The Baguazhang System of Gong Bao Tian of Taiwan

The following is a rough translation of an article that appeared in the June 15, 2001 issue of Taiwan Wushu magazine. There is no specific author mentioned other than the editors and then there are two books sited at the end as the apparent major sources for the material:

Before Liu Yun Qiao started his study of baguazhang, he had already trained wushu, starting from a young age. Before placing himself under the tutelage of Gong Bao Tian he could have been considered already accomplished. Therefore, Gong Bao Tians teaching methodology had to be a bit different from usual. Master Lius unparalleled achievement later in life was the melding together (rong ru, to melt, to flow between 2 places.) of the essence of baguazhang yin and yang, smooth and difficult (shun / ni ) , opening and closing ( kai / guan ), emptiness and substantiality, His body of knowledge is shown in the phrase: Yin and yang body Knowledge of motion and stillness Awareness of smooth a nd difficult Understanding of emptiness and substantiality, Should be according to natural laws. This is the entrance to dao! These lines show, lu wu yi, ( ? ) Afterwards, whenever he showed his baji, pigua, mizong, or taiji, they always showed the subtle reflection of baguazhang. You can see how truly profound its influence was. The Reason for Master Liu Yun Qiaos Karma with Bagua Grandmaster Liu Yun Qiao, also named Smiling Deer, was from the Cangzhou region of Hebei province. Born 2 years before modern China was established, he lived 81 years into the modern era until his passing at 84 years of age. When Liu Laoshi was born in Shu Xiang Shi Jia. .. Liu Yun Qiao was an only child. Because of a major illness [? ? ] at the age of three, he was treated by someone in the family, Zhang Yao Ting. Through massage and tui-na he was cured. He then started to study Mizongquan with Zhang Yao Ting. Tai Zu was his entrance into wushu. When he was seven, some one in his family was able to arrange for God of Spear, Li Shu Wen, at a later date to come and teach him baji, pigua and 6 harmonies spear. Because of this, he latter attained truly excellent basics. Afterwards, he was then introduced to General Zhang Xiang Wu to learn taijiquan, sword and kunwu sword. Because of Zhang Xiang Wus introduction he also studied under Ding Zi and learned 6 Harmonies Praying Mantis. By this time,

his skills were already a broken tool after the fire [po ju huo hou]. From very young he had some achievement. In the 22nd year of the new Republic of China, under the guidance of Zhang Xiang Wu, he went to Gong Bao Tian to disciple. [bai shi] He entered his tutelage. Like before, he accompanied him to Yan Tai Mountain to train for 2 years. Every morning before dawn Gong Bao Tian would take him to Yan Tai Shan [mountain] to practice baguazhang. Gong Bao Tian told him: Ci chu, xue wu, jin bu, shen su! [? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ]

-In this place your progress studying martial arts is paranormally fast! It was later that Liu Yun Qiao finally realized Yan Tai Shan was facing Bohai (a small sea within China), a place where the energy of the sky meets the earth and the sun meets the moon. Because of the location he was realizing things daily. All of the other things he learned before seemed to flow together. He reached the place where water seeps in to everything [shui ru rou zhe jing di, ? ? ? ? ? ? ] Theoretically we can know that before Liu Yun Qiao Laoshi studied under Gong Bao Tian, all of his teachers were famous names of the time. Furthermore, at the time he started with Gong Bao Tian, he was already 25 years old, so Gong Bao Tian could not start training him in baguazhang from the very basics, nor was that necessary. Based on his observations, very specialized style of application [gong fa] , all of these factors together, he used a more pliable internal method.
[page 25, last sentence, second paragraph- nei xi de xin fa. xi looks like character fro inhaling but I havent been able to find the exact character in my dictionary yet. xin fa is heart method. So the phrase reads, Internal ? heart method. Ill try and clear it up when I get a chance to consult with a native

speaker.] Baguazhang had Liu Laoshis attention. Aside from Gong Bao Tians superlative guidance, it had its own nutritive qualities, like dumping fertilizer on wild grass. It was the reason that his body developed into such a soft yet firm frame. It produces self-cultivation at a higher level. Baguazhang Program of Training In the course of Liu Yun Qiaos martial arts taining, baguazhang was the last stage do within present day Wudang, many start in Long Fist, Praying Mantis or Baji, slowly make their way into Bagua. Of course, this isnt a requirement. If you only trained in Baguazhang from the start, you can also learn the entire thing. This type of training, on the one hand, brought together all of his previous training (this was quite special), it had another side. Baguazhang is definitely an entrance into the study of mysticism. Apart from nurturing the body, skills in attack,

increasing efficiency of motion, depth in gong -fu, it can also lead the way into Dao. All of the baguazhang that Liu Yun Qiao transmitted down to the next generation followed a training method that led from taiji to bagua. The author [of this article] believes that this plan makes sense. Taiji is a relatively abstruse idea b ut complete in its core. It leads from the obscure to the specific. It cracks directly into application. It blended well with Liu Yun Qiaos previous learning. At the time, he was already mature. His ability to apprehend difficult concepts was also well developed. Add to that his excellent foundation and the way he trained, and you have someone who absorbed the material and was able to use it in a short period of time. This was entirely due to his teachers ability to tailor the instruction to the student. [yin cai shi jiao; a Chinese proverb. Lit. because of talent do the teaching]. Beginning students bust first stand hun yuan zhuang (Standing meditation. Hun = mixed, foggy, obscure, confused, all over etc. yuan = beginning, zhuang = post) The body must be stilled and intentioned must be focused on wuji. From stillness into motion is the taiji. Then the liang yi zhang is taught. (liang / two; yi / opinion, idea; zhang / palm). Following is the Xiao Kai Men. The form of this name is named because is opens (kai) the ming men of the two kidneys. Once this is trained to familiarity, movement is smooth and comfortable and well rooted. When training bagua legs the emphasis is on the legs and arms as the 4 extremities or the 4 forms (si xiang). In the baguazhang system, the leg methods (tui fa) are extremely important. Only those who train the waist and the legs well can train zheng jin (whole body power). The bagua legs are also called the 72 outstanding legs (72 jue tui) and contain many hidden techniques. From the Si Xiang (four forms) and on into the Ba Gua, that is training the Bagua Hard Palms. The 8 Changes Hard Palms correspondences can be sorted into 2 groups. There are the external ones, the head, back, waist and stomach and there are the internal ones, the heart, liver, lungs and kidneys. These together are the root of the 8 mother palms. Every palm can be used to walk the circle. Practice should be repeated on each side. At the places of connection some force can be used. Single or double palm changes connected too. In training the 8 Hard Palms the important thing is not to be too stiff. After training the 8 Mother Palms to a certain level, you can support weights in your hands, like metal spheres or you can hang metal rings from your arms. You can strap weights onto your legs as well. These can all be used as tools to increase your strength in advancing/attacking. But you must me careful not to get sloppy. With the 8 mother palms as your basics, you can express them through the 64 linking palm set. And this is just an approximation. In the midst of all this there are many, many skills developed and training methodologies such as the low

stepping of lower basin training, training equipment, receiving / expressing, solid / insubstantial and opening / closing movements. There is bai bu, kou bu, single palm change, double palm change, muddy stepping, 9 palace post standing, special exercises for developing agile body skills (shen fa), the methods of turning and stepping. Beyond the 8 palms, there are the 72 elbows , the Bagua Linking Circles Palm. . . . and so on. All this together makes for a very robust system. In terms of weapons, Liu Laoshi taught many smaller weapons such as the yuanyang yue (yuan-yang is the name of some sort of waterfowl like a duck maybe. They are colorful and known for mating for life. In this case I take it to mean that the yue and axe-like weapon, is used in pairs.) He also taught the dian-xue needles and the 7 star staff. The Deeper Meaning of Baguazhang A song of bagua goes: Ba gua zhang; zou wei xian. In Bagua; the feet come first. Shou ji fang; qu ji huan. Receiving is sending; leaving is returning Bian zhuan xu shi, bu zhong can. Turning and changing between empty and solid, there is majesty in the footwork.
can (pronounced tsaan) is a tricky word. Today, it commonly means to participate but in classical Chinese it is used as an honorable term of address. It sometimes means, to explore or to examine. I would need a gong-fu expert to explain the meaning of the last line as it doesnt seem to be addressed in the following explanation of the poem.

The poem directly and clearly emphasizes baguas characteristic footwork. How does one walk? The root of baguazhang is the twisting and turning of the body. Baguazhangs great invention was the walking of the circle (palms). When walking the circle, the body must be loose and comfortable, like riding in a palanquin. The attention is focused on the lower legs, ---no energy must be wasted. The heart should be even and the qi, peaceful. It is extraordinarily comfortable. At the beginning there is no particular form or set of rules. Just start slowly and then form one of the palms. Theres no need to immediately drop down into your stance. There are 3 ways of training, upper, middle and lower basin. Lower basin is extremely difficult. People used to say you can train circle walking on a table big enough for 8 people; you could also train underneath it. This shows how deep the stances can get during walking.

When walking, both legs strength is directed along the circle but the cant be doing any work, they just move along naturally. The speed must be smooth and even with no sudden changes. Not to slow and not to fast. It must be one energy down to the end. The feet rubbing on the ground causes jing to be generated.
The character jing in this passage means essence, a rice radical. The character associated with the trio of jing, qi and shen, not the other jing that can represent a kind of internal power as used in the term fa jing.

This causes the yang to rise more easily. At this time the attention should be on advancing. The single palm change is the mother of ten thousand palms. The mother palms give birth to them all. Its place is between stillness and motion. It could be moving; it could be still. Towards movement but not moving. The San Jian Zhao (3 points stance) of Baji, the San Ti Shi of Xing Yi Quan, the Bu Chan Shi (Snatching a Cicada Stance) of Preying Mantis, The Ti Shou Shi (rising hands stance; the opening position) of Taijiquan, all of them follow this logic. The incredible power of baguazhang can all be found within the single palm change. The single palm change is heavy on the strength but not on the qi. When training the single palm change you must be opened up and comfortable. You can not be too loose, limp and wobbling along the ground; The double palm change is heavy on the qi but not on the strength. The qi is long and fine. The body is hidden and appears empty. In the middle of the single palm change, you attention should be focused on the space between the fingertips of the hand on the inside of the circle you are walking. Qi starts in the dan tian and though your vision is bought all the way out to your fingertips. Its only when you walk until you forget yourself that you are really doing the real thing. Speaking of walking, we cant really separate stepping from the footwork of bagua. There are many kinds. The main ones are luo (sinking; dropping), bai (opened up, turned out), kou (hooking), ning (twisting/turning, like pinching someone), xuan (turning/spiraling, like a tornado), zou (walking), zhuan (yet another word for turning, more like a wheel this time) and the most distinctive, tang ni bu (muddy stepping). When walking in tang ni bu, backs of the feet (or possibly the feet and the back, in Chinese zou bei) very evenly move forward. The yong quan sticks to the ground. (the yong quan is thenbubbling spring acupoint in the middle of the bottom of the foot), The face of the feet is very even upon the ground, like walking in mud, the foot must turn deeply, move lightly and cant move up or down very much. When changing feet (i.e. advancing a step or changing direction) the rear foot must grasp the earth with all five toes. It is as if the yong quan in the heart of the foot is taking a breath of air and then digging a tiny little hole in the ground. This is truly marvelous spirit in walking! The lines of force in the thighs connect straight into the back and then push the head up and unify the body into a single line of force. This kind of walking is like a cat walking on snow.

Gong Bao Tians qing gong (lightness skill) let him move around like a ghost. This skill most certainly developed out of his circle walk practice. Bagua emphasizes twisting and turning movements. This especially allows the practitioner to take advantage of every portion of the body, putting it to work. The twisting of bagua places primary importance on the spine. At a certain level you must twist, but every position must be comfortable. While twisting you should be like a spring. There is force from the outside - in and there is also force going from the inside out, chan si. There is twisting throughout every part of the body. Even from the meridians, the tendons of the entire body are twisted into a single pillar. This allows the agility to come out from every bit of connective tissue. It commands the liquid blood to circulate. (as opposed to the broader sense of the word word within the context of TCM.) In Gaguazhang there are the Pre-heaven Palms and the Post Heaven Palms. The pre-heaven palms do not have very specific shapes. The post heaven palms are more specific as to their external form. There are the heart, liver, lungs and kidney on the inside and the head, back, waist and belly on the outside. Training progresses from the external post heaven palms to the internal post heaven palms. Then training further progresses to the pre heaven palms. There is also a progression from conscious, mindful training to training without thinking about it. (wu yi ; no-mind. Not mindlessness but more of a zen meditative state) By the time one has trained the pre-heaven palms, he has brought together the 6 harmonies. In the circle, secrets hide in the legs. Throughout the day, there are 6 yin and six yang. In a year there are 4 seasons and 4 energies. All of these patterns are connected. So then, Gong Bao Tian said of Lan Tai Shan: Ci chu xi wu jin bu shen su! (In this place, training gong-fu, you can advance magically fast!) This was his way of entering into Dao. This is a wonderful feeling of all the ten thousand changes harmonizing together.
Bibliography: 1. Liu Yun Qiaos Thoughts on Studying Martial Arts; Liu Yun Qiao Da Shi ji qi wu xue si xiang. 2. The Life of Gong Bao Tian; Gong Bao Tian Zhuan