Baguazhang (Chinese: 八卦掌; pinyin: bā guà zhǎng; Wade–Giles: pa-kua chang) is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being tai chi and xingyiquan. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or neijia). Baguazhang literally means "eight trigram palm", referring to the bagua "trigrams" of the Yijing, one of the canons of Daoism.
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👉 Baguazhang in the context of Ba gua
The bagua (Chinese: 八卦; pinyin: bāguà; lit. 'eight trigrams') is a set of symbols from China intended to illustrate the nature of reality as comprising mutually opposing forces reinforcing one another. Bagua is a group of trigrams—composed of three lines, each either "broken" or "unbroken", which represent yin and yang, respectively. Each line having two possible states allows for a total of 2 = 8 trigrams, whose early enumeration and characterization in China has had an effect on the history of Chinese philosophy and cosmology.
The trigrams are related to the divination practice as described within the I Ching and practiced as part of the Shang and Zhou state religion, as well as with the concepts of taiji and the five elements within traditional Chinese metaphysics. The trigrams have correspondences in astronomy, divination, meditation, astrology, geography, geomancy (feng shui), anatomy, decorative arts, the family, martial arts (particularly tai chi and baguazhang), Chinese medicine and elsewhere.
In this Dossier
Baguazhang in the context of Zhan zhuang
Zhan zhuang (simplified Chinese: 站桩; traditional Chinese: 站樁; pinyin: zhàn zhuāng; lit. 'standing [like a] post') is a training method often practiced by students of neijia (internal kung fu), such as yiquan, xingyiquan, baguazhang and tai chi. Zhan zhuang is sometimes translated Standing-on-stake, Standing Qigong, Standing Like a Tree, Post-standing, Pile-standing, or Pylon Standing.
Baguazhang in the context of Internal martial arts
Neijia (內家) is the collective name for the internal Chinese martial arts. It relates to those martial arts occupied with spiritual, mental or qi-related aspects, as opposed to an "external" approach focused on physiological aspects. The distinction dates to the 17th century, but its modern application is due to publications by Sun Lutang, dating to the period of 1915 to 1928. Neijin is developed by using neigong or "internal changes", contrasted with waigong (外功; wàigōng) or "external exercises" .
Wudangquan is a more specific grouping of internal martial arts named for their association in popular Chinese legend with the Taoist monasteries of the Wudang Mountains in Hubei province. These styles were enumerated by Sun Lutang as tai chi, xingyiquan and baguazhang, but most also include bajiquan and the legendary Wudang Sword.