the most direct route to learning Bagua available today. Finally, he shows the technique of the Bagua poles, Bagua's own special Qigong practice, and the never-before-explained Dragon Fighting.' Next, hands and legs are joined into core Bagua movements, which are then applied to partner practice and self-defense. Ted Mancuso has created a step-by-step process for learning Bagua Zhang, based on what he calls 'narrative instruction.' You will first learn the key hand motions, followed by Bagua's distinctive circle-walking and foot patterns. But they don't have over forty years experience teaching martial arts. Some people don't believe that you can learn Bagua Zhang from a book.

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