Bagua Chuan, also known as Ba Gwa Chuan, Pa Kua Chuan or Eight Trigram Boxing, is a Chinese internal fighting method, sister to Xing I and Tai Chi. The eight trigrams are said to relate to the Eight Trigrams of the I-Ching (The Book of Changes), a famous treatise on divination that fascinated C.G. Jung. The name further refers to the Eight Directions of Movement studied.
The origins of the art are presently unknown, but the most common account given is that Tung Hai Chuan (1798 – 1879) learned the basics of the art from a Taoist monk before developing the system fully in Beijing. There he defeated a Hsing I expert, though not without difficulty, and the two masters agreed that their students should learn both arts to make them more rounded fighters, a practice that continues today along with the third addition of Tai Chi Chuan. So effective was this art that guards in the Imperial palace were required to perfect its techniques in order to be able to better protect the emperor.
Walking the Circle in Bagua
Training is conducted initially by the student walking in a tight circle, with his eyes and focus directed into the center (where his opponent would be). While ‘walking the circle’ as this practice is known, a series of techniques are executed, including twists and turns to walk in the opposite direction. The practitioner is never still and is in a constant state of fluid motion. Pair practice includes the popular Chinese exercise of pushing hands. Each style of Chinese martial art has its own form of pushing-hands practice, and that of this art is of medium intensity. Not as soft as Tai Chi, but not as forceful as Wing Chun. While pushing-hands practitioners maintain contact with one another’s forearms, thrusting forward to lightly strike the other or push him off balance. The receiver must learn to intuitively react to changes in pressure he feels on his forearms and redirect the energy. Initially this practice is done statically, but more advanced forms allow movement and sweeps.
As a fighting art the practitioner uses quick footwork to move around an opponent into a more advantageous position, either at his side or behind him, while avoiding or redirecting any attacks. Offensively the master uses low kicks and hand strikes to vulnerable parts of the body, combined with locks. The art functions best at close-quarters art and once a fight starts the practitioner maintains a close proximity to his opponent.
