Bagua Zhang

Bagua Zhang, also called Bagua Quan, is one of the most famous Chinese martial
art. It is based on the idea of Bagua from Yi Jing. During less than 200 years,
many famous masters have been trained in this style and at the same time have
developed its techniques. No other style like Bagua developed so quickly in such
a short time. Today there are many different Bagua styles practiced and taught. In
YCGF, three very famous Bagua styles are practice; they are Yin Style, Cheng
Style, and Liu Style.

Who was Bagua Zhang invented by and when? Nobody can answer that question.
However, Dong Haichuan was the first person who taught Bagua Zhang publicly.
For many reasons, we believe that Dong Haichuan was the founder of Bagua
Zhang. Dong taught Bagua Zhang in Beijing. He had great reputation for his
fighting skill. Many people studied with him. Later some of his students earned
their own reputation and set up their own style. The most famous of them were Yin
Fu, Cheng Tinghua, Song Yongxiang, and Liu Dekuan.

Bagua Founder - Dong Haichuan

Yin Style Bagua

Yin Fu was Dong's earliest disciple when Dong worked in King
Duan's palace. Yin's gongfu (kungfu) advanced very fast during the
next several years. The king liked him too and let Yin join the king's
security guards. When Master Dong retired, Yin took over as the
supervisor of the security guards. Then he worked for the emperor in
the Forbidden City. The Empress Dowager liked his skill and even
wanted to study with him. Yin taught Bagua and lived on the eastern
side of Beijing city. So Yin style will always be called Dong-cheng
Zhang (Eastern City Palm). The other name of Yin style is Niu-she
Zhang (Ox Tongue Palm) because the palm's shape in this style
looks like an ox tongue. Yin style Bagua Zhang includes eight
sections, each section includes eight postures. So that the sixty-four
posture palm change is practiced in circle walking. Later some of
Yin's students reformed their practice. They did eight palm changes
as a major practice. This approach is like Cheng style.

Ox Tongue Palm

Yin Bagua - Forward Thrust Palm

Cheng Style Bagua

When he was twenty-eight, Cheng Tinghua studied Bagua Zhang with
Master Dong. Before he met Master Dong, Cheng already practiced
Chinese Wrestling for many years. His fighting skill was very good
and he became famous by beating many challengers. He had many
students resulting in more people studying Cheng style than any other
style of Bagua. He lived and taught on the south side of Beijing city.
So people called his style Nan-cheng Zhang (Southern City Palm).
According to the palm's shape, the other name of Cheng style is
Long-zhao Zhang (Dragon Claw Palm). In the second generation of
Bagua group, Cheng's school was the biggest. The main practice of
Cheng style consists of Eight Mother Palm Change which is called Ba
Mu Zhang, Eight Big Palm Change which is called Ba Da Zhang, and
sixty-four fighting skills. Master Cheng wanted his students to
practice the basics very diligently and then develop application.
Usually most Cheng style groups use Liu Style to practice sixty-four
fighting skills.

Dragon Claw Palm

Cheng Bagua - Point the Sky and Hit the Earth

Liu Style Bagua

Liu Dekuan won his great reputation when he worked in a famous
security company before he went to Beijing. He challenged Master
Dong Haichuan but lost, so he decided to study Bagua Zhang with
Master Dong. From his studies he found that many of the techniques
in Bagua are taught from walking the circles; but this way always
made it difficult for people to understand Bagua. If they paid attention
to developing fighting skills when they walked the circle, they easily
overlooked development of internal components. Only a few people
could do both well. So he made a new form that included sixty-four
fighting skills practiced in a straight line. Every skill came from
traditional Bagua but was not practiced by walking the circle. He
suggested that people should first practice internal components from
circle walking, and then practice fighting skills using his straight form.
Most Bagua masters accepted this idea. His form was called Liu style
Bagua, Bagua Sanshow, or straight Bagua. Today most Bagua
groups combine this straight Bagua style in their practice. Nobody
practices it alone; most people study it in conjunction with circle
walking.

Liu Bagua - Four Dragons Inhale the Water

Bagua Zhang is the first training of Grand Master Wang Peisheng from twelve years of
age. He studied Yin Style with Master Ma Gui who was the most famous master in the third
generation of Bagua. Ma was Yin Fu's disciple and also studied directly with Dong
Haichuan for many years. Although he was small, Ma won his great reputation as a great
fighter. Then Wang studied Cheng Style and Liu Style with Master Gao Kexing who had
great reputation as a Bagua master. Gao was Cheng Tinghua's disciple. Master Wang
studied Song Style Bagua with Master Song Shutang who was Song Yongxiang's nephew.

These three styles are taught in YCGFA-NAH. They include empty hand forms and
weapons forms.

Circle Walking with the Spear

Yin Cheng Gong Fa Association North American Headquarters

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