Baguazhang
Baguazhang ( Chinese 八卦 掌 , Pinyin Bāguà Zhǎng , W.-G. Pa Kua Chang ) is a Chinese martial art - or Wushu style, and is one of the so-called " internal martial arts " ( 內 家 拳 / 内 家 拳 , Nèijiāquán , neijia for short ). Baguazhang is part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the People's Republic of China (No. 797).
meaning
“Ba” means the number eight. “Gua” is an oracle sign, in this case a trigram from the I Ching (“Book of Changes” or “Classic of Changes”), which consists of three either solid ☰ ( Yáng - the male principle and the sky) or broken lines ☷ (Yin - the feminine principle and the earth). All combinations result in eight possible trigrams, the bagua , which is also very important in Feng Shui . "Zhang" means palm. It stands here instead of the "Quan", which anatomically means "fist" and occurs in the name of most Chinese martial arts, such as in "Shàolín Quánfǎ" ( Shaolin Kung Fu ). "Baguazhang" means something like "martial art according to the principles of the eight trigrams", in the sense of Yin and Yang .
style
The two most noticeable and characteristic properties of the Baguazhang are walking in circles and spiraling body movements. Furthermore, in the Baguazhang techniques with the open hand are in the foreground as opposed to punches and other fist techniques. The basic bagua movements consist of eight small shapes, each executed in mirror image in both directions of the circle. Hundreds of highly effective applications can then be derived from these eight basic techniques.
The meaning of the eight
The number eight plays a very important role in the Bagua. On the one hand, the Bagua runs in circles. A complete circle should be traversed in eight steps. Furthermore, the eight steps refer to the eight cardinal points north, east, south, west, north-east, south-east, south-west and north-west. The eight also refers to the eight general directions of life: success, family, fame, work, health, future, knowledge and relationships.
history
The origins of the Baguazhang cannot be precisely clarified. As one of the internal martial arts , it is said to go back to the traditions of the Daoist monasteries in the Wudang Mountains. It is said to have developed from a circular meditation on incense burners. Baguazhang is still practiced in Wudang today.
The occurrence of Baguazhang and the use of the name by Dong Hai Chuan in Beijing since the middle of the 19th century is certain . Due to the many very fragmented lines of tradition, there is a multitude of styles in the Baguazhang, some of which, however, only differ slightly. The best known of these bagua styles are the Cheng- style bagua according to Cheng Ting Hua and the Yin- style bagua according to Yin Fu, both direct disciples of Dong Hai Chuan. The Cheng style bagua is by far the more popular bagua, and most other bagua styles are quite similar to it. It is characterized by particularly soft, fluid spiral movements and is therefore very attractive. The Yin style bagua is characterized to a greater extent by powerful, explosive movements and is oriented more towards the combative application of the movement than towards the aesthetic impression or the pleasant feeling when performing the movements.
