Fred Wu stands in the Ba Gua Zhan Zhuang stance keeping posture which he
the straight line techniques taught by both men were similar, however, there were some small differences. When the war with Japan was coming to an end, President Chiang Kai Shek began to make plans to rebuild the country and established a program to send young college graduates to study abroad and receive practical training. Eight thousand people from all over China worked in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and many applied to take the examination in order to be selected for the...
Luo De Xiu Teaches the Principles of Gao Style Ba Gua Zhang Fighting
During the months of October and November 1993, close to 150 Ba Gua Zhang practitioners in the United States had their concepts of Ba Gua Zhang's use as a fighting art redefined by Ba Gua expert Luo De Xiu UHi - of Taipei, Taiwan. Luo and one of his top students, Tim Cartmell, conducted a nationwide series of eight two day seminars which were co-sponsored by the Pa Kua Chang Journal and the North American Tang Shou Tao Association. The first seminar was in Pacific Grove, CA on 16-17 October and...
Luo De Xiu explains circle walking basics at the seminar in Gaithersburg MD
directions front, back, left, and right. This gave the students an indication of where they were not stable in their stance. After Luo taught students how to have stability in their basic stance, he taught the movements of the single palm change executed on a straight line in its simplest form. After students practiced the single change on a straight line, Luo taught the fundamentals of Ba Gua Zhang circle walking. Luo explained that in the Gao style there are three primary stepping methods...
Gao Yi Shengs Ba Gua Zhang
All systems of Ba Gua Zhang include basic training skills. In the Gao Yi Sheng system, the basic training includes eight sets of basic hand exercises Ji Ben Shou Fa - Js- -f gt amp j, body strengthening exercises, stance keeping or standing exercises, and basic circle walking holding static upper body postures. The eight sets of hand exercises are repetitive hand and arm gestures that the student first practices while standing in one spot, then later practices in conjunction with various...
Dr Fred Wus Ba Gua Zhang
Fred Wu's Ba Gua Zhang, like both the Han and Gao styles of Ba Gua that he studied from Li Zhuang Fei, is divided into the pre-heaven and post-heaven sets. The pre-heaven set consists of the eight traditional circle changes plus the single palm change, double palm change, and another changed called Black Dragon Whips it Tail. Wu explains that the single and double palm changes form the foundation of the practice and the Black Dragon Whips its Tail change is the link between the pre-heaven and...
Two Person Chuan Zhang Exercises
Students may also practice the piercing palm technique in a variety of partner exercises as Luo and his student Tim Cartmell demonstrate on the following page. The first exercise is a basic drill to help students work the mechanics of applying the piercing palm. In this exercise, the dumby partner stands with his arm held out in front as if defending himself. The partner practicing the piercing palm will pierce forward with the hand opposite the hand his partner is holding forward. As the hand...
Ba Gua Zhang Weapons
After students had studied both the pre-heaven and post-heaven Ba Gua, including the two-person sets, for a considerable amount of time, Liu Feng Cai allowed them to study weapons. Liu felt that unless the student had developed a great deal of internal power through fundamental bare-hand form practice, they would not be able to handle weapons properly, especially the large Ba Gua broad sword and straight sword. The large straight sword and broadsword were training weapons specific to Ba Gua...
Fred Wu Wu Min An left poses with his Ba Gua Zhang teacher Li Zhuang Fei center
Li Zhuang Fei, also known as Li Qiu Lei 4- , was born in Tianjin, China. His father's sister was the first Chinese woman to study western medicine in America she studied at Smith College . When he was young, Li liked to fight and he practiced Shaolin , Shuai Chiao , Tie Sha Zhang M t , PaiDa Daoist exercises, herbal medicine, and massage. His Aunt wanted Li to get a good education and make something of himself so she enrolled him in the Yen Ching University's College of Divinity, a famous...
Dr Fred Wufs Guang Hua Ba Gua Zhang
The information in this article was obtained during an interview with Dr. Fred Wu at his home in Worthington OH on 15 November 1992. When the Japanese invaded China in the 1930's, Tianjin became a dangerous place to live and many of Tianjin's residents fled their homes and moved south. The Japanese were confiscating all weapons and arresting or killing those who owned them, therefore, the martial artists in Tianjin were leaving the city in large numbers in order to avoid persecution. Although...
Wang Shu Sheng i
Wang Shu Sheng was born in 1918 in An Xing County, Hebei Province. In his youth Wang became skilled in Ba Ji Quan In 1943 Wang moved to Tianjin. He had heard of Ba Gua Zhang and the power of the so-called internal martial arts, however, being a practical fighter he was more interested in Ba Gua's use of circular movement and evasion than internal power. His curiosity about Ba Gua's employment in fighting led him to seek out a Ba Gua Zhang teacher when he arrived in Tianjin. Wang Shu Sheng met...
Liu Shu Hang J ft
Liu Shu Hang is Liu Feng Cai's grand-nephew and the family inheritor of Liu Feng Cai's Ba Gua Zhang. Liu Feng Cai was the brother of Liu Shu Hang's grandfather. Since Liu Shu Hang's father and grandfather did not study Ba Gua, Liu Shu Hang was called upon to inherent the family style. Liu Shu Hang began studying Ba Gua Zhang with Liu Feng Cai when he was sixteen years old. Liu states that when he began his study of Ba Gua, he did not like the circular forms. After learning only two sections of...
Liu Feng Cai executes a posture from the Horse Form Ning Shen Tan Ma Zhang
hence the name night fighting saber. Liu Feng Cai met Wang Mao Lin in his hometown and defeated Wang in an open-hands contest utilizing his Ba Gua Zhang. After the friendly match was over, Wang said that he had one skill which Liu did not possess. So saying, Wang grabbed a long tobacco pipe several feet long , which was the nearest object shaped like a sword. He asked Liu to grab a chicken feather duster that lay nearby and try to poke him with it. Every time Liu tried to poke Wang, he was hit...
Gao Yi Shengs Ba Gua Zhang in Tianjin
The Gao Yi Sheng style of Cheng Ting Hua's Ba Gua Zhang has been addressed in the Pa Kua Chang Journal numerous times. Since the Gao style is one of the most popular styles being taught outside of mainland China today, it is natural that it would be a recurring topic in the Pa Kua Chang Journal. However, in the half dozen articles which have discussed Gao's Ba Gua we have yet to address this system as it is still taught in the place where it originated. In previous issues we have discussed...
Style Ba Gua Zhang In Tianjin
Liu Feng Cai and Gao Style Ba Gua in Tianjin Fred Wu and Guang Hua Mountain Ba Gua Published bi-monthly by High View Publications, P.O. Box 51967, Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Xing Yi Quan Journal
Ever since we began publishing the Pa Kua Chang Journal I have received phone calls and letters from individuals who request that I either include Xing Yi material in the Pa Kua Chang Journal or that I also publish a Xing Yi Quan Journal. I have resisted both because I want to keep the Pa Kua Chang Journal focused on the topic of Ba Gua and my hands are too full to start another Journal. However, during my many trips to mainland China and Taiwan I have collected quite a lot of Xing Yi material...