Chapter 10 Section 5 Baguazhang

There are many other names for Baguazhang, such as "Zhuanzhang", "Youshen Bagua Palm", "Yinyang Baguaquan", "Bagua Lianhuanzhang" and so on. Baguazhang, as the name suggests, is directly related to the theory of Bagua in ancient Chinese philosophy.The so-called eight trigrams are eight basic figures composed of two symbols, Yang Yao (———) and Yin Yao (——), each of which has a certain orientation, called Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun [xun Xun] 〕, Kan, Li, Gen [gen Gen], Dui.These eight kinds of graphics have certain corresponding relations and changing laws among each other.Baguazhang is practiced according to the Bagua diagram (Figure 6) which combines these basic diagrams of Bagua with Yin-Yang fish.The eight orientations in the picture are like eight different battlefields, and the yin-yang fish in the middle uses its curved and smooth arcs to connect them together and make them into one.

The most prominent feature of Baguazhang is that it keeps walking in circles on an arc, turning left and right, turning right and turning left, without stopping for a moment.This kind of non-stop walking in circles is called "walking piles" in the terminology of Baguazhang.This is also the basic skill of Baguazhang, as Dong Haichuan, a master of Baguazhang in the Qing Dynasty, said, "walking is the first thing to do in a hundred exercises", and "walking is worse than a hundred exercises".Don't underestimate this kind of walking circle that seems to be repeated continuously. It is not a blind walk without a goal. There are corresponding offensive and defensive palms in the eight different hexagram positions of the four sides and four corners. Both have a clear tactical purpose.In the process of walking and turning, various palm techniques are constantly changing, which is what people often say "hands open with steps".Each palm has left and right symmetrical palms, and one palm can change into eight palms, and then change into 64 palms.In this way, in the back-and-forth, repeated walking and switching palms, avoiding the opponent's sharpness, once you find the opponent's flaws, you will be as fast as lightning, by surprise, and you will be caught off guard. There are changes everywhere, and the palm in the palm changes a lot."This style of constantly walking in circles and changing hands, defeating the enemy and winning is really a bit like sports warfare: along the smooth arc of the yin-yang fish shape, constantly shift between the eight positions, and capture the best fighter ( Figure 7).

Baguazhang is mainly based on the palm, and the basic hand types are dragon claw palm and ox tongue palm.The main striking methods are pushing, supporting, leading, leading, moving, blocking, intercepting, buckling, catching, holding, hooking, beating, sealing, closing, piercing, pointing, etc.Palm techniques include upward, downward, vertical, holding, chopping, lifting, picking, spiral palm, etc.Baguazhang moves flexibly and swiftly, "rising like the wind and falling like an arrow, it's too slow to chase the wind and the moon".There are four types of strikes and lightning strikes for each palm in the techniques.When fighting with the opponent, change the attack method according to the movement of the opponent.Send out a palm, if the opponent is not prepared, use the real palm to move, block, intercept, and buckle; if you find that the opponent is ready, quickly change to an empty palm to push, hold, lead, and lead the opponent's strength Walk.Therefore, the tactics are flexible and changeable.

When did Baguazhang appear?How did it come about?There are various versions.Some people say that it has something to do with the Bagua religion of the Ming Dynasty.More accurate data show that, after the teaching of Dong Haichuan, the great master of Baguazhang, Baguazhang spread rapidly from the late Qing Dynasty. Dong Haichuan is from Wen'an, Hebei Province. He has loved martial arts since he was a child, and he has learned Shaolin Arhat Boxing with superb skills.He was tall and strong.Dong Haichuan's disciples described his character in his epitaph: "A young man who is a hero, dies in childbirth, follows the law and solves it, spares no effort to help the poor and help the danger. He has a good nature and hunts. Beasts seek refuge for them. As long as they are old, they travel all over the world, passing through Wuyue, Bashu, and famous mountains and rivers, all of which are full of adventures and adventures to strengthen their minds." He is very bold and full of sense of justice. , like to travel famous mountains and great rivers.It is said that one day, Dong Haichuan went to Mount Jiuhua in Anhui to visit his friends. Unexpectedly, he lost his way in the mountains and met a Taoist priest named Bi Chengxia.Bi Chengxia is a strange person, has a good martial arts, knows boxing, fencing, qigong Daoyin is also very exquisite, especially his skill of piercing the palm is very good, which Dong Haichuan has never seen or even heard of.Dong Haichuan was overjoyed, so he worshiped a Taoist priest as his teacher and learned the palm piercing technique.After several years of hard training, he has completed his studies and left the mountain. He has traveled all over the rivers and lakes and is invincible.Of course, this is just a legend.Some people think that Baguazhang was created by Dong Haichuan himself.He combined Taoist internal strength training with martial arts offensive and defensive moves to create Baguazhang.Baguazhang appeared relatively late, but soon became a fairly mature boxing style.There is a clear theory that martial arts are quite powerful, and they are very skillfully combined with internal strength training, so it may not be appropriate to attribute its appearance to only one person.Even if it was created by Dong Haichuan, the materials he used to create boxing were gradually accumulated in the long-term ancient society, and they were soaked in the sweat of countless unknown heroes.However, no matter how you say it, Dong Haichuan has a pivotal position in the development history of Baguazhang.He has developed the skill of Baguazhang to the level of proficiency.There are many stories about his miraculous martial arts recorded in his epitaph. For example, once, when Dong Haichuan was traveling outside the Great Wall, he encountered a group of gangsters besieging him with knives, guns and sticks. The Baguazhang's Baguazhang faced the enemy in all directions, and his step-moving palm transformation was as swift as a whirlwind, which stunned everyone.Another time, a sword and halberd expert came to compete with Dong Haichuan. Facing the opponent's gleaming weapon, Dong Haichuan was calm and composed.In the end, step on the opponent's feet and grab the opponent's equipment, and the superb skills make the opponent completely convinced. "At the time of death, the follower will inspire his brothers and feet, just like an iron man."

Dong Haichuan is not only a martial artist, but also a martial arts educator, and has made important contributions to the spread of Baguazhang.In the fourth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1865), he went to Beijing, and with his superb boxing skills, he became the chief teacher in the Prince Su's Mansion in the Qing Dynasty, and began to recruit apprentices and teach martial arts.In the thirteenth year of Tongzhi (AD 1874), he left Prince Su's Mansion as an old man, and devoted the rest of his life to instructing his apprentices to practice boxing, and trained many skilled Baguazhang martial artists, so the influence of Baguazhang became greater and greater.Dong Haichuan also has a method in teaching.When he taught Baguazhang, he didn't make any distinctions and adopt a unified model, but he paid great attention to treating each student differently according to his physical condition and teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. Therefore, his students often have different exercises and routines.Later, these disciples brought Baguazhang to various places, forming Yin, Cheng, Liu, Liang, Fan and other schools.Of course, although the movements of these schools are different, the basic principles of boxing are the same.

Dong Haichuan is also very good at absorbing the essence of other martial arts schools.The relationship between him and Xingyiquan has already been mentioned above.He also has a similar story with Taijiquan. It is said that he once competed with Yang Luchan, the founder of the famous Yang-style Taijiquan.Both of these two are martial arts masters with excellent kung fu, and they both rely on the excellent skills they have cultivated for many years. Therefore, the contest between the eight trigrams master and the Tai Chi master is very eye-catching.So, each of them came up with a housekeeping move, one stepping on gossip, like a dragon swimming, moving the body and changing the palm, acting fiercely; Go, fight for three days, regardless of the outcome, a draw.So we admire each other and become good friends.Dong Haichuan, who is good at studying and researching, later fused Baguazhang and Taijiquan into one furnace, and compiled Bagua Taijiquan.

Baguazhang not only has boxing skills, but also exercises with equipment, such as Bagua Dao (also called Ba Pan Dao), Ba Gua Cudgel, etc.