Baguazhang 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. Baguazhang literally means "eight trigram palm", referring to the bagua "trigrams" of the I Ching, one of the canons of Taoism.
Cheng Tinghua (1848–1900) was a renowned master of Chinese neijia (internal) martial art baguazhang (bagua).
Gao Yisheng (1866–1951) was the creator of the Gao style of baguazhang. His life bridged the second generation and third generation of baguazhang practitioners into the 20th century. He was one of the few third generation baguazhang practitioners to live beyond the 1940s. His innovation and impact on baguazhang as a fighting art cannot be underestimated.
Hung I-Hsiang or Hong Yixiang (1925–1993) was a Taiwanese martial artist who specialized in the internal Chinese styles of xingyiquan, baguazhang, and taijiquan.
Hsu Hung-chi or Xu Hongji (1934–1984) was a Taiwanese martial artist who specialized in the Neijia of xingyiquan, baguazhang and taijiquan.
Tang Shou Tao is a system of Chinese internal martial arts training founded in the 1950s and 1960s by Hung I-Hsiang, a well-known Taiwanese internal martial artist. The system was further modified by Hung's student, Hsu Hung-Chi under the name Shen Long Tang Shou Tao.
Vince Black was
a martial artist and doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He specializes in the internal Chinese styles of xingyiquan and baguazhang.
Fu Zhensong, also known by his courtesy name Fu Qiankun, was a grandmaster of Wudangquan martial arts. He was best known as one of the famed "Five Northern Tigers," and a third-generation master of Baguazhang who founded Fu Style Baguazhang. He was also a soldier and a supporter of Sun Yat-sen.
Cheng Style Baguazhang is the style of Baguazhang descended from Cheng Tinghua, the fourth disciple of Baguazhang's founder, Dong Haichuan.
Fu-style Wudangquan is a family style of Chinese martial arts encompassing tai chi, xingyiquan, baguazhang, liangyiquan, bajiquan, and Wudang Sword. Fu Style Baguazhang is one of the five styles of baguazhang recognized as orthodox in China. It is the highest form of the Fu-style martial arts.
Gao Style Baguazhang is the style of Baguazhang descended from Gao Yisheng, a student of Cheng Tinghua, who founded one of the two main branches of Baguazhang. Gao is alternatively said to have originally studied with Song Changrong (宋長榮) or Yin Fu, later studying with one of Cheng's students, Zhou Yuxiang (周玉祥). Gao style is one of the most widely practiced Baguazhang styles in the West; there are also many practitioners in Tianjin and Taiwan. It has many variations held within various lineages, some which are given below:
Jiang Style Baguazhang is a style of Baguazhang developed by Jiang Rongqiao. A type of Neijia kung fu, it is one of the most widely practiced combined styles of Baguazhang and Xingyiquan in the world today. Jiang-style Baguazhang is distinguished by emphasizing efficiency of movement and ambidextrousness.
Greg Hatza is an American jazz organist born in 1948 in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Jiang Rongqiao was a famous martial artist from Hebei. His specialized focus in the internal arts led him to develop his own system of Bagua which became recognized and known as Jiang Style Baguazhang.
The Central Guoshu Institute was established in Nanjing by the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China in March 1928 for the propagation of Chinese martial arts, and was an important center of martial arts during the Nanjing decade. Guoshu "national art" was the term for martial arts adopted by the Republic of China at the time. The institute was created by Zhang Zhijiang under the sponsorship of elite government officials such as Li Liejun and others. Along with the Jing Wu Athletic Association, the academy played a crucial role in the transmission of traditional Chinese martial arts into the 20th century.
Letter 1949 is a 2008 Taiwanese drama starring Queenie Tai, Lin Yo-wei, Alien Huang, Hawick Lau. It was produced by Eastern Shine Production. The series was broadcast on free-to-air Chinese Television System (CTS) from 9 to 26 November 2008, Monday to Thursday at 20:00.
Wudangquan is a class of Chinese martial arts. In contemporary China, Chinese martial arts styles are generally classified into two major groups: Wudang (Wutang), named after the Wudang Mountains; and Shaolin, named after the Shaolin Monastery. Whereas Shaolin includes many martial art styles, Wudangquan includes only a few arts that use the focused mind to control the body. This typically encompasses tai chi, xingyiquan and baguazhang, but must also include bajiquan and Wudang Sword. Although the name Wudang distinguishes the skills, theories and applications of the internal arts from those of the Shaolin styles, these arts did not originate in the Wudang Mountains: the name Wudang comes from a popular Chinese legend that purports the genesis of tai chi and Wudang Sword by an immortal, Taoist hermit named Zhang Sanfeng who lived in the monasteries of Wudang Mountain. Wudang quan is often used synonymously with Neijia, but Neijia is a broader term that also encompasses Aikido and Qigong, which are not Wudang quan.
Xingyiquan, or Xingy, is a style of internal Chinese martial arts.
Shang Yunxiang (尚云祥), a.k.a. Shang Jiting (尚霁亭), was a renowned master of Xingyiquan in the late Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) and early Minguo. He was born in Leling City of Shandong Province, in 1864. He died at the age of 73 in 1937.
Wang Shujin (1904–1981), also known as Wang Heng Sun, was a Chinese martial artist, practitioner of the disciplines of baguazhang, taijiquan, and xingyiquan. He was one of the greatest promoters of those arts outside China, being their first teacher in Taiwan and Japan, and was particularly known for his challenges to other martial artists. Aside from his martial exploits, Wang was also a spiritual leader in the Taoist sect Yiguandao.
