八卦掌简介(Introduction of BaGuaZhang)

  八卦掌是中国三大内家拳（太极拳、形意拳、八卦掌）之一，以沿圈走转为运动形式，其技法讲究纵横交错，随走随变，其用法讲究临机应变，以变应变，其理合于周易中的“刚柔相摩，八卦相荡”，运动不息，变化不止之理。它是以八卦学说为宗旨，以周易理论为根据，以掌法运动为特点，所以称之为“八卦掌”。

    八卦掌在沿圈走转的过程中，有四大基本要点，是一走，二视，三坐，四翻。八卦掌运动起来的形象比喻为四形和四象：“形如游龙，视如猿守，坐如虎踞，转如鹰盘。”“龙形猴象，虎坐鹰翻”。它的运动特点是：身捷步灵，势势相连，行步平稳，摆扣清楚，纵横交错，协调圆活，劲力沉稳，刚柔相间，精神贯注，气势完整。在身型手型方面的要求讲究：头顶项竖，立腰收臀，含胸实腹，收胯提裆；三空四坠（三空是：手心空，脚心空，心胸空。四坠是：肘坠到肩，肩坠到腰，腰坠到胯，胯坠到膝，膝坠到足）；上下衔接，贯穿一气，稳固平衡。

    八卦掌的步法要求非常严格，讲究：起落平稳，摆扣清楚，虚实分明，身行如坐轿，出脚要磨胫，内脚直进，外脚内扣，两膝相抱，裹胯合膝，掩裆收臀。它的身形基本要领是：松肩坠肘，含胸拔背，宽胸实腹，立腰溜臀，裹胯合膝，气沉丹田。手型基本要领：五指微分，虎口撑圆，掌心要空，腕部微塌。运动起来表现为：拧旋翻转，纵横连环，绵绵不断，掌随步换，随走随变，潇洒自如，气势如虹。它的手法要求是：推托带领，搬扣劈进。它的劲力特点是以：拧裹钻翻，滚钻争裹，螺旋不断，奇正相生。它的身法要求是：起落仰俯，旋转拧裹，屈收展放，腰为中枢，步随身换，手随身行，周身完整。

    八卦掌的技击特点是：动中视敌，避正打斜，以正驱斜，强调通过不停的走转变招，避开对方的攻击，充分体现动中求变，以变应变，迂回进攻，以巧取胜的战术原则。它完全符合周易八卦变化不已的精神和原则。 

    八卦掌不但具有很高深的技击功能，而且，它还是一门功法完善，理法科学的健身术。经常从事八卦掌练习，能全面改善人体各系统的机能状况，得“气感”快，俗话说：“树老先老根，人老先老腿”，由于八卦掌沿圈走转，其特的步法使双腿得到充分的练习，特别是八卦掌走转起来，双掌对圆心，使腰部能得到最大限度的扭转，从而起到很好的健身作用，同时，在练习过程中心意与形体的配合能对全身起到很好的调节作用。所以，练习八卦掌既能养身健身，又能提高防身自卫的能力，同时，学练八卦掌还是学习中国传统文化，了解中国传统思想和思维方式的一个绝佳的窗口。

AN INTRODUCTION TO BA GUA ZHANG

Ba Gua Zhang is recognized as one of the three orthodox "internal" styles of Chinese martial art (the other two being Xing Yi Quan and Tai Ji Quan). Ba Gua literally translates to Eight trigrams. These trigrams are symbols which are used to represent all natural phenomena as described in the ancient Chinese text of divination, the Book of Changes (Yi Jing). Zhang means palm and designates Ba Gua Zhang as a style of martial art, which emphasizes the use of the open hand in preference to the closed fist. Ba Gua Zhang, as a martial art, is based on the theory of continuously changing in response to the situation at hand in order to overcome an opponent with skill rather than brute force.

Although there are several theories as to the Origins of Ba Gua Zhang, recent and exhaustive research by martial scholars in Mainland China conclude without reasonable doubt that the Art is the creation of a single individual, Dong Hai Chuan. Dong was born in Wen An County, Hebei Province about 1813. Dong practiced local martial arts (which reportedly relied heavily upon the use of open hand palm techniques) from his youth and gained some notoriety as a skilled fighter. At about 40 years of age, Dong left home and traveled southward. At some point during his travels, Dong became a member of the Chuan Zhen (Complete Truth) sect of Daoism. The Daoists of this sect practiced a method of walking in a circle white reciting certain mantras. The practice was designed to quiet the mind and focus the intent as a prelude to enlightenment. Dong later combined the circle walking mechanics with the martial arts he had mastered in his youth to create a new style based on mobility and the ability to apply techniques while in constant motion (heretofore unknown in the history of Chinese martial arts).

Dong Hai Chuan originally called his art "Zhuan Zhang" (Turning Palm). In his later years, Dong began to speak of the Art in conjunction with the Eight Trigrams (Ba Gua) theory espoused in the Book of Changes (Yi Jing). When Dong began teaching his Zhuan Zhang in Beijing, he accepted as student only those who were already accomplished practitioners of other martial arts. Dong's teachings were limited to a few "palm changes" executed while walking the circle and his theory and techniques of combat. His students took Dong's forms and theories and combined them with the martial arts they had studied previously. The result is that each of Dong's students ended up with different interpretations of the Ba Gua Zhang art.

The basis of the various styles of Ba Gua Zhang, and the practice all styles have in common, is the circle walk. The practitioner literally walks in a circle while holding various static postures with the upper body or while executing "palm changes" (short patterns of movement or "forms" which train the body mechanics and methods of generating power which form the basis of the styles' fighting techniques).

All styles have a variation of a form known as the Single Palm Change. The Single Palm Change is the most basic form and is the nucleus of the remaining palm changes found in the Art. Besides the Single Palm Change, the other forms include the Double Palm Change and the Eight Palm Changes (also known variously as the Eight Mother Palms or the Old Eight Palms).

These forms make up the foundation of the art of Ba Gua Zhang. Ba Gua Zhang movements have a characteristic circular nature and there is a great deal of body spinning, turning, and rapid changes in direction. In addition to the Single, Double and Eight Palm Changes, most but not all styles of Ba Gua Zhang include some variation of the Sixty-Four Palms. The Sixty-Four Palms include forms which teach the mechanics and sequence of the specific fighting techniques included in the style. These forms take the general energies developed during the practice of the Palm Changes and focus them into more exact patterns of movement, which are applied directly to a specific combat technique. Ba Gua Zhang is an art based on evasive footwork and a kind of guerilla warfare strategy applied to personal combat. A Ba Gua fighter relies on strategy and skill, rather than the direct use of force against force or brute strength, in overcoming an opponent. The strategy employed is aggressive in nature and emphasizes constant change in response to the spontaneous and "live" quality of combat.

In addition to the above forms and methods, most styles of Ba Gua Zhang include various two-person forms and drills as intermediate steps between solo forms and the practice of combat techniques. Although the techniques of Ba Gua Zhang are many and various, they all adhere to the above mentioned principles of mobility and the skillful application of force. Many styles of Ba Gua Zhang also include the use of a variety of weapons, ranging from the more standard types (straight sword, broadsword, pear) to exotic weapons, used exclusively by practitioners of the Ba Gua Zhang arts.

In order to obtain a superior position, the Ba Gua Zhang fighter applies the basic strategies trained in the solo forms' practice, that is, circling around the opponent or rotating the opponent around oneself. The result is the same in both cases. The Ba Gua Zhang fighter avoids a head to head confrontation with the opponent's power and obtains a superior position from which to attack. Along the way, the opponent often becomes entangled in the Ba Gua Zhang fighter's limbs and loses control of his center of balance (correctly applied momentum overcomes brute strength every time). This loss of balance causes a commensurate loss of power and further weakens the opponent, leaving him vulnerable to the Ba Gun Zhang fighter's attack. Finally, the relaxed physical and mental state of the Ba Gua Zhang fighter makes it possible for him to change and adapt as the situation demands. His movements are spontaneous and difficult to predict. Fighters of all disciplines agree that the unpredictable fighter is the hardest to beat (especially when he circles behind you!).