Bāguà Zhǎng (八卦掌)

*Bāguà zhǎng* literally means "eight trigram palm," referring to the trigrams of the *I Ching* (*Yijing*), one of the canons of Taoism.

## Wutan Bagua-Baji

#### **Essence of Baji-Baguazhang**

While many Wu-Tan institutions offer Baguazhang to the public, Students of Bajiquan and Tanglangquan are encouraged to learn in preparation, emphasis, and re-softening of the body, and to incorporate the ***spiraling & rotation*** methods of Bagua into Bajiquan. Long time students of 'external styles', like Tanglangquan, Karate, can sometimes develop into rigid, stiff, or '*brittle*' forms and bodies. Baguazhang and or Taijiquan is used to help to loosen such students. Some elements of realistic combat usage from basic Bagua exists, but practice of Baguazhang's primary focus for Bajiquan is to 'fill in the gaps & weaknesses'.

Baguazhang is an internal boxing. The practice of Baguazhang is based on the internal gong methods of "running piles" and "mud steps", using twisting, turning, and turning as the form of movement, and the change of palm technique as the main technique. Internal and external training, emphasizing the physical and mental training, the body is quick and flexible, the strength and the softness, the avoidance and the oblique, and the endless life. Therefore, Bagua Palm is deeply loved by people. There are quite a few people who practice Baguazhang at present, but there are a few people who have practiced Baguazhang for a few years and think that they are doing well, so they accuse this person of bad practice and that person’s practice and regard themselves as **martial arts.** Master, I think this is not good. The ancestor Baguazhang master taught us that if there are five types of Baguazhang Kungfu, we are not qualified to speak of others.

#### **Excert of Baguazhang Student; Gu Jianqiang**

1. Practicing Baguazhang did not develop Dantian Qi. Many people have practiced Baguazhang for a long time, but they have not practiced Dantian Qi. The main reasons:

1. It may be that the morality of being an apprentice is not enough, and the master did not teach the practice of Dantian Qi. Methods;

2. It may be that the movements of the practitioners practicing Baguazhang are not standardized, and they are out of shape;

3. The practitioners have not worked hard enough to practice their kung fu.

Failure to practice dantian Qi means that the practitioner has not yet entered the room. When you do not have Dantian Qi and are still accusing others, your heart must be false.

2. Practicing Baguazhang requires practicing joint force. While practicing Baguazhang, there are also many stances, such as Promise Stakes, Cross Stakes, Hunyuan Stakes, etc. It takes two to three years for the practice of Stakes to be successful. Stakes and combat skills are combined together. The explosive power of the man is called the joint force, the first teacher said: one can't beat people with merit and no art, and won't hurt people with skill and no skill. If there are neither, then practice Baguazhang. Here is a test method, that is, when you hit the opponent with your two fingers, you can knock the opponent a few steps away (and not hurt the opponent). When assessing kung fu, the master of Neijiaquan said: Wushu without synergy is not called Wushu. If you don't work together to accuse others, your face should be red.

3. There are eight or sixty-four styles of Bagua Palm. Each style has more than one style of play. Each style has both offensive and defensive capabilities. Fighting is defense, and defense is fighting. Only know the usage of any one style, the strength of the body and the hands. It can be practiced. Otherwise, practicing Baguazhang is called unconscious practice, which is the same as practicing radio gymnastics. People who practice Baguazhang should at least master this technique. If you are practicing Baguazhang, someone will ask you why this style is like this. You don’t know if it’s embarrassing when you practice. And when you blame others at this time, is your behavior ridiculous?

4. There are many ways of Baguazhang, and each finger is very important. The Master Baguazhang has a metaphor, saying: A shell hits it and a fly changes it. I'm talking about a person with infinite power. When he hits you with his palm or fist, when his palm or fist hits you, a single point of your finger will dissolve the strength of this person. If you don’t know how to deal with a call with your finger, you will only be beaten.

Five, the six styles of Bagua Palm straight step. Now many people who practice Bagua Palm take the anti-eight-character step when they turn their palms. This type of movement belongs to the intermediate step of Bagua Palm, which is dual and cannot be kicked at any time. . Only by walking straight can you practice the single weight of Bagua Palm, reflect the footwork of Bagua Palm, and achieve the effect of kicking up like hands and blossoming on the ground. Straight step practice method: advance the inner foot straight (the root of the hind foot intends to buckle outside the circle), buckle the outer foot slightly inward, the angle of the inner buckle of the outer foot depends on the size of the circle, and it is required to be between 45 degrees and 30 degrees. In the process of walking, the inner and outer feet should be on both sides of a straight line and parallel to each other. When walking, move your feet forward slowly in the shape of scissors. If you are wading in mud, your feet should be close to the ground, and your feet should rise and fall flat. When walking with your feet crossed, your hind feet should deliberately point past the medial condyle of the forefoot. .

    If a person who practices Bagua Palm wants to practice Bagua Palm well, he must start with virtue, be kind to others, be humble in seeking advice, practice personally, have his own real skills, and seek more teachers, because every good martial artist has With his expertise and experience, the masters of Baguazhang who have been trained are like scholars, who behave elegantly, do things steadily, are calm in situations, and live a long life. If your morals are not good, you will not be able to live there anymore, showing that you are from the rivers and lakes and practice martial arts. , One is unpopular, and the other is that the master will not teach you good things.

    Baguazhang is an internal boxing. A lot of kungfu is passed down by oral traditions. Although many masters have written books about Baguazhang, they have taught a lot of kung fu, such as: three-step kungfu, three-level principles, and three training methods. It's really good, but how to do it, how much time to do it, and how to do it, but I didn't say how to do it. In fact, there are many changes in the body during the exercise, and many people don't know how to deal with it. The theory is good, and the result of training is good. I don’t know what method (kung fu) can be used to practice it. What is the use if I can’t practice it? These kung fu are all oral teachings. Here we can talk about the palm-turning kung fu. The palm-turning footwork is divided into three stages: 1. Elementary walk and follow, 2. Intermediate walk, and 3. Better move forward. Fewer people stepped before turning their hands.

    In fact, many people in the society do not understand martial arts or Baguazhang, but you can show the real Baguazhang Kungfu, your life is decent, your conversation is elegant, and your style is steady. People recognize you as a person and then recognize your Kungfu. If you don't have a good character or real skill, you say you were taught by Master Dong Haichuan, and no one would recognize you.