Baguazhang
01 · Historical Records
This is a boxing art that fuses offensive and defensive techniques with guiding-and-stretching methods within circling and turning movement; since it was passed down to the world in the late Qing dynasty, it has been continuously developed and refined.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Circling to the left along the circle is called yangyi, and circling to the right along the circle is called yinyi; all other variations and functions fuse offensive and defensive techniques or particular training methods into the circling walk. When facing an opponent, one must keep circling and turning to maneuver against them, avoiding the solid and striking the empty, evading the direct and seeking the oblique, stressing the use of movement to control stillness and fast movement to control slow movement, forming Baguazhang's technical rule of taking movement as the foundation and change as the method. Its basic palm methods comprise eight palms—the single changing palm, double changing palm, double bumping palm, piercing palm, lifting palm, turn-over palm, swaying-body palm, and turning-body palm—and its basic footwork includes rising, falling, hooking, and swinging. The movement characteristics of Baguazhang are, first, walking; second, watching; third, sitting; and fourth, turning over. It takes mud steps as the entry-level foundation, twisting-turning circling as its basic form of movement, and the changes of palm techniques as its principal means of combat; it demands both internal and external cultivation, emphasizing the joint training of body and mind, with a nimble body and agile steps like a dragon roaming the sky, and twisting, turning, and circling making the palm techniques endlessly changeable. All movements of the limbs are directed by the mind-intent (xinyi). From the perspective of the art itself, this is the foundational exercise of sinking qi to the dantian, cultivating the root and building the foundation. From the perspective of physical fitness, only when the mind grows still can the limbs and the five viscera and six bowels relax, automatically adjusting their relative balance, so that qi and blood flow freely, achieving the goal of dispelling illness and pain and strengthening the body. It is clear that Baguazhang is an excellent sport for the coordinated development of body and mind, and a treasure of traditional sports culture.
Dong Haichuan founding bagua palm
Dong Haichuan, after years wandering and study, settled in Beijing and fused the methods of many masters with daoyin stepping and the principles of change to create the palming circle walk.
The yang and yin circles
Circling left is the yang figure, circling right the yin; every other variation likewise embeds offensive technique or training method within the turning walk.
The eight palms
The eight basic palms include the single and double changing palms, double striking palm, piercing, lifting, turning body, swaying body and body-turning palms.
The four steps and the mud step
The basic steps are raising, dropping, hooking and swinging, entered through the mud step; twisting and turning is the movement itself, quick and light as a dragon in the air.
Movement first, change as method
Against an opponent one ceaselessly circles, avoiding the solid and seeking the oblique, using motion against stillness and speed against slowness.
The Wenzhu martial arts school
The inheritor Ren Wen zhu innovated on the traditional repertoire and founded the Wenzhu martial arts school, whose students have repeatedly won national competitions.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Baguazhang was created by Dong Haichuan of Wen'an County, Hebei Province, with Wen'an County in Langfang City as its birthplace and core transmission area. Locally, the Wenzhu martial arts school serves as the center of teaching and practice, and boxing societies in the various villages are transmitted through family and neighborhood lines. Wen'an lies in the Haihe River basin on the southern edge of the capital region; its villages are steeped in boxing tradition, and here Dong's Roving-Body Eight Trigrams Linked Palm, with its circling and palm techniques, interpenetrated with local Hebei boxing styles, forming a close-range short-hitting style characterized by twisting, turning, and circling, avoiding the solid and striking the empty.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Baguazhang · Baguazhang.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Baguazhang is a boxing art centered on the transformations of palm techniques and walking and circling steps, created by Dong Haichuan of Wen'an County, Hebei Province; it is currently transmitted in Beijing, Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin, Hubei, and elsewhere. Baguazhang emphasizes that in practice, regulating the mind comes first and everything else second; one must quiet the mind at all times, cultivating within oneself a single mass of harmonized qi. In recent years, many renowned martial artists and scholars have devoted themselves to the study and practice of bagua boxing, achieving fruitful results. Confronted with the overall decline of martial arts, however, the future of Baguazhang is cause for concern, and it urgently needs to be brought within the scope of national protection. Ren Wenzhu (recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1950; a native of Wen'an County, Hebei Province. A Baguazhang boxing master. On the basis of fully mastering the traditional Baguazhang routines, he introduced innovations. His disciples are found throughout the country. He is a representative inheritor of Baguazhang, included in the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. In 1982 and 1986, he won gold medals at the National Martial Arts Competition. He has devoted great energy to training successors in martial arts and founded the Wenzhu Martial Arts School, which focuses on teaching Baguazhang; its students have won awards many times in national-level competitions.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Ren Wenzhu 03-1210
- Sun Zhijun 04-1735
- Liu Jingru 05-2547
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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