Baguazhang
01 · Historical Records
He accepted disciples and taught his art in Beijing during the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns of the Qing dynasty.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Bagua palm (Eight Trigrams Palm), originally called “turning palm” (zhuanzhang), is a school of traditional martial arts created by Dong Haichuan, a native of Zhujiawu Village in Wen'an County, Hebei Province. Dong loved martial arts from childhood and travelled widely in search of renowned masters and skilled friends. In his later years he settled in Beijing, and building on the boxing skills he had practiced since childhood, he drew on the essence of several martial arts and on stepping and daoyin (guided stretching) training methods, combining these with the principles of the Yijing (Book of Changes), to create the Bagua palm method, in which changing palm techniques are woven into circular walking and turning. The movement characteristic of Bagua palm is the use of the palm in place of the fist, with the steps tracing circles. Its main content includes the old eight palms, the sixty-four palms, and training methods such as the tangni (mud) step and the fixed-posture turning palm. It also includes the school's distinctive weapons — the ziwu yuanyang yue (paired crescent weapons), the jizhua yinyang rui (chicken-claw paired points), and the qixing gan (seven-star staff) — as well as the turning sabre and turning sword, which are characterized by their long, heavy blades. Most of the disciples Dong Haichuan taught during his life had already trained in other martial arts before coming to him. Among Dong Haichuan's transmitters were many celebrated masters; those whose lineages spread most widely include Yin Fu, Cheng Tinghua, Liang Zhenpu, Zhang Zhaodong, Shi Jidong, Liu Baozhen, Fan Zhiyong, and Liu Fengchun.
The old eight palms and the sixty-four palms
The core content comprises the old eight palms, the sixty-four palms, and training methods such as the mud-step walk and the fixed-form turning palm.
The mud-step walk and fixed-form turning palm
Bagua palm substitutes palms for fists and walks in circles; beginners drill the mud-step to fix the lower body, then practise fixed-form turning palms for coordination.
Weapons of the school
Alongside empty-hand work it has its own weapons — the zi午 twin crescent blades, the chicken-claw paired points and the seven-star staff — following the same circling path as the palms.
Turning sabre and sword
The long and heavy turning sabre and sword, characteristic of Dong's line, are answered by circling rather than by resisting the advance.
The 1982 Beijing bagua research society
Founded in 1982, it was the first single-style society founded after the founding of the People's Republic and drove the excavation, collation and development of bagua palm.
The transmission lineage
Among Dong's many celebrated disciples — Yin Fu, Cheng Tinghua, Liang Zhenpu, Zhang Zhaodong, Shi Jidong, Liu Baozhen, Fan Zhiyong and Liu Fengchun — several fused bagua with their own arts, producing distinct schools.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
These disciples in turn combined Bagua palm with what they had already learned, so that the art came to display many different styles and schools. In terms of palm shape in particular, the schools fall mainly into two movement characteristics: those centered on the ox-tongue palm and those centered on the dragon-claw palm.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Baguazhang · Baguazhang.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Beijing, where Dong Haichuan first transmitted Bagua palm, has a flourishing tradition of the art. The Bagua Palm Research Society of the Beijing Martial Arts Association, founded in 1982, was the first popular single-style boxing research society established after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Its establishment gave strong impetus to the work of excavating, collating, and developing Bagua palm. Sun Zhijun (per the official archival record of the associated inheritor): A Bagua palm master. He adapted and innovated training methods and distilled the technical principle: “When the opponent moves first, I arrive first; defend by attacking, and win by striking second.” He published works including Technical Analysis of Combat Application in Youshen Bagua Linked Palms, Bagua Palm Paired Drills, Bagua Sabre Paired Drills, Youshen Bagua Linked Palms, Hebei Xingyi Boxing, and Cheng-Style Bagua Palm. He established a Bagua palm teaching website, using the power of the internet to broaden the reach and influence of the art's transmission. He had many disciples; his representative students in China and abroad include Sun Huixiang, Wang Deming, and Ge Chunyan. Formerly known as Sun Zhijun, he was male, of the Han nationality, born in August 1933 and deceased in August 2016, and a native of Shenzhou, Hebei. He was a representative inheritor of Bagua palm, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project of the fourth batch. He served as a coach at the Dongcheng Martial Arts Hall in Beijing, and won the gold medal at the first World Traditional Martial Arts Championships hosted by the International Wushu Federation and the Chinese Wushu Association, the gold medal at the National Traditional Martial Arts Demonstration and Exchange Conference hosted by the State Physical Culture and Sports Commission, and other awards. Liu Jingru (per the official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, of the Han nationality, born in July 1936, a native of Gaoyang County, Hebei. A Bagua palm master, holding the ninth grade (duan) of Chinese wushu. His publications include Liuhe Mantis Boxing, Xingyi Boxing, Bagua Palm, An Illustrated True Account of Bagua Palm, and Sixty Years on the Martial Path. His disciples include Zhuang Hui, Shang Yu, Han Yanwu, and Ren Shouran. He is a representative inheritor of Bagua palm, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project of the fifth batch. He won the Bagua palm gold medal at the first and second National Martial Arts Demonstration Conferences, and the gold medal in the Xingyi and bagua divisions of the Beijing martial arts competition.
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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