(Contributors: William Breazeal - breazeal@tweedledee.ucsb.edu, Mike Martelle - 3mbm@qlink.queensu.ca) Also known as Pa Kua Chang Intro: Baguazhang is one of the three orthodox "internal" styles of Chinese martial art (the other two being Taijiquan and Xingyiquan). Translated, Bagua means "Eight Trigram". This refers to the eight basic principles described in the ancient metaphysical treatise the Yijing (I-Ching), or "Book of Changes". Bagua is meant to be the physical manifestation of these eight principles. "Zhang" means "palm" and designates Baguazhang as a style of martial art which emphasizes the use of the open hand over the closed fist. Baguazhang 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. Origin: Northern China. History: Although there are several theories as to the origins of Baguazhang, recent and exhaustive research by martial scholars in mainland China concludes without reasonable doubt that the art is the creation of one individual, Dong Haichuan (or Dong Haiquan). Dong was born in Wen'an County, Hebei Province about 1813. Dong practiced local martial arts (which reportedly relied heavily upon the use of openhand palm strikes) from his youth and gained some notoriety as a skilled practitioner. At about 40 years of age, Dong left home and travelled southward. At some point during his travels Dong became a member of the Quanzhen (Complete Truth) sect of Taoism. The Taoists of this sect practiced a method of walking in a circle while 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 boxing he had mastered in his youth to create a new style based on mobility and the ability to apply techniques while in constant motion. Dong Haichuan (or Dong Haiquan) originally called his art "Zhuanzhang" (Turning Palm). In his later years, Dong began to speak of the Art in conjunction with the Eight Trigrams (Bagua) theory expoused in the Book Of Changes (Yijing). When Dong began teaching his "Zhuanzhang" in Beijing, the vast majority of his students were already accomplished martial artists in their own right. 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 their original arts. The result is that each of Dong's students ended up with quite different interpretations of the Baguazhang art. Most of the various styles of Baguazhang found today can be traced back to one of several of Dong Haichuan's (or Dong Haiquan's) original students. One of these students was a man called 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 Luohanquan, a Northern Chinese "external" style of boxing before his long apprenticeship with Dong. Another top student of Dong was Cheng Tinghua, originally a master of Shuaijiao (Chinese wrestling). Cheng taught a great number of students in his lifetime and variations of his style are many. A third student of Dong which created his own Baguazhang variant was Liang Zhenpu. Liang was Dong's youngest student and was probably influenced by other of Dong's older disciples. Although Baguazhang 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. Description: Baguazhang is an art based on evasive footwork and a kind of "guerilla warfare" strategy applied to personal combat. A Bagua 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 one of constant change in response to the spontaneous and "live" quality of combat. Bagua is a very circular art that relies almost entirely on open hand techniques and full body movement to accomplish its goals. It is also characterized by its use of spinning movement and extremely evasive footwork. Many of the techniques in Bagua have analogs in other Northern Chinese systems;however, Bagua's foot work and body mechanics allow the practitioner to set up and execute these techniques while rapidly and smoothly changing movement direction and orientation. Bagua trains the student to be adaptable and evasive, two qualities which dramatically decrease the amount of physical power needed to successfully perform techniques. The basis of the various styles of Baguazhang is the circle walk practice. The practitioner "walks the circle" holding various postures and executing "palm changes" (short patterns of movement or "forms" which train the body mechanics and methods of generating momentum which form the basis of the styles' fighting techniques). All styles have a variation of the "Single Palm Change" which is the most basic form and is the nucleus of the remaining palm changes found in the Art. Besides the Single Palm Change, 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. Baguazhang 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 Baguazhang include some variation of the "Sixty-Four Palms." The Sixty-Four Palms include forms which teach the mechanics and sequence of the specific techniques included in the style. These forms take the more 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. Training: Training usually begins with basic movements designed to train the fundamental body mechanics associated with the Art. Very often the student will begin with practicing basic palm changes in place (stationary practice), or by walking the circle while the upper body holds various static postures (Xingzhuang). The purpose of these exercises is to familiarize the beginning student with the feeling of maintaining correct body alignment and mental focus while in motion. The student will progress to learning the various palm changes and related forms. The Sixty-Four Palms or other similar patterns are usually learned after some level of proficiency has been attained with the basic circle walk and palm changes. Some styles practice the Sixty-Four Palms on the circle while other styles practice these forms in a linear fashion. All of the forms in Baguazhang seek to use the power of the whole body in every movement, as the power of the whole will always be much greater than that of isolated parts. The body-energy cultivated is flexible, resilient and "elastic" in nature. In addition to the above, most styles of Baguazhang include various two-person forms and drills as intermediate steps between solo forms and the practice of combat techniques. Although the techniques of Baguazhang are many and various, they all adhere to the above mentioned principles of mobility and skill. Many styles of Baguazhang also include a variety of weapons, ranging from the more "standard" types (straight sword, broadsword, spear) to the "exotic." An interesting difference with other styles of martial arts is that Baguazhang weapons tend to be "oversized," that is they are much bigger than standard weapons of the same type (the extra weight increases the strength and stamina of the user). SUBSTYLES: Each of Dong Haichuan's (or Dong Haiquan's) students developed their own "style" of Baguazhang based on their individual backgrounds and previous martial training. Each style has its own specific forms and echniques. All of the different styles adhere to the basic principles of Baguazhang while retaining an individual "flavor" of their own. Most of the styles in existence today can trace their roots to either The Yin Fu, Zheng Dinghua, or Liang Zhenpu 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 swiftly and knocking his opponent to the ground like a tiger pouncing on prey). The forms include many explosive movements and very quick and evasive footwork. Variations of the Yin Fu style have been passed down through his students and their students, including Men Baozhen, Ma Kui, Gong Baotian, Fu Zhensong, and Lu Shuitian. Zheng Dinghua styles of Baguazhang include palm changes which are done in a smooth and flowing manner, with little display of overt power (Zheng Dinghua's movement was likened to that of a dragon soaring in the clouds). Popular variants of this style include the Gao Yisheng system, Dragon style Baguazhang, "Swimming Body" Baguazhang, the Nine Palace system, Jiang Rongqiao style (probably the most common form practiced today) and the Sun Ludang style. The Liang Zhenpu style was popularized by his student Li Ziming (who was the president of the Beijing Baguazhang Association for many years and who did much to spread his art worldwide).

Dong Hai Chuan, Ba-Gua Zhang and the I-Ching My Hypothesis By B.C. Hill Bey The history Of Ba-Gua Zhang has been in controversy for quite some time now. Did Dong Hai Chuan Create or learn Ba-Gua Zhang? And was it derived from the I-Ching? One thing’s for sure, whom he learned from, we’ll never know. But, let’s go back to the beginning by the numbers and let’s see what we come up with. 800yrs ago around 1222, The Taoist Qiu Zhang Zun was known for 3 things: 1. ) Being the spiritual teacher of Genghis Khan. Khan made him the equivalent of the pope in China. 2. ) Being the founder of the Lung Men or Dragon Gate sect of Taoism and 3. ) Being the creator of the meditation method practiced by the Quan Zhen Taoist (Complete Truth a part of the Lung Men) called Zhuan Tian Zun (Rotating in worship of heaven). The purpose of this method was to Train the body while harnessing the spirit. 2 Mantra’s were used while walking the circle, one in the morning and one for the evening. These mantras were chanted so that one replaces myriad thoughts with a single thought to calm the mind. The method itself required that while walking the circle, the body’s movement should be unified and the practitioner strives for stillness in motion. They were to move in such a way as to only slightly disturb their Taoist robes. They would walk for 3 rotations and then walk through the center following the Tai Ji diagram in order to change direction. The walk itself was a natural step or what is being called today, the Lion step. My research so far has not found the posture that the Taoist used while walking the circle save to say that the requirements of being comfortable and natural while walking in a balanced smooth manner with no bobbing or weaving are generally the same as Ba-Gua. The difference is in the stepping and static body postures. Ok Question, How is Zhuan Tian Zun connected to the I-Ching? I say it’s not. Why? In the oldest book written on this topic by Wang Jun Bao titled “Taoist method of walking the Circle”, Wang makes no mention or connection to the I-Ching. Concerning the exercise, reference is only to Yin, Yang, Interchange and Centering. No Palms to correlate to Trigrams or Hexagrams. To take even further Zhang Zhun Feng, A student of Gao Yi Sheng, was also a member of the Quan Zhen Sect and he wrote a book on the subject and makes no mention of the I-Ching either. Now it’s true that during the 800yr time span a Taoist could have created Ba-Gua but this was not the case, as we shall see. Dong Hai Chuan (1813-1882) Born in 1813 in Ju Jia Wu Township Wen An, Hebei Provance. He was born a warrior and all he cared about was martial Arts. What he learned has been a topic of interest for those trying to find the roots of Ba-Gua. It’s been said that he learned a Northern Shaolin based system. Some of the systems taught in his village at that time were: Ba Fan Quan, Hong Quan, Xing Men Quan, and Jin Gang Quan. Whichever arts he learned, he trained hard and gained a reputation as a skilled Martial Artist. Around 1853 Dong left Wen An and it is assumed, went Kai Ko To live with relatives. One of those relatives was well known in and around Kai Ko for his skill with Ba Fan Quan. His name was Dong Xian Zhou and it’s possible that Dong Hai Chuan studied with him. How? According to Kang Ge Wu (MA Historian who did his masters thesis on the history of Ba-Gua) investigation of Ba Fan Quan revealed that many movements and Techniques could be found In Dong Hai Chuan’s Ba-Gua. While I don’t have any pictures to show at this time, in the future I will present them for comparison. But let’s move on and look at what we’ve got so far, Dong Hai Chuan left Wen An in 1853 and showed up in Beijing in 1864. A point to look at, in the old day’s, highly skilled Martial Artist did not learn fast so we can safely assume that DHC stayed with Dong Xian Zhou for at lest 3yrs and if what Kang Ge Wu stated is true about Dong’s Ba-Gua being full of moves and techniques from Ba-Fan Quan, he had to have put in the time to study to know the techniques in order to formulate his system. That put’s us in 1856. It was between 1856 and 1864 that Dong Hai Chuan Developed Zhuan Zhang (Rotating Palm). But let’s break that down, DHC was supposed to have stayed with the Taoist between 2-6yrs; I’m inclined to lean toward the 2-3yr mark, why? Again things were done slow in the old days, It’s said that Dong Walked the Circle for 2yrs and in the process dug a foot deep trench. The trench was filled with water and he continued to walk for at lest another year making it 1859. It was after this point in time that Dong Worked on his system. I’d say he worked on it for a minimum of 3yrs, developing the basis for the system such as theory and principles. 1864 Weather or not DHC worked for the Tai Ping or was a eunuch has no relevance Here. Now we’ve all heard of the demonstration that Dong did for the Prince of Su that got him his job as Martial Arts teacher of the royal guard. Now let’s look at that for a moment, it’s reported that Dong didn’t teach Ba-Gua to the Royal guard he taught them something else more Shaolin based. Why? I don’t think that the reason was that he was simply being conservative, while he really was, I don’t think that, that’s the reason at all. He wasn’t ready yet. It was during his time in Inner Mongolia collecting taxes with Yin Fu That he really put in work on developing the style. He had Yin Fu to experiment with and the job itself helped refine Dong’s art. DHC was gone for almost 10yrs, when he and Yin returned; Dong helped Yin get a job teaching at court. This was around 1875. Now let’s look at what the core of what Dong taught. First it must be remembered that Dong taught no 2 people the same. His teachings adapted to each individual except the base. Dong generally first taught circle walking and the various stepping methods and patterns, he then introduced the Single Change Palm, Double Change Palm and the Smooth Body Palm; these were practiced on all 3 basins. These were combined and then re-combined with what the practitioner already knew. Now Let’s look a little deeper. If Dong Hai Chuan based his art on the I-Ching and he taught in a place of the educated, wouldn’t you think that someone kept notes? Of course! Zeng Xing San was the first to write on Dong’s art. Zeng was a Manchurian scholar that reached the second highest level in the Imperial examinations. He worked in the Palace of Su and learned Ba-Gua from Yin Fu. During his time with Yin, Yin took him to see DHC on many occasions and discussed the principles of the art. After the fall of the Ching Dynasty (1911), He was out of a job. To kill time he wrote “Ba-Gua Zhuan Zhang Hui Lan, An unpublished work that described all that He learned from Dong and Yin. This was the first time that the 36 Songs and 48 annotations were written as passed from Dong. Zeng used the theory of the I-Ching to explain the martial Art of Ba-Gua Zhang, but also note that Zeng says that Dong did not relate his art to the I-Ching until late in his life which makes sense in terms of his students that learned before he began this thread of thinking as far as what they were taught and would eventually teach. Prior to 1885 I doubt that anybody outside of Cheng Ting Hua taught 8 Palms. But we’ll come back to him. Now let’s look at the core of what Yin Fu taught. It is usually thought that Yin Fu taught as Dong Hai Chuan did. In terms of material, Yin Fu had the most. The first thing he taught was Lohan. Over all, Yin Fu’s system consisted of a combination of both hard and soft training and Qi-Gong methods. My question is, when did Yin Develop his 64 Palms and what or who influenced the idea? And, Who created the 8 Mother or Big Palms. These 2 numbers are directly linked with the I-Ching. How is this? I feel that Zeng Xing San was the catalyst, The 3 men discussed it, Dong and Yin Began work on it, and Yin and Zeng completed it. This aspect takes me to Cheng Ting Hua. As one of the top disciples, when Dong and Yin were working on Yin’s 64 I’m sure that Cheng was made aware of some of this theory which makes me think that it’s possible that Zeng and Dong may have come up with the first set of 8 correlated Ba-Gua palms concept, Yin took that and created 8 variations thus his 64 Palms, which makes sense because there is nothing else that refers to the I-Ching in that sense. Cheng Ting Hua on the other hand Took the concept and together with his friend and student Ji Feng Xiang, A Chinese Astrologer and I-Ching Scholar, and created his 9 Palace Style. Also remember, Cheng Ting Hua seems to have had the biggest influence in terms of the development of the Ba-Gua/I-Ching connection. Being That Yin was so conservative and Cheng so open, it would make sense that some went to Cheng to fill the holes in some of the gapes of their training that they received from Yin or seeking more knowledge, added to what they learned from Yin. Also, for a very long time Most of the Ba-Gua that people ever saw was from Cheng Ting Hua’s Lineage. It reached such a point when people saw any of the other lineages, they said it wasn’t Ba-Gua. This lends to the I-Ching connection as well. But there’s a third aspect to this as well that needs to be given consideration, The cross training aspect could not have happened until both Yin and Cheng were dead, Why is this? There is a traditional rivalry between the Yin and Cheng schools that still exist today in Beijing, what caused it? In all that I’ve researched, only one story makes any sense. When Yin Fu and DHC made up after their argument, which left them on bad terms for a few years before Dong died, He returned to find that Cheng Ting Hua was representing Dong as far as challenges go. It’s said that they didn’t get along from the moment that they met. Anyway, they squared off and after a few exchanges Yin threw Cheng into a big pot.. Now if this is true, and given the pride of these men, the strong resentment makes sense, So I’m sure that neither one would teach the others method. In fact it is said that it was in the third generation Yin's son, Yin Yu Zhang, Yin’s 4th son, and some others made changes to the curriculum, including a set of eight Big Palm Changes as the core of their practice, just like many other lineages to make the system easier to teach publicly. As a result, today most yin style groups practice eight big palm changes and only a few Yin style groups continue to practice sixty-four palm changes according to the original method. The next biggest influence on this thought was Sun Lu Tang. In the mid 1890’s after studying with Cheng for 3yrs, Cheng told Sun “ If he wanted to reach the pinnacle, he should learn the I-Ching. So he went to szchuan and studied with the top priest of that temple In 1915 I think, he wrote his first book on Ba-Gua. Also it turns out that nothing that resembles Ba-Gua or the other 2 was practiced prior to the 1920’s and Sun’s visit. So Wu-Tang Ba-Gua is a new lineage created within the last 80yrs, which comes from the Sun Style. Now if Ba-Gua Zhang were derived from the I-Ching, wouldn’t the warrior priest know it? Sun went to learn from them, so how did he end up teaching them something that they should have already had? Hmmmmmm Thus far I’ve listed what is known and added some of my thoughts. Now I’ll add some abstracts that lend to my stand. Another way to look at the question is to look at few more of DHC student’s and what they taught. 2 come my mind in particular: Neither Fan Zi Yong nor Chia Feng Ming (Fu Chen Sung’s teacher) taught the 8 Mother Palms or the 64 Palms. Now before I continue I have to give props to Dan Miller and Kang Ge Wu Through these two men’s work I was able to fill in a lot of the blanks in terms of the History of Ba-Gua. The Taoist and other founder Myth Many myths have surrounded the creation of Ba-Gua. DHC began this himself when he said that he learned his art from a Taoist. He did this because the people would respect it. Such was the way that it was back then. A few 3rd generation practitioners took this to the next level. Gao Yi Sheng Gao created the Taoist Pi Cheng Hsia story. Gao was a student of Cheng Ting Hua and Chou Yu Hsiang. He perpetrated the story that he learned his Hou Tien Ba-Gua from a Taoist named Sung I Jen. Most people now believe that he took the essence of Cheng’s Ba-Gua and what Cheng and Chou taught him as Ba-Gua applications and borrowed Hsing-I’s idea of one technique repetition on a straight line and created his 64. But the hole appeared in his story when another student of Chou Yu Hsiang named Yen Ta Hua wrote “ Pa Kua Chang Illustrated”. Out of the 34 techniques in the book, 31 appear in Gao’s Hou Tien Ba-Gua He tried to do the same thing that Dong Hai Chuan did (unbeknown by him) in order to lend some historic validity to his system. Now as a side bar Gao had a student by the name of Wu Meng Hsia, who previously had learned from Han Mu Hsia. Han was a student of Zhang Zhao Dong. After becoming famous for beating a Russian strongman, Han became quite arrogant and on an occasion went back to practice with Zhang and thought he could embarrass his teacher in a sparring match. As they spared, Han kept his attack up until Zhang was backed up against a wall. Zhang realized what Han was doing and turned his defense into an attack and put Han on his ass. After this, as is to be expected, they were bitter enemies And Han wouldn’t admit he learned from Zhang. If that wasn’t enough, he said he learned from a Taoist. It’s believed that he did this to spite Zhang. There are other aspects to this story; I mean it looks like a conspiracy. Check this: When Wu Meng Hsia met Gao Yi Sheng it is said that after watching Gao’s Hou Tien Form, Wu said that it was similar to Han’s. Now check it, there’s 2 ways to look at this 1. They played like they didn’t know each other, and both say they learned from a Taoist. The truth is they did know each other because the proof is in Yen Te Hua’s Book (Above) and Wu Meng Hsia. They both live in Tienjin at the same time… you put it together. Or 2. This next part comes from a few Gao students, Wu Meng Hsia Lied to support Gao and his claim of learning from The Taoist Sung I Jen. The ultimate verification of all of this is the title of the book on Gao style written by Wang Shu Sheng, Who is Liu Feng Cai’s successor who was Gao Yi Sheng’s successor. The Title is “Gao Yi Sheng’s Style of Cheng Ting Hua Ba-Gua Zhang”. What does this say to you? Pi Cheng Hsia & Chou Hua Mtn This is the story I heard when I first started learning Ba-Gua. To begin with, it turns out that Chou Hua has been, since before the Ming Dynasty a place of veneration for Buddhist and is still so to this day. After painstaking research, no evidence has ever been found of Taoist having been there. Dong was supposed to have trained anywhere between 2-6yrs and left a foot deep circular trench around a tree which I’m sure that somebody saw over the ensuing years. Also, no one had ever heard of Pi Cheng Hsia or, as I already said, any other Taoist. As for Pi Cheng Hsia, It seem that he’s a totally fictitious person derived from a real person named Pi Yueh Hsia also known as Chang Ye He, but within the Taoist circles he was called the “The Wild Crane Taoist. He is the teacher of Sung Wei I who created and taught the “Wu Tang Sword Style” to Li Jing Lin (Magic Sword Li) How did this happen? Inadvertently, Chiang Yun Qiao, while the editor of Kou Shu Monthly based in Tien Jin wrote the history of Ba-Gua Zhang. He got this information from Wu Chin Shan, a student of Han Mu Hsia. Remember him from the Gao story? To spite Zhang Zhao Dong, He started saying that he learned from a Taoist. Now this gets deep. Tell me this wasn’t a conspiracy. These are my thoughts on this aspect. Wu Chin Shan and Chang Hsiang Wu were friends. Chang obviously trained with Sung Wei I, how else did he get a copy of Sung’s Sword manual. Now Li Jing Lin had a copy of this book as well, and in 1980 the two books where compared. Now Li Jing Lin’s copy came directly from Sung, as did Chang’s. Here’s where it gets crazy, The Title of Chang’s book is “Wu Tang Sword: The unity of Tai Chi and Ba-Gua” Li’s book was called “Wu Tang Sword”. The problem arises in the lineage charts. In Li’s book Sung traces his self back to Chang San Feng. The system was called Nei Chia Chuan. Now as a side bar, for those that read my article on Cheng Ting Hua, You’ll remember that Cheng and his friends and decided to create an association for the 3 styles (Tai Chi, Xing-I and Ba-Gua). The name they came up with was Nei Chia Chuan. By the time they realized that the name was already in use, it was too late, the name stuck. It’s possible that Chang Hsiang Wu heard this story and not knowing what happened with the name took it as gospel, but when he got Sung Wei-I’s book and saw that the lineage in the book didn’t add up, he concocted the character Pi Cheng Hsia as Dong Hai Chuan’s Teacher. It might have been truly innocent, but here’s another view: During the 20’s & 30’s, Tai Chi and Ba-Gua were huge. Remember, a lot of people used to claim Taoist or Buddhist origins to validate their claims. It appears that Chang Hsiang Wu was trying to associate him self with Chang San Feng, Dong Hai Chuan, and Yang Lu Chan. In Chang’s book more names are added to the lineage list along with DHC. It’s been found that these people did not exist, the same as Pi Cheng Hsia. And check this out, A Martial Historian read the article in 1937 and because of his own research stated that not only is the lineage wrong, this system had nothing to do with Tai Chi. Also, Nether book mentions Ba-Gua at all aside from the title of Chang’s book. At that time nobody knew the history and looked for things to fill in the blanks. The more fantastic the better and if you were teaching this incredible thing, that made you the man. The way it looks, Chang was trying to ride on the fame of the name and reap the benefits. It backfired though; Li Jing Lin is the one who became famous While Chang is known as just another martial Artist. Chang Chieh Sen Many of the stories told about Ba-Gua’s origins and anecdotes of Dong’s life, were creations of this well-known storyteller in Tianjin. (Notice, again we’re in Tianjin again) Chang was a Ba-Gua practitioner who liked to tell stories about Dong. Some of these stories were written down and printed in the New Tianjin newspaper. A collection of his stories about Dong was published in a Novel. Unfortunately, many that read Chang’s stories took them to be fact and spread them thus adding to the problem of today. E Mai Mtn To begin I rely heavily on Kang Ge Wu’s research as translated by Dan Miller for this aspect. Other stories of other Taoist teaching Dong Ba-Gua have spread as well such as E Mai Style. I can’t find the year it was published, but Wang Shu Chin’s book, “Ba-Gua swimming Dragon Palm”, He states that DHC Learned from 2 Taoist named Shang Tao Yuan and Ku Chi Tzu. He say’s in his book that Dong learned from these men for upwards of 12yrs. I discount this because of DHC time line (up Top). Also, because of the training he was supposed to have received which is not evident by what he taught. It’s obvious what happened here, Wang Shu Chin was from Tianjin where both Chiang Yun Qiao and Chang Chien Sen’s stories were widely told. Wang put Chang’s story in his book thinking it was fact. Tien Hui Tien Hui, while being a Kung Fu man, was also a fraud. He claimed that he was the 9th generational lineage holder of the Tien Family Ba-Gua, which was over 4ooyrs old and only taught, in his family. He went to extremes in his story. He claimed that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, 2 of his ancestors left the Clan to become renunciates. They went to E Mai Mtn and learned Ba-Gua from 2 Taoist. After decades, one of them returned home and taught the family head. From that time on it remained in their family. It was handed down from elders that were involved with the anti Ching factions. He made claims that some of his family had entered the palace of the Emperor with the goal of assassinating him. While that never happened, they killed several guards in the attempt. On one occasion the family member made so much of an impact, that it was supposed to have shook Beijing. Now in my research, I’ve noticed that the Chinese tend to keep records of what is most pertinent. If someone lived in a village in 1843 and knew Kung Fu, the town’s records would confirm this. Now how much more would the capital follow this trend, especially an attempt on the Emperor’s life? In other words, there are no records. Also Tien Hui wouldn’t talk about it either when researchers approached him. In observing his system, the similarity between his system and Dong Hai Chuan’s were very close. It was obvious that he was lying, but still more proof was needed. So the family was interviewed, and what I find a little strange is that the family that was interviewed went out of their way to point out that Tien Hui was the only Tien that had learned Kung Fu, and no prior family member had ever learned. They also said the lineage he provided in his book were names of people that didn’t exist. After further investigation, it was found out that Tien Hui was a student of Shih Chin Chieh, a senior student of Men Bao Zhen. Can Ya’ll see where I’m going with this? So far it looks like a case of trying to live off someone else’s work by attributing it to themselves. In other words, everybody is trying to get paid. Yin Yang Pa Pan Chang Jen Chih Cheng, the author, claimed that Ba-Gua was developed from this style. Another one that lied out right. He created the fictitious Tung Meng Lin, which it turns out to be another name for Pi Cheng Hsia. I’ve heard this name associated with a few other stories of the creation Of Ba-Gua. He went all out with his tale as well. In the end the truth of the matter is when Jen finished his book on Ba-Gua, Sun His Kun’s book had just been released. “ The Genuine Ba-Gua Zhang Maneuvers”. After knowing this, and to avoid competition Jen made his name up from a Martial saying, When Martial Artist from different styles fight; it’s called “Pan Chuan Kuo Shou”. There are 4 upper Pan, and 4 lower pan. This combined with the Yin/Yang theory gave Jen his name, Thus Yin Yang Pa Pan Chang. Jen Chih Cheng claimed that Li Chen Ching taught Liu Pao Chen, the most senior, Himself, Chiao Yen Chih, and Su Ching Tien. Remember how I mentioned earlier that the villages and towns kept records? Well check this, Li Chen Ching, according to Jen, when Li was 16yrs old he began to work for a security company. During his travels, he came upon Tung Meng Lin’s homestead, begged to be taught, learned and traveled all over China with his security job and made martial acquaintances where ever he went. Before he left Tung he told him, several years ago there was a relative of mine who studied with me his name Tung Han Ching, a supposed alias for DHC. This has been totally discredited, for there has never been a person by that name ever mentioned orally or literally with the practice of Ba-Gua. Also with this claim, he said that when Dong went to Beijing he changed the name to Ba-Gua Zhang. By now we know what Dong Called his art and it wasn’t Ba-Gua. The name Ba-Gua wasn’t really used until after Cheng Ting Hua’s death and the popularization of the name probably came from Sun Lu Tang’s book. As for Li Chen Ching, I have not been able to ascertain weather or not he knew Ba-Gua at all. According to the village records, Li died during the Boxer Rebellion, but in a most bazaar way. Li was terribly near sighted since birth, one day a regiment was approaching the village. Li thought they were his brothers in the resistance so he yelled “Brothers! And ran towards them. He never knew until he was shot that they were the enemy. As for the rest of his story, it was discovered that Liu Pao Chen in truth was a student of Dong Hai Chuan. 2 points of proof are Liu was famous not just for his skill, but the fact that not only was he a student of the Famous Dong Hai Chuan, Liu brought him home to his village a few times to teach. It’s all in the village records, also Liu Pao Chen’s name is amongst the 57 student’s listed on Dong’s tomb. He died in 1922 at the age of 61. So the truth of the matter is that Liu taught Jen, Chiao Yen Chih, and Su Ching Tien and He might have also taught Li Chen Ching but it’s doubtful. Further proof of this is Jens Ba-Gua. His system is identical to Liu’s, and if that’s not bad enough, Liu’s specialty was the Broadsword, wouldn’t you know that it was Jen’s also? Ren Wen Zhu, Pa Pan Chang and Wen An Ren Wen Zhu is Jen Chih Cheng’s nephew who now carries on Jen’s Lineage. He too tells the same story and somehow it ‘s in the town records but simply mentioned in a couple of lines. What was known to be in the area at the time Dong began learning was Pa Fan Chuan, Hung Chuan, Hsing Men and Chin Kang Chuan. The addition of Pa Pan Chuan is a later addition put there during Jens time (30’s-40’s). Also, The art that Jen wrote about has changed in the last 60yrs. Let’s examine this. In 1934 Sun Hsi Kun’s book was published, and Jen Chih Cheng read it. He noticed the resemblance between him and Sun’s method. Now remember, Liu Pao Chen learned directly from Dong Hai Chuan, and Sun learned from Cheng Ting Hua’s son Cheng Yu Lung. Now picture this, Dong taught every body according to what they knew, Cheng Ting Hua’s method was known for swimming. Liu Pao Chen Learned from Dong and Cheng. Liu could not have learned with Cheng too long after Dong’s death because there is no I-Ching theory in their system, however there is a 64 Palm form, which had to come from Dong. The general structure is the same as Yin Fu’s in that there are 8 Palms with 7 variations to each Palm and of course Li’s specialty, the Broadsword. Now 60yrs later Ren now comes with a new twist. Modifications are a norm in Ba-Gua, but it seems that in order to be unique from Ba-Gua, they’ve eliminated and added things. For one, they’ve taken out the Tang Ni Bu. According to Ren in his book, published in 1987 he said: This was created by Dong Hai Chuan and the original Ba-Gua didn’t have this, but Pa Pan has Kao Bu and Ba Bu?????? Now there is no mention of the Kao Bu or Ba Bu in the Original Taoist Circle Walk Exercise. Their change of direction was done by walking the S pattern of the Tai Ji diagram. This was done with natural steps. The Kao and Ba is the base for the Tang Ni Bu and simple quick changes of direction. As far as Martial Arts go, the only way to walk the circle is with the Kao and Ba and that had to also come from DHC because that served as a basest for the Tang Ni Bu. They changed the Mud step into a stomping step and work to increase speed until their running the Circle. I find this interesting because Sun Lu Tang used to train this way, always pushing students to walk faster and faster. They changed the classic guard posture by turning the extended Palm skyward and looks like the Spiral Palm Over all, Pa Pan is more yang than Ba-Gua. I believe that Wen is playing on the fact that because of the damage that the scholars have done to the known lineages of Ba-Gua in terms of watering them down with the health kick, the philosophical kick, New age kick, and of course Wushu, the point that they my have remained more pure in terms of it’s usage as a martial art, he can play on the ignorance of the masses who know no better. Summary Dong Hai Chuan created Ba-Gua Zhang! That’s my stand. There are too many holes in the stories of those that claim otherwise. As far as the I-Ching Goes, there’s nothing wrong with the addition of it in order to raise The skill level of the practitioners, but first and foremost Ba-Gua is a fighting art. The health aspects are a side effect of correct training. The same holds true for Xing-I and Tai Ji. Now believe it or not I believe in the metaphysical aspects of the I-Ching and other practices, but this involves the manipulation of energy, which you must first have. The current practice of telling students all they have to do is relax and let the Qi do it has become common. This is based on the myth that has been perpetuated for the last 80yrs. One of the reasons the skill levels of the past can’t be reached is, besides the fact that it’s not a life and death situation anymore, most aren’t willing to work that hard. They’d rather look for the miracle pill (Qi). Also, In terms of history there have been quite a few secrete societies that went by the name Ba-Gua and have been linked one way or another (wrongfully so) with Dong Hai Chuan. The biggest link between Ba-Gua Zhang and the I-Ching Is Cheng Ting Hua and his work to base his Martial style on the I-Ching, which gave birth to the 9 Palace style. Cheng Ting Hua’s influence was great amongst his younger classmates and the second generation. But notice the level of their skill. Did that come from I-Ching theory or real work? A master simply means a master of the basics, The I-Ching is for the advanced but it is not necessary to master the art. Plus you have to keep in mind that the Con man aspect is not new. Many have tried to ride on the tails of those that have achieved great things. Facts that support this are that in the old days, teachers didn’t explain a lot of what they did. They would show you the move and you were expected to work it out. Is that not fertile ground for the Con man? I believe I’ve shown the extremes this can go. I’ve been learning Ba-Gua for 27yrs now and have come across so much in terms of everything and because of my love for it; I remember almost all of it. History has always been one of my passions and I tried to put things in the most real way that I could. Some of it is quite street in expression but this to try and by pass un-necessary word play.

Why is everyone copying and pasting essays? Seriously, wtf. What you need to know about Baguazhang? The question starts and ends at the same place: Yourself.

You need to know that all Bagua is not circular, some styles are linear. You need to identify you reason for interest in bagua and then research the styles available to you. +3