Bagua Chang

History

Dong Hai Chang (1798-1882)

Yang Lu Chan, nicknamed “No worthy Enemies Yang” (creator of Yang style Tai Ji) said of fighting with Dong Chuan Hai “I can not beat Dong Chuan Hai. The best I can do is draw level with him. Beating him is very difficult”. The two became good friends.

Tung Hai Ch'uan

 

Dong Hai Chang (Tung Hai-Chuan) is the acknowledged founder of the style. A native of Zhujiawa, south of Wenan County in Heibei Province. When he was young, he studied the erlangquan (Erlang - hero from chinese legends) of Shaolin School. He was poverty-stricken but chivalrous, and he drifted from place to place. Legend suggests that during his travels through China, he studied with a Taoist, Bi Chengxia, in Mt. Jiuhua in the southern part of Anhui Province, one of China's five sacred mountains. Later Dong learned other skills from Guo Yuanj'l, nicknamed the "Iron Stick Taoist." After several years of study, he created a new style "Turning Palms" and use his techniques to defeat many famous martial artists.

Dong travelled to Beijing in 1875. He was employed in the house of Prince Shan Qi's during the reign of the Emperor Guang Xu . One legend described how Prince Shan Qi became aware of the remarkable abilities of Dong. In this story, Shan Qi was a great lover of wushu. The prince was famous for holding parties where he invited the greatest martial arts in the country to demonstrate their skills. During one of those events, a servant with a large tray of tea couldn't get through to the prince because of the large crowd. In order to help, Dong took the tray with the tea and got to the prince by running on the wall which was over everyone's head. The prince immediately recognized the Dong's unique skills and quickly promoted Dong. Another version of the discovery of Dong also occur during a party hosted by the Prince. In this story, Prince Shan Qi asked his bodyguard Sha Huihui to demonstrate his martial arts skills. Sha was a strong man and his breath taking performance drew prolonged applause from the audience. During the heat of the moment, he issued an open challenge to those present. No one dared to accept the challenge. At that moment it happened that Dong Haichuan was serving food and drinks to the guests. He heard the challenger but hesitated over whether he should answer it. When he saw no one come forward, he volunteered to take on Sha Huihui. After a few bouts, he made a sweeping, forceful movement with his palms and flung Sha to the ground a dozen feet away. Everyone was struck dumb by his prowess. The prince was so impressed that he later made Dong head of his bodyguards.

Dong became one of the prominent martial artists in the court and from that time on he began to teach baguazhang in Beijing and the surrounding areas. He taught many students in Beijing and all his students were known for their quality and skills. Dong Haichuan died in 1882 at the age of 84. He was buried beside the Red Bridge outside Beijing's Dongzhi Gate. On his graph was an epitaph written by his followers and a list of his students. This tomb was damaged during the cultural revolution. In 1980, the tomb was renovated and moved to Wan'an Cemetery.

Master Mao Jun Di, Shanghai

 

Master Mao Jun Di has an impeccable record within Bagua Zhang and other traditional Chinese martial arts. He studied directly under Jiang Rongqiao and learnt the Dragon Style 64 Forms Bagua Palm. This is the system of the eight-trigram palm characterising the dragon's movements as taught by Jiang Rongqiao. (Note: the eight trigrams - eight combinations of three whole or broken lines Used in divination). Bagua Zhang meaning Ba - eight, gua - trigram, Zhang - palm

Jiang Rongqiao was second-generation Bagua practitioner from Dong Haichuan, the founder of Bagua Zhang. Jiang Rongqiao in his later years resided in Shanghai.

Master Mao also knows the Wu-Xing (Five Elements) Chain Ring Bagua Palm, which is practiced on a straight line and also to the four corners, incorporating the eight elbows and eight hammer fists. This form is now very rare. His teacher was Zhang Qianglun. The origin of this form is somewhat unclear, but at this moment in time, with the help of Master Mao, we are researching the history.

Master Mao also teaches the world famed Wu-Song Bagua Broad Sword.
(Wu Song is a very famous martial arts monk from Chinese history, he was famous for beating a huge strong tiger to death). His teacher was Gong Zhanping.

Master Mao has studied many different martial arts since the age of six including:

Shaolin Styles
Lohan (Arhat) Eighteen hands Shaolin Style.
Lohan (Arhat) Quan.
Shaolin-eight steps chain-of-ring Quan.
Damo Quan.
Damo Stick.
Black Tiger Quan.
The Beggars art.
The Monks Spade.
Shaolin Straight Sword (long tassel).
Qianlong Free & Unfettered Fan (Qianlong: a famous Emperor in the Chinese Qing Dynasty).
Shaolin Fan.
Tiger Hooks Swords.

Nei Jia internal styles
Wu Style Taiji Quan.
Chen Style Taiji Quan.
Taoist Taiji Quan.
Dragon Style 64 forms.
Wu Zing unpredictable chain-of-rings Bagua Palm.
Wu Song Bagua Broad Sword.

 

Lung-Hsing (Dragon Palm 64 Forms) Bagua Zhang

 

 

Wu Xing (5 Element) Chain Ring Bagua

Wu-Xing (Five Elements) Chain Ring Bagua Palm, which is practiced on a straight line and also to the four corners, incorporating the eight elbows and eight hammer fists. This form is now very rare. Master Mao studied under his teacher Zhang Qianglun. The origin of this form is somewhat unclear, but at this moment in time, with the help of Master Mao, we are researching the history.

 

 

The 5 elements are a common theory in Chinese history and divination, they are Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood. There is both a creative and a destructive cycle.

Creative Cycle
Fire creates Earth
Earth creates Metal
Metal creates Water
Water creates Wood
Wood creates Fire

 

Destructive Cycle
Fire destroys Metal
Metal destroys Wood
Wood destroys Earth
Earth destroys Water
Water destroys Fire

 

 

Wu Song Bagua Dao (Broadsword)

 

 

 

Master Mao studied the world famed Wu-Song Bagua Broad Sword, from his teacher Gong Zhanping.

 

 

Wu Song was a very famous and popular hero from Chinese history, he was famous for beating a huge strong tiger to death with his bare hands.

 

 

His nickname was the Pilgrim because he used to wander alone disguised as a monk. His only vice was he drank too much and would get mad when drunk.

 

 

The famous story goes that Wu Song had been drinking and was on his way to visit his brother; this journey would involve crossing over a mountain. As he began to climb he saw a notice warning that there was a danger of tigers in the mountain. Wu Song being drunk chose to ignore the warning, thinking maybe that this was a ruse by the local innkeeper to increase business. As he neared the summit he saw another notice warning of tigers and this time he believed there was a danger but did not retrace his steps for fear of losing face. As he was drunk he decided to lay down and take a rest. Suddenly a large tiger charged at Wu Song who managed to dodge the fierce beast. He tried to hit the tiger with his cudgel but instead broke it against a tree branch. He grabbed the tiger by it's neck as it attacked again and by striking its head with his fist he was able to knock the tiger unconscious. He then finished off the tiger with the remains of his cudgel.