Ba Gua Zhang
Ba Gua Zhang is a sophisticated style of Martial Art that is based on continuously changing in
response to the situation at hand in order to prevail with skill rather than brute force.
The turning and spinning movements of Ba Gua Zhang stimulate the joints and intrinsic muscles
not normally utilized in everyday activities. This compressing and relaxing of the core muscles provides
an internal organ massage and promotes good circulation and flexibility. Practicing Ba Gua Zhang
techniques promotes a sense of total body connection and relaxation while enhancing coordination and
agility.
Ba Gua Zhang emphasizes the use of the open hand instead of the closed fist and consists of
circular movements to circumvent and neutralize attackers. Designed to fend off multiple attackers
simultaneously, the fundamental training method in Ba Gua Zhang is “walking the circle.”
This trains the practitioner in the concept of circumvention through movement.
The practitioner circumvents and redirects the attackers, seeking a position of tactical superiority.
Great emphasis is placed on continuous movement, mobility, and nimble footwork while rapidly moving
in circular patterns. All movements are intended to be smooth and coordinated, with the body
employed as a whole. No reliance is placed on using muscle power generated from a
single portion of the body. Ba Gua Zhang teaches the development of timing and agility.
Although Ba Gua Zhang is a relatively new form of Martial Art, it became famous throughout
China during its inventor's lifetime mainly because of its effectiveness in combat and the resulting high
prestige this gave its practitioners.
Ba Gua Zhang movements have a characteristic circular nature and there is a great deal
of body spinning, turning, and rapid changes in direction. Ba Gua Zhang is an Art based on a
kind of guerilla strategy applied to personal defense in that it relies on strategy and skill,
rather than the direct use of force against force or brute strength, in overcoming an attacker.
The Art of Ba Gua Zhang involves teaching the practitioner how to control his or her momentum and
timing in order to generate power with the entire body mass as a coherent unit. In the Chinese
Martial Arts, this type of power is referred to as Whole-Body-Power (Zheng Ti Jing).
Whole-Body-Power enables the practitioner to issue force from any part of the body with the support
of all other parts. Each part of the body coordinates with every other, generating the maximum amount
of power available relative to the individual's size and weight.
Ba Gua Zhang technique seeks to avoid the apex of the attacker's force. By circling around and
circumventing incoming force and resistance, the Ba Gua Zhang practitioner applies his own
Whole-Body-Power from a position of superiority. This strategy allows the smaller and weaker
practitioner to apply maximum force from an angle at which the larger and stronger attacker cannot resist,
effectively making the weaker practitioner more powerful at that moment
(for example, if you have 50 units of total strength and your attacker has 100, and you attack
with your full 50 units of strength at an angle at which your attacker is only able to use 25
units of his total strength, you are, at that moment, twice as strong as your attacker).
Ba Gua Zhang teaches the practitioner to employ the basic strategies of circling around
the attacker or rotating the attacker around oneself to avoid a head to head
confrontation with the attacker's power and obtain a superior position from which to defend.
In this process the attacker often loses control of his center of balance,
as correctly applied momentum overcomes brute strength. The skilled Ba Gua Zhang practitioner’s
movements are spontaneous and difficult to predict, and his relaxed physical and mental state makes
it possible for him to change and adapt as the situation may require.
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