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Pa Kua Chang

J O U R N A L

On the Cover

Cheng Ting Hua's youngest son, Cheng You Xin

About the Pa Kua Chang Journal

The Pa Kua Chang Journalis published sixtimes a year. Each issue features an interview

with, or article by, one or more Ba Gua Zhanginstructor(s) from mainland China, Taiwan, the

United States, and/or Canada. The interviewswill report on each instructor's background,current program, training methods and teachingphilosophy. By utilizing this format, the intentionis to give students an opportunity to get to knowprospective teachers and to let teachers possiblygain insights and ideas from learning about theactivities of their colleagues.

Chinese names and terms will be romanizedusing the pinyin system of romanization except

when an instructor prefers his name romanizeddifferently. The title of the Journal appearsin the Wade Giles system of romanization asit was the system we started with and we keptthe original title. Whenever possible, Chinesecharacters will be listed in parentheses followingthe rst appearance of Chinese terms and namesin each article.

The ideas and opinions expressed in thisjournal are those of the instructors beinginterviewed and not necessarily the views of thepublisher or editor.

We solicit comments and/or suggestions. All Rights Reserved, High View Publications.

The authors and publisher of this Journalare not responsible for any injury which mayresult from following the instructions containedherein. Before embarking on any of thephysical activities described in this Journal, thereader should consult his or her physician foradvice regarding their individual suitability forperforming such activity.

Published bi-monthly by High View Publications,

P.O. Box 51967, Pacic Grove, CA 93950

Phone: (408) 655-2990

Fax: (408) 655-4984

Editor: Dan Miller

ISSN: 1065-2264

Where We Are Headed

Because the Pa Kua Chang Journal is only thirty-two pages in length and is published only six timesper year, it is impossible to t articles about everyaspect of Ba Gua Zhang into every issue. Withlimited space it is difcult to be very thorough inaddressing a topic in one, or even a series, of articles.Consequently it has been my goal to try and presentmaterial in stages over longer periods of time.

During the rst two years our focus was to bringreaders information about instructors who teach in

the United States. Although we have continued topresent this information during our third and fouryears of publication, our focus shifted to a coverageof Ba Gua Zhang history and biographies of the rstfew generations of masters so that readers could

better understand the roots of the system. We are now reaching an end to the history cycleand we will be entering into a more technicallyoriented focus during our fth year of publication.I felt that it was important to build a historicalperspective prior to focusing on the technical aspectsof Ba Gua as it will help readers understand whytechnical differences arise between styles in the

practice of Ba Gua. In the future, I intend to presentspecial issues which focus on different technicalaspects of Ba Gua. Next year we will have separate

journal issues dedicated to various aspects of BaGua such as: Ba Gua weapons, Ba Gua Qi Gong,Ba Gua footwork, Ba Gua power development, BaGua locking and throwing, etc. In each issue we willpresent how a variety of instructors from differentBa Gua styles and lineages approach these aspectsof the art.

Having laid the historical and biographicalfoundation during the rst four years of publication,I feel it will be easier to present the various technical

aspects of Ba Gua. When we write about how XiePei Qi or Sun Zhi Jun or Li Zi Ming teaches Ba Guastepping or Qi Gong, readers will already be familiar

with these instructors names, lineages and stylisticcharacteristics. Therefore, in the future, we canconcentrate more on the technical aspects and lesson biography and history.

Editor's Corner

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Ba Gua Zhang in the Cheng Family Village

A sketch drawing of Cheng Ting Hua's youngerbrother, Cheng Dian Hua

In the Pa Kua Chang Journal, Volume 3, Number

2, we explored Cheng Ting Hua's background, talkedabout a few of his senior students and discussed some

of the characteristics of his style. In this article we will

examine what may be the "purest" branch of the ChengTing Hua style of Ba Gua, that which was taught in hishome village in Shen County, Hebei Province.

Although Dong Hai Chuan ( ) was the manwho founded the art of Ba Gua Zhang ( ), the onewho was responsible for spreading Dong's art to thegreatest number of students was Dong's student Cheng

Ting Hua ( ). Even when Dong Hai Chuan wasstill alive, Cheng was the one teaching Ba Gua forhis teacher in Dong's later years. While the majorityof Dong Hai Chuan's students did not accept manystudents of their own and were conservative in theirteaching, Cheng Ting Hua taught less conservatively,accepted many students, and associated with manyother martial artists in Beijing, Tianjin, Bao Ding, andother areas of Hebei Province. In addition to teachingBa Gua in Beijing, Cheng Ting Hua also taught hisart in his home village in Shen County ( ), HebeiProvince ( ).

Shen County is located approximately 200km southof Beijing and is famous for martial arts. Up until theend of the Qing dynasty almost every village in ShenCounty had a martial arts training program. Many ofthe famous Xing Yi Quan ( ) masters at the turn

of the century were from Shen County (see Pa KuaChang Journal, Vol 4, No. 3).Cheng Ting Hua grew up in Cheng family village

in Shen County, however, he moved to Beijing whenhe was in his twenties and began apprenticing with agentleman who made eyeglasses. Later, Cheng openedup his own spectacles shop in Beijing. A martial artsenthusiast, Cheng also began studying the Chineseart of wrestling ( - shuai jiao) when he arrived inBeijing. After studying shuai jiao for a number of

years, Cheng became a Ba Gua student of Dong HaiChuan when he was 28 years old (1876). While livingin Beijing, Cheng frequently returned home to visit his

family in Shen County. It is said that Cheng's fatherhad died young and Cheng Ting Hua, the third of foursons in the Cheng family, returned home as frequentlyas once a month to look in on his mother. During his

visits he taught Ba Gua to the villagers. Two of Cheng'srst Ba Gua students in the Cheng family village werehis younger brother, Cheng Dian Hua ( ), and hisnephew, Cheng You Gong ( ). Prior to studyingBa Gua with his brother, Cheng Dian Hua had studieda Shaolin ( ) based system which was taught in the

village and a little Xing Yi Quan with the famous XingYi instructor Liu Qi Lan ( ).

After Cheng Ting Hua started studying with DonHai Chuan he returned to visit his home village antold his brother about Ba Gua Zhang. Cheng DiaHua was proud of his own progress in the martial ar

and so he asked his elder brother if they might havecontest. Cheng Ting Hua knew that his brother was nmatch for him and that if they competed Cheng DiaHua might be hurt. However, his brother had boasteso loudly about wanting a contest that he could norefuse. In order to avoid hurting his brother Cheng TinHua told him, "I will let you attack me with ten sts. none of your attacks reach me, it will mean that I winIf even one of your attacks touch me, I lose." People in the village heard that the Cheng brothe

would compete and they all went to watch. Cheng DiaHua was very proud to see so many people standin

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around. He sank his waist and stood in a horse stance,ready to ght. He quickly stepped forward ashinghis left hand as a distraction and thrusting a powerful

right st at Cheng Ting Hua's underbelly. Cheng TingHua calmly evaded his brother's rst attack. Those

watching said that Cheng Ting Hua was so calm it wasas if "he was enjoying a ower or gazing at the moon."Cheng Dian Hua attacked again to his brother's head

with his left. Before this strike reached him, ChengTing Hua turned quickly and dodged the second st.After several minutes Cheng Dian Hua had spent histen attacks and failed on each try. Sweating andexhausted he said, "I am convinced. I lost." After the match, the villagers praise Cheng TingHua's skill. Cheng Dian Hua was ashamed and

depressed. Cheng Ting Hua told his brother, "Whatyou have practiced is showy. You are far from realgong fu ( ). Why don't you come with me to Beijingand learn real martial arts." By this time Cheng TingHua had opened his own eyeglass shop in Beijing andso he offered his brother a job. Cheng Dian Hua agreedto follow his brother to the capital, work in the store,and study Ba Gua Zhang.

Once in Beijing, Cheng Dian Hua kept the books atthe eyeglass shop and studied Ba Gua from bothhis elder brother and Dong Hai Chuan. Eventually,Cheng Dian Hua also helped his brother teach Ba Guaand became a great ghter. After the Cheng's began

teaching Ba Gua in Beijing, many martial artist camto compete with the two brothers. Because Chen

Ting Hua was the most famous of the two brothers, hwas challenged more frequently. However, when hbrother was not at home Cheng Dian Hua was happto accept challenges for him.

A martial artist named Li Kui ( ) had heard Cheng Ting Hua's reputation and was not convincethat Cheng was so good. One day he showed up a

Cheng's shop and arrogantly shouted from outsidthe door, "Cheng San! ( - Cheng San means ththird child of the Cheng family). Dare you have competition with me!?" Cheng Ting Hua was not in thshop on that day. Cheng Dian Hua heard the shoutinand went out to see what was going on. He said, "M

brother Cheng San is not at home. Is there anythinthat I, Cheng Si ( - fourth child in the Chenfamily) can do for you?" Enraged that Cheng Ting Hu

was not there and wanting to show off his strength tintimidate Cheng Dian Hua, Li Kui walked over to

water vat that was half buried in the ground. The vawas half lled with water and probably weighed sever

hundred pounds. Li lifted the vat out of the grounand then put it back. He looked at Cheng Dian Huproudly as if to say, "What do you think about thatCheng Dian Hua said, "You are strong, but I will bethat you cannot lift me off the ground." Li put his armaround Cheng and tried three times to lift him, buhe could not. After the third try Li acted like he wagoing to give up, but then in a last effort he suddengrabbed Cheng's belt with both hands and tried tquickly jerk him off balance when Cheng was noready. Just as Li's hands grabbed around Cheng

belt, Cheng expanded his abdomen in all directionas if there had been an explosion inside his belly.

shouted in pain. When he pulled his hands out Cheng's belt he noticed that the skin had been rubbeoff where he had been holding the belt and his hand

were bleeding. He quickly ran away to tend to hwounds and never bothered the Cheng brotheragain.

After Cheng Ting Hua's death in 1900 at the handof foreign soldiers during the Boxer Rebellion, ChenDian Hua closed up the spectacles shop and returneto the Cheng family village in Shen County, bringinCheng Ting Hua's youngest son, Cheng You Xin

), with him. Cheng You Xin was not yet twentwhen his father died and so he learned the majority his Ba Gua from Cheng Dian Hua. Two of Cheng DiaHua's other most famous students in the Cheng villag

were Liu Zi Yang ( ) and his fourth son Chen

You Sheng ( ).

The Cheng Family Village ( )In April of 1993, Xing Yi and Ba Gua instructor Lian

Ke Chuan ( - see article on page 13) of Beijintook Vince Black, Bill Tucker, and I to visit the Chenfamily village in Shen County. After a three-hour trairide from Beijing to Hebei's capital city, Shi Jia Zhuan

we hired a taxi to drive us to the Cheng Village. Afte

Cheng Ting Hua's eldest son, Cheng You Long(also known as Cheng Hai Ting)

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leaving Shi Jia Zhuang, the view out of the car windowsfor the next two hours was of nothing but farms. InChina today the farming is very similar to what I wouldimage it was like several hundred, if not thousand,

years ago. Observing the farmers working in their eldsas our taxi passed by, we never saw any mechanizedfarm equipment and we rarely saw farm animals. All ofthe work in the elds is done purely by manual labor.If you see a man plowing his eld, he will not be doingit with a tractor, nor will an animal be pulling his plow.

The plow is pulled by 3 to 5 other men straining againstthe ropes that are attached to the plow. The last few miles of our journey to the Cheng village

were over roadways that had seldom been traversed bya motor vehicle. The wagon ruts in the dirt roadsmade the going slow. As we were approaching thegroup of small buildings that was the "village" it waseasy to imagine that the scene was probably not muchdifferent one hundred years ago when Cheng TingHua returned home to teach Ba Gua to the membersof this small community. When we arrived Liang KeChuan took us directly to the home of Cheng Dian

Hua's grandson, Cheng Zeng Yue ( ). ChengZeng Yue's father, Cheng You Sheng, who was alsoknown in the village as Cheng Zhong Fa ( ), wasCheng Dian Hua's fourth son and one of the mostfamous Ba Gua ghters from the Cheng village.

By the time we sat down in Cheng's home and thtea was poured, word had spread through the villagthat foreigners were there. During the intervie

with Cheng there was a continuous stream of peoppopping their heads inside the door to get a quiclook at us.

The rst questions I asked Cheng Zeng Yue werbrought to mind during our ride to the village. Becausthe village was so remote and because the men in th

village worked in the elds all day, I rst wondereif Cheng Dian Hua had taught anyone outside of th

vil lage and secondly I wondered how the villagerfound time to practice. Cheng Zeng You said that hgrandfather taught Ba Gua to many people who live

within a 100 mile radius of the village. People who dnot live in the village would come to the village to stud

when the work load in their own village would lighteup during certain times of the year. They would travto the village and practice for a week or two and thereturn to their home village to practice what they wertaught until the next time they had the opportunity ttravel to visit their teacher. Cheng Dian Hua would als

periodically travel to other nearby villages and teachOn the fth day of the new year it was the tradition foall of the students to come and visit their teacher. Othat day there would be many students in the villagfrom all over the surrounding area.

Cheng style Ba Gua Zhang instructor Liang Ke Quan (second from left) stands with Cheng Dian Hua'sgrandson, Cheng Zeng Yue (third from left), and two of Cheng's Ba Gua students in the Cheng familiyvillage, April 1993. Cheng Zeng Yue's father, Cheng You Sheng, was one of the most famous Ba Gua

practitioners from the Cheng Village.

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Cheng Zeng You said that the majority of the BaGua training in the village occurred in the evenings

after everyone had nished their daily work in theelds. He said that there was no one in the village who"specialized" in martial arts, everyone worked in theelds or had some other job in the village. There wasno one who practiced Ba Gua full time. Even thosethat lived in the village did not always have time topractice Ba Gua everyday. It always depended on the

work load. Those whom did practice Ba Gua in theevenings did not pay any tuition, the instruction wasalways free. However, the students would help takecare of any injustices which may have occurred in oraround the village. Because the village was far outsideof the range of the police, the Ba Gua instructor and his

students lled the role of sheriff and his deputies. Before we had traveled to the Cheng Village, Chengstyle practitioners in Beijing, Wang Rong Tang ( )and Liang Ke Quan, had told me of a large plaque thatthe Emperor had given to Cheng Ting Hua when hehad asked Cheng to be one of his bodyguards. Chenghad not accepted the job but he took the plaque to hishome and gave it to his mother. Wang and Liang toldme that this plaque was still in the Cheng Village in thehome of Cheng Zeng Yue. After Cheng Zeng Yue hadanswered some of my questions about Ba Gua in the

village and told some stories about Cheng Ting Huaand Cheng Dian Hua, I mentioned the plaque and

asked him if I could see the it. Wang and Liang habuilt the plaque up to be a very special thing antold me that I would be lucky if the Cheng's let mget a look at it. Cheng Zeng Yue told me that thplaque was in another room and promised to shoit to me a little later.

After we went outside and demonstrated Ba Guforms for each other, I again asked about the plaqu

The way this thing had been built up I had imagine

that it was very elaborate and had its own speciroom. Finally Cheng Zeng Yue agreed to show uthe plaque. We walked into a bedroom in the bacof Cheng's home. I looked around the room but sano shinning plaque anywhere. Cheng's two studen

walked over to a bed which was simply a mattreslaying on a large board which lay across two stacks

bricks. They lifted the board and revealed the plaquThe plaque was not under the bed, it was the bed! Thwas rural China, everything put to good use.

Martial Arts in Rural China I have had the opportunity to visit remote village

which are famous for martial arts on two occasionThe rst was the Chen family village in Henan Provinc

which is famous for Chen style Tai Ji (), and the second was the Cheng family village iShen County, Hebei Province, which is famous foBa Gua. Although the Chen family village is a bmore commercial now because the government buia training hall there, it is still predominantly farming village. Visiting these remote farming areain China gives one a unique perspective concerninthe individuals who studied martial arts in rurChina. When observing the workers in the elds an

around the villages in rural China, the rst thing thone observes is that these people are very stronObviously, performing hard physical labor all day wmake a body strong. The fact that the individuals wh

were from these villages developed physical strengtas a result of manual labor, prior to or during studof the martial arts can tell us something about oumodern-day study of these arts.

Looking back in history, it can be seen that thlarge majority of famous masters of Ba Gua Zhang an

Xing Yi Quan come from very similar backgroundThe typical pattern was for individuals to be from rural farming community, start martial arts trainin

when they were very young with one or another of thShaolin based systems, and then later learn Ba Gu

Xing Yi or both. The process appears to be one developing physical strength through manual laboand/or Shaolin based fundamental training, learnin

basic martial arts skills in the study of a Shaolin baseart, and then rening that strength and skill in thpractice of internal arts such as Ba Gua or Xing Y

Typically practitioners in the United States today group in the cities where they have relatively little physicactivity, get a job where they sit at a desk all daypractice a Ba Gua form routine three nights a week at

Cheng style Ba Gua Zhang instructor Sun Zhi Jungrew up in the Cheng Family Village

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local school, and then wonder why they have a difculttime developing "internal power" or ghting skill.

Many times in China I have heard teachers say thatthe "internal power" comes from a renement of trained

strength, or gong li ( ). One of the main problemstoday in the United States is that practitioners aretrying to jump straight into the performance of forms

which are specically designed to rene martial artsskills and polish "trained strength" without having any

strength or skill to begin with. They are trying to builda house on a shaky foundation. Does this mean thatin order to develop skill we all need to work on a farmand study Shaolin? No it doesn't, however, we cangain some insights from the pattern of study exhibited

by our predecessors in China. That pattern calls forobtaining basic strengths and skills in the performanceof exercises which are designed specifically fordevelopment of gong li and gong fu as a foundationfor the study of forms and exercises which work torene those basic skills. Another interesting aspect of martial arts trainingin rural China is that many students did not live in

the same village as their teacher. It was typical fora student to travel to his teacher's home village andstay there for several weeks to learn new material andthen go back home for several months to practice thatmaterial before returning to the teacher to learn more.

Training in this manner the student was forced topractice one thing for months at a time. This style oftraining allowed for the student to practice each newaspect of training with sufcient repetition. Today

we nd students coming to class three nights a weekand wanting to learn something new each time theycome to class. This style of training does not give thestudent sufcient time with any one aspect of the art

to develop real skill. Traveling to the Cheng family village, watching thepeople work hard in the elds and realizing that onlyafter a full day of work in the elds did they have timeto practice their Ba Gua, gives one a new perspectiveon the physical conditioning and toughness of the ruralChinese martial artists. While it is easy to imagineChina's great martial artists such as Sun Lu Tang (

), Li Cun Yi ( ), Zhang Zhao Dong ( ),and Cheng Ting Hua growing up under such conditions,the fact is that some of today's best Ba Gua and

Xing Yi men in China were raised in the exact sameconditions.

Sun Zhi Jun ( )

Today one of the most well known products of theCheng family village who is still actively teaching isSun Zhi Jun of Beijing. Sun, who was born and raisedin the Cheng family village, began studying Ba GuaZhang in 1945 at the age of 14. When he was very

young Sun watched others in the village practicing BaGua and tried to imitate what he saw. Sun's parents

were poor and were worried that his fondness formartial arts would take him away from an interest in

Sun Zhi Jun at home in Beijing, September 1993

learning a trade. They discouraged him from practicinmartial arts. When Sun found his rst teacher, hstudied secretly so that his parents would not nd ouHis rst Ba Gua teacher was a villager named Qi Men

( ), however he only studied with Qi for a shoperiod of time. After gaining a Ba Gua foundation froQi, Sun began studying with one of the village's moprominent Ba Gua instructors, Liu Zi Yang. Liu hastudied Ba Gua with both Cheng Ting Hua and Chen

Dian Hua in the Cheng family village. Sun said thwhen he was very young Cheng Dian Hua was stalive, however, by the time he started studying Ba GuCheng Dian Hua had passed away (Cheng Dian Hudied around 1935). When Sun was young he would go to school durinthe day and practice Ba Gua every evening with hteacher. Walking the circle while holding the "eigh

mother palms" ( - ba da mu zhang) was themphasis of his practice for the first three yearOther developmental exercises were also practiceduring these early years of training in order to he

build strength. These exercises included tossing

padlock-shaped stone dumbbell to strengthen the armthrowing and catching a sandbag to help strengthethe grip, kicking large stones to help harden the feeand slapping trees to develop strong palms. The

would also hit hanging sandbags of different shapeand sizes with all parts of the body. The instructo

would swing a bag and the student would try to hit with the shoulder, back, palms, elbows, or hip

whichever was most appropriate. Once they struck thrst bag, the instructor would swing another bag anthey would have to move in quickly and hit that ba

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then they would move on to anther bag, etc. Therewould be many bags of dif ferent sizes hanging atvarious heights. The students would dodge in andout of the swinging bags hitting them with differentparts of the body to learn how to hit with power whileremaining in constant motion.

Sun said that Liu Zi Yang was a very strict teacher.Sometimes Liu would make him practice walking thecircle so long that when he nished, his legs and feet

were swollen. He says that there were many peoplepracticing Ba Gua in the village at that time. Heenjoyed practicing with the others, but he also likedto go off on his own to concentrate and practice onhis own. One night when the moon was full, Sun Zhi Jun waspracticing Ba Gua by himself in a grove of trees nearthe village. He ran through some of his old practicesets and then began to work on the new material hehad learned from his teacher during the day. As hepracticed, he darted in between trees and executedstrikes on the trees as if he were ghting multipleopponents. During one sequence he moved in on a

pine tree and executed "splitting palm" directly intothe one foot diameter tree, shaking the entire tree fromroot to tip. Just after Sun struck the tree he heardsomeone shout, "Well done!" He turned and saw alarge man standing next to a tree several meters away.Sun recognized the man as Cheng You Sheng, Cheng

Sun Zhi Jun walking the circle. Notice the verylow and extended steps.

Dian Hua's fourth son. Cheng You Sheng was famoufor his Ba Gua in the Cheng Village, however, since h

was in the furniture trade, he had moved to Beijinand did not spend much time in the village. Chen

You Sheng was skilled himself, however, he was veconservative and reluctant to teach his skill to other

On the night Cheng You Sheng had spotted SuZhi Jun practicing Ba Gua, he had been out practicinhimself. He heard Sun's splitting palms hitting thtrees and went to have a look. He saw that Supracticed very hard, his palm strikes were powerfand his footwork was swift. Cheng was impressed thsuch a young man had these skills and he asked Suto become his student. Sun was pleasantly surprisand kowtowed to thank Cheng.

In 1953, at the age of 20, Sun Zi Jun moved Beijing to study Ba Gua with Cheng You Sheng. Suand Cheng practiced together every evening for s

years. From Cheng, Sun learned the skills of leapindodging, rolling, and changing. Through hard practihe began to understand the strength, accuracquickness and grace of Ba Gua movement and achieve

mastery through combining the physical movemenwith qi gong ( ). After Cheng You Sheng died 1959, Sun Zhi Jun began studying with Cheng TinHua's son, Cheng You Xin.

Studying with Cheng You Xin Cheng Ting Hua had two sons, Cheng You Long

), also known as Cheng Hai Ting ( ), anCheng You Xin. When Cheng Ting Hua died in 190Cheng You Long was in his twenties and Cheng Yo

Xin was a young teenager. Since both of his sons werelatively young when he died, Cheng's students lookafter them. Cheng You Xin was taken back to th

Cheng family village by Cheng Dian Hua. Before left Beijing, Cheng Dian Hua asked Yang Ming Shan

) to look after Cheng You Long. Yang, who wCheng Ting Hua's student and nephew, took Chen

You Long to live in Xing Zhuang which was located the eastern district of Beijing. While living in the Cheng family village Cheng You Xcompleted his Ba Gua training with his uncle, ChenDian Hua. He stayed in the village for 7 or 8 yeaand then began to travel around Beijing and Tianjteaching Ba Gua and working as a bodyguard. Halso spent 5 or 6 years studying Xing Yi Quan witLi Cun Yi.

Around 1935 Cheng You Xin obtained a job asbodyguard for an ofcial in Zhuo Zhou, a city abo40 miles south of Beijing, and served in that positiofor three years during the Japanese occupation. Whethe ofcial lost his position and left Zhuo Zhou, Chen

You Xin was out of a job and fell on hard times. A locmartial artist named Liang Ke Quan found Cheng ansince his family was wealthy, Liang offered to take caof Cheng and help him nancially. Cheng stayed Zhuo Zhou for three years teaching Liang and a smagroup of students.

In 1942, the well known Xing Yi and Ba Gupractitioner Lo Xing Wu ( ) came to Zhuo Zho

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and offered Cheng a teaching job in Beijing and soCheng went to Beijing to teach. Lo Xing Wu had beena Ba Gua student of one of Cheng Ting Hua's topdisciples, Li Wen Biao ( ). He had also studied

Xing Yi from Li Cun Yi's student, Hao En Guang (). Cheng You Xin was still teaching in Beijing

in 1959 when Sun Zhi Jun began studying with him.Sun studied both Ba Gua and Xing Yi from Cheng

You Xin.

Sun Zhi Jun rened his skills with Cheng, receivingadvanced training sets which he had not been shownby his other two teachers. Just before Cheng YouXin died in 1967 he appointed Sun Zhi Jun as thesuccessor to his family's system of Ba Gua Zhang.Sun, a retired natural gas and coal engineer, still livesand teaches in Beijing. He teaches a handful of "innerdoor" students in Beijing and has also traveled to Japanand Singapore to teach. For a number of years Sunalso served as a wushu Ba Gua coach in Beijing.

Sun Comments on Contemporary Wushu Ba Gua In 1982, Sun Zhi Jun was appointed as a coach at

the East District Wu Shu Sports School in Beijing andwas also appointed the international Ba Gua Zhangwushu coach. Although he has trained many of thecountry's top contemporary wushu Ba Gua Zhangperformers, Sun says that the contemporary wushuBa Gua and the traditional Ba Gua are two entirelydifferent things. Although the wushu performers liketo call their Ba Gua a "traditional style," there practiceand execution of the art is far cry from real traditionalBa Gua. Sun says that in the interest of "lookinggood" the contemporary wushu schools have createdsomething that is totally separate from traditionalmartial arts. He said that they do not study within

the traditional framework and thus they have lostthe traditional skills. His bottom line comment was,"By traditional standards, the contemporary wushuperformers are not very good at Ba Gua. They cannotcompete with those who really study traditional BaGua."

Sun Zhi Jun said that he has tried to teach thewushu competitors how to practice traditional Ba Gua,but he always becomes frustrated because "lookinggood" is the most important thing on their minds. Hesays that if something does not look fancy, they do notstudy it very hard. Since the government promotesthis thinking, he is ghting an uphill battle in trying toteach his traditional Ba Gua to the wushu performers.

To earn his paycheck as a wushu coach, Sun watereddown the training and teaches the wushu performers

what they want to know, however, he also teaches asmall group of non-wushu performers in the traditional

way so that his art will not be lost.I have had the opportunity to see a few of Sun's

traditional Ba Gua students train and I have seensome of the wushu performers demonstrate his forms.

The difference in quality of execution is obvious. Sunbelieves that if the student does not practice usage,they will not understand the art and will not execute

the movements correctly. Since the wushu performeconcentrate on looking good above all else, he saythat they will never get it.

Basic Ba Gua Training In practicing Ba Gua, Sun believes that therare three important steps in training. The rst steinvolves developing good gong fu, in other words, solid foundation. This means that the body is traineto be strong, fast, exible, coordinated, and uid imovement. After this training is accomplished, hfeels that the student should extensively study ho

to use the art in fighting. Lastly, the practitionemust study how to vary the art in order to responto different situations. Sun says that the basic gong fu of Ba Gua is in th

walking. When his students train they learn to walwith a very low, extended step. Sun's walking postuis so long that he almost executes the splits with eacstep. He explained that this walking step is good fotraining the legs, but is not the step that it used ghting. Sun says that while his students start out b

practicing the tang ni bu ( ), or "mud walkinstep in order to develop the legs, they will later btaught a variety of stepping techniques which ar

Ba Gua and Xing Yi man Lo Xing Wu sponsoredCheng You Xin to teach in Beijing

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more applicable to ghting. Beginning students startwalking with the upper basin posture, however, Sunencourages them to build their leg strength so that theycan eventually walk in the lower basin posture. When learning the basic circle walk, Sun's students

will rst practice walking while executing the eightmother palms ( - ba mu zhang). These eightpostures, the last of which is the classical Ba Guaguard stance, are designed to develop basic energeticand structural strengths in the body in conjunction

with the circle walking. The rst of the eight motherpalms is designed to help bring qi ( ) to the dan tian( ) when walking. In this posture the hands areheld down in front of the body at hip level with thepalms facing downward and the ngertips of eachhand pointing in towards each other. The student

will hold this posture while walking until the walkingbecomes smooth and comfortable, the body is balancedand centered, and the qi sinks to the dan tian. Oncethese criteria are met, the student can move to thesecond posture. The second walking posture, is executed with thearms spread out to the sides and the palms facing

upward. Sun states that after the qi is collected in tdan tian, the steps become smooth and uid, and thstudent develops moving root during execution of thrst posture, the second posture helps the qi ll thchest up to the top of the head and strengthens thshoulders and arms out to the tips of the ngers. Withe rst and second postures providing a strong who

body structural and energetic base, the practitioncan then execute the remaining six postures to develstrengths, alignments, and connections in a varieof ways. Once the student has had sufcient developmeand experience with the eight mother palms, Sun wteach them the rst of several circle walking formcalled the "old eight palms" ( - lao ba zhang

which is designed to develop strength, exibility, ancoordination. After the student becomes procient the "old eight palms," he or she will then be taug

the "linking palms" ( - ba gua lian huazhang) form. At this level the student is still working

build basic gong fu skills. In addition to these formSun also teaches his students specic arm and le

training drills to develop power and speed.

Learning to Fight with Ba Gua ZhangOne of the toughest, no-nonsense, "tell it like

is" martial artist that I have met in mainland Chinis Liang Ke Quan (see article on page 13). BecauI knew Liang to be mainly interested in the combaspects of martial arts and because he has travele

widely in Northern China meeting other martial artistI asked him who were the absolute best Ba Gua an

Xing Yi practitioners he had ever seen. For Xing he said that it was Hu Yao Zhen ( ), a Xing man from Shanxi who had died during the Cultur

Revolution, for Ba Gua he said that the best was SuZhi Jun. I said, "Sun Zhi Jun is the best ghter?" Himmediately replied, "Yes."

I was surprised at Liang's answer because I haexpected the best Ba Gua man to be an older generatiopractitioner who had long been dead. Yet, he wtelling me that the best Ba Gua practitioner he haseen was a man more than 10 years his junior. AlsI had met Sun a year before and seen him perforhis Ba Gua. While I was very impressed with Sunstrength and exibility, I had trouble seeing the combpracticality of the extremely difcult body articulationin Sun's forms.

The next time I saw Sun Zhi Jun I asked him abothe use of his forms in ghting and he explained ththe "eight mother palms," "the old eight palms," anthe "linking palms" forms are not ghting forms bare primarily used to develop basic gong fu skills sucas strength, exibility, balance, and uidity in motioHe said that many of the movements in these formare not very practical ghting movements because th

were not designed to be used in ghting trainingthese forms are developmental. He said that Ba Gughting training and Ba Gua ghting forms are differefrom the developmental forms such as the "eigh

Sun Zhi Jun demonstrates his Ba Gua, October1991. The famous wushu Ba Gua performer

Ge Chun Yan, who was one of Sun's students,is in the background.

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mother palms," "the old eight palms," andthe "linking palms," however, these formsprovide an important foundation for theghting training.

Sun explained further by sayingthat although the developmental formsare primarily used to give the studenta foundation in terms of coordination,

balance and exibility, he does not allow thestudents to overlook the practical aspectsof the movements in these forms and thustheir martial training starts from day one.

While there are moves in these forms thatare only there to help open up the students

joints, stretch the muscles, and challengethe student's balance and coordination,many of the moves are also very practicaland he makes sure that the students havea knowledge of their usage when they arelearning the movements. After the students have developed

basic gong fu skills by practicing the above

mentioned forms, Sun will then teach themtwo-person drills and other ghting forms and exercises

which are designed specically for combat training.Sun said that the movements of these forms are all verypractical and are performed much shorter and fasterthan the movements of the developmental forms.

In training students how to ght with Ba Gua,Sun said that it is important for them to not onlyunderstand the usage of various movements and howthe power is applied, but they also need to understandhow to create opportunities and adapt to changingsituations. Every attack or defense has a beginning,middle, and end. The beginning involves gaining a

reaction from the opponent to see how he moves andwhere he is open, the middle involves opening up theopponent's defense or bridging the gap, the end is thenishing strike, lock, or throw. Sun explained thatin all applications the amount of power, direction ofpower, and timing has to be perfect. Additionally, thepractitioner must be ready to change at any instant inaccordance with the opponent's reactions. He said thiskind of thing cannot be learned by performing formroutines, it has to be developed during two-persondrills and free sparring.

Several years ago the Peking University produceda video tape of Sun Zhi Jun's Ba Gua and Sun has

recently had a book published in Singapore. We arecurrently making arrangements to sell Sun's book andtape in the United States and we will be bringing PaKua Chang Journal readers more technical informationabout Sun's Ba Gua in future issues.

Cheng Family Ba Gua ZhangAfter Cheng Ting Hua died, his top students went

on to develop their own branches of Cheng's style ofBa Gua Zhang. Although most of Cheng's studentsretained the general characteristics and avor of theCheng style and most practiced some recognizable

variation of the eight mother palms, the old eight

palms, and the linking palms, many of his studenalso added their own avor to Cheng's Ba Gua. BeloI will discuss several of the main branches of thCheng style. The rst branch, from which comes the majoriof the Ba Gua taught in the United States today, I wcall the "Xing Yi" branch. As we discussed in the laissue of the journal, Cheng Ting Hua taught Ba GuZhang to many of his contemporaries who were alread

very skilled Xing Yi practitioners. Additionally, thmajority of these practitioners had a strong backgrounin one or more Shaolin-based arts before they starte

Xing Yi. Therefore, when these practitioners came Cheng to learn Ba Gua, they were already extremegood martial artists and had developed their owghting characteristics. These characteristics naturalcarried over into their Ba Gua and thus each taugha different version of Cheng style Ba Gua Zhang. Wcould probably consider each of these practitioners ahaving their own sub-branch of the "Xing Yi" branch

These practitioners would be individuals such as Cun Yi, Zhang Zhao Dong, Geng Ji Shan ( ), Su

Lu Tang, and Liu De Kuan ( ). Others whostraining in Shaolin and Xing Yi possibly inuencetheir style of Cheng's Ba Gua were Li Wen Biao

), Zhou Yu Xiang ( ), and Gao Yi Shen( ).

The next branch of Cheng's Ba Gua, which is sttaught today in Beijing, and has begun to spread to thUnited States, is the style taught by Cheng's studenLiu Bin ( ), Ji Feng Xiang ( ), Wang Dan L( ), Guo Feng De ( ), Li Hao Ting (and Liu Zhen Zong ( ). This system, which

will refer to as "Nine Palace Ba Gua" because this the name of their core form, is carried on today Beijing by Liu Xing Han ( - see Pa Kua ChanNewsletter, Vol. 1, No. 1 and Pa Kua Chang Journa

Beijing Ba Gua Zhang instructor Wang Rong Tang was astudent of Cheng Ting Hua's nephew Yang Ming Shan

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students were Ma De Shan ( ) and Wang RonTang. Yang Ming Shan died around 1941. Ma DShan, who studied with both Cheng You Long an

Yang Ming Shan, died around 1960 at the age of 7Wang Rong Tang is still alive at 83 years of age anliving in Beijing. Yang Ming Shan and all of his descendants aknown to be great ghters. In an interview in Beijinconducted in April 1993, Wang Rong Tang said thahis teacher strongly emphasized the single palmchange. He said that "if the student does not fulunderstand the single palm change, he will not makmuch progress. If the student does develop skill in thsingle palm change, then he can beat almost anyonusing that one palm." Wang also emphasized the six harmonies, the usof the mind in practice, and the use and positioning the palms and elbows in ghting. He said that durinpractice, if no one is in front of you, you imagin

you are ghting someone. In the actual ght, whethere is an enemy in front of you, you act as if none is there.

The last major branch of Cheng style Ba Gua is thwhich was taught in the Cheng village. This brancwould include the Ba Gua taught by Cheng Dian HuCheng You Xin, Cheng You Sheng, Cheng You GonLiu Zi Yang or any of the others who taught or learneBa Gua in the village. Because the village is veisolated it is probably safe to say that the Ba Gua thcame from the village is the closest to what Cheng TinHua actually taught.

Vol. 3, No. 2). Ji Feng Xiang was primarily responsiblefor this style's diversion from the other branches ofCheng's Ba Gua. Ji was an astrologer and Yi Jing (

) scholar. He used his knowledge of astrology andthe Yi Jing in his formation of this branch of Cheng'sBa Gua. In this system all of their forms have veryspecic relationships to the eight trigrams and theeight directions.

During practice, if no one is in front

of you, you imagine you are ghting

someone. In the actual ght, when

there is an enemy in front of you, you

act as if no one is there.

Another branch of Cheng style Ba Gua descendsfrom Cheng Ting Hua's nephew Yang Ming Shan. This

branch would also include the Ba Gua which was

taught by Cheng Ting Hua's son, Cheng You Long.After Cheng Ting Hua died, Yang Ming Shan andCheng You Long moved to the same village in Beijing'seastern district. Cheng continued to practice andstudy Ba Gua with Yang Ming Shan and thus theirstyles are similar. Yang Ming Shan did not like to teach and did nothave many students. Two of his most well known

A Group of Cheng Style Ba Gua Zhang practitioners from the "Nine Palace" branch pose for a groupphoto on Sept. 2nd, 1942. Liu Xing Han is in the second row, third from the right. His father,

Liu Xin Zong, is seated, third from the right.

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The information in this article was obtained duringinterviews with Liang Ke Quan in October 1992, April

1993, and September 1993. Special thanks to mytranslators Tim Cartmell, Bill Tucker, and Xu Yu Hong.

The information about Liu Feng Chun was from anarticle in Martial Spirit magazine translated by BillTucker.

"Go ahead, you can hit me anywhere. Hit me hereas hard as you can, right in the throat. You can tryand strangle me if you'd like. Do you have a rope? I'llhang by my neck for you. I've had special training, youcan't choke me. Go ahead and try," Liang Ke Quan( ) said during our rst meeting in a voice as

rough as snow tires on a gravel road. After watchinghim bang his body into a 3 foot diameter, 40 foot talltree a dozen times and seeing the leaves rattle withevery thud of his shoulder, I didn't doubt that he couldactually do what he was saying. But what the heck, I

wanted to see it done, so we gave it a try. However, tryas we might; punching, poking, and strangling did notphase the man. But I suppose that after living a life asa dedicated Ba Gua and Xing Yi practitioner, ghtingthe Japanese during World War II, ghting againstthe Communist as a Guo Min Dang ( - Kuo Min

Tang) Army ofcer and then subsequently spendingfteen years in a Communist prison, it would take more

than a punch in the throat to hurt this man.Liang Ke Chuan, a native of Zhuo Zhou City in

Hebei Province, started his martial arts training inthe 1920's when he was only six years old. His rst

Xing Yi Quan and Ba Gua Zhang teacher was Zhou LuQuan ( ). Zhou studied Ba Gua Zhang and Xing

Yi Quan with Liu Feng Chun ( ).

Liu Feng Chun( ) Liu Feng Chun was born in Zhuo County, HebeiProvince in 1855 and died in Beijing in 1922. As a childhis family was poor and Liu was sent to apprenticein a factory in Beijing that manufactured "auspicious

jade owers." Being a quick learner and hard workerLiu soon had a high level of skill in the art of jadeower making.

Just beside the factory where Liu worked wasan eyeglass shop run by Cheng Ting Hua ( ).Cheng, a student of Ba Gua's originator Dong HaiChuan ( ), was known throughout the capital forhis expertise in martial arts. Early one morning Liuhappened to see Cheng practicing Ba Gua. Fascinated

by what he saw, Liu became interested in learningmartial arts. Liu repeatedly asked Cheng Ting Huato teach him, but seeing Liu's thin, reedy body Cheng

Beijing's Indestructible Ba Gua and Xing YiInstructor Liang Ke Quan

assumed that Liu could not take the hardship otraining and so was not willing to teach him. LatCheng noticed Liu practicing on his own and camto know Liu's honest, straight forward, hard workinnature and agreed to teach him.

From the very rst day of practice with Cheng TinHua, Liu Feng Chun was unstinting in his dedicationand his hard work brought him great progress withione year. Cheng was happy to see Liu's fast progresand thought, "Although Liu is young, he has a lot talent and practices hard. In the future he will go fa

Liang Ke Quan performs his Cheng style

Ba Gua Zhang in a park near his home in Beijing,April 1993

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with this art. I should introduce him to Master Dongto receive further instruction." Dong Hai Chuan wasadvanced in years by this time and was not acceptingmany new students, however, after Cheng told him

about the young Liu Feng Chun, Dong consideredaccepting Liu as a disciple. After Cheng's repeatedrequests, Dong agreed to meet Liu. The next day atdusk Cheng Ting Hua took Liu to visit Dong Hai Chuanand Dong ordered Liu to demonstrate what he hadlearned in one year with Cheng. When Liu nishedhis demonstration, everyone watching praised himand Dong nodded his head and smiled. Dong stoodup, walked over to Liu and in a serious manner said,"There is a lot of hardship in practicing martial arts!"Liu answered, "I am not afraid of hardship." Donghappily patted Liu on the shoulder and said, "Right,right." Then he turned around and said to Cheng Ting

Hua, "Fine jade can become a good vessel. Choosea day for him to pay his respects. I will take himas a disciple."

Soon after Dong met Liu he held a discipleadmittance ceremony at the Auspicious Temple inBeijing at which Liu bowed to Dong and became astudent. His name is the 46th of 68 students listedon Dong Hai Chuan's original tombstone. After thedisciple ceremony Liu practiced with even greaterdetermination and after two years was becoming strongof build and full of energy. Dong Hai Chuan took aspecial interest in Liu's progress and taught Liu the

best of his Ba Gua knowledge acquired over a lifetime.

In order to do justice to the generous teaching hewas fortunate enough to have, he practiced "diligentlyand unceasingly without regard for rain, snow, frost,or wind." When Dong Hai Chuan died in 1882 Liu had not

yet begun teaching, but continued to practice with hisrst teacher Cheng Ting Hua. Later Liu studied Xing

Yi with the famous Xing Yi teacher Liu Qi Lan ( ).It is said that through hard work with the Xing Yi he"got a deep understanding of the secrets of Xing Yi." Byhis middle age, Liu Feng Chun was known throughoutthe capital as a martial artist of the rst order. Hismovements were quick like that of a cat and he earned

the nickname Liu Feng Chun "the Racing Cat."Liu Feng Chun's gong fu( ) was of a very hig

level, but he was not arrogant. He took martial artethics seriously and did not speak badly of people. In lifetime of comparing skills with others he seldom losand he never seriously injured any of his opponentsOnce a Hebei boxer named Ma Mou ( ) paid

visit to Liu and asked to compare skills. Ma wavery skillful and was especially good with "tiger headdouble swords. Liu Feng Chun used a long staagainst Ma, however after two attempts at attack witthe staff, Liu was unable to penetrate Ma's defenses

This spurred Liu into action. He put down his staand attacked Ma empty handed. Stepping forwar

with his right foot, his right palm shot out toward Maface. Ma quickly brought up the hooks to block, buLiu had already stepped to the side and struck Ma ithe waist area. Once inside Ma's defenses Liu utilizehis agile Ba Gua movements to follow Ma's retreat ancontinue striking. Ma nally dropped his weaponsheld his hands together, bowed and said, "Admirableadmirable."

After friends repeatedly persuaded Liu, he gave uthe work at the jade factory and nally began teachinBa Gua and Xing Yi in Beijing and he was hired aan instructor at the Beijing Martial Arts Academy ithe Northwest area of Beijing City. His well know

Liang Ke Quan (right) with fellow Cheng style BaGua practitioner Wang Rong Tang in Beijing.

Liang performs one of his favorite Xing Yitechniques, "Tiger Embraces its Head"

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a job and fell on hard times. Since Liang Ke Chuanfamily was wealthy, Liang offered to take care of Chenand help him nancially. Cheng stayed in Zhuo Zhofor three years teaching Liang and a small group ostudents.

Liang says that Cheng was a very skilled martiaartist and his understanding of theory was deep. Mucof Liang's extensive knowledge in martial arts theorcame from Cheng. Since Liang's foundational trainin

was in Xing Yi, Liang spent most of his time studyin

Xing Yi from Cheng, however, he also learned much Cheng's Ba Gua. Liang states that Cheng rst cleaneup the Xing Yi forms Liang had learned from his rsteacher and then taught him the Xing Yi forms thaLiang did not know. Cheng then taught him Ba Gua

basic eight palms and sixty-four changes. Cheng Yo

Xin had studied Xing Yi from Li Cun Yi ( ) anmost of his Ba Gua from his uncle, Cheng Dian Hu( ). Cheng You Xin was very young when hfather died and so he only studied Ba Gua a shotime with his father.

In 1942, the well known Xing Yi and Ba Gupractitioner Lo Xin Wu ( ) came to Zhuo Zhoand offered Cheng a teaching job in Beijing and sCheng went to Beijing to teach. Even though Chenmoved to Beijing, Liang continued to study withim until the Japanese surrender in 1946. Lianghometown, Zhuo Zhou, is only about 40 miles fromBeijing City. After the Japanese surrender, Liang joined the GuMin Dang (Kuo Min Tang) Army and started studyin

with his third teacher, Zhang Yin Wu ( ). ZhanYin Wu, who was also known as Zhang Tong Xuan

), was a General in the Guo Min Dang Army anhad been a Xing Yi Quan and Ba Gua Zhang studen

of Li Cun Yi. Liang was introduced to Zhang by friend who was Zhang's aide-de-camp. When Liandemonstrated his Xing Yi, Zhang recognized that Lian

was already very good and offered to teach him. Liansaid that Zhang taught him how to be a good soldieexplained deep principles of martial arts tactics an

Liang Ke Quan practicing Calligraphy (Sept 92)

students were Xu Wan Sheng ( ), Li Jian Hua (), Zhang Guang Ju ( ) and Zhou Lu Quan

( ).

Liang's Ba Gua and Xing Yi Training Zhou Lu Quan started teaching Liang Ke Quan XingYi rst because he felt it was easier to use and learnhow to apply. Zhou started Liang's training with Xing

Yi's San Ti( ) standing practice. Liang said thathis teacher would make him stand in this posture forhours and would not let him take a break even whenhis legs would start shaking uncontrollably. Liangstudied with Zhou from the time he was six until he

was thirteen and learned Xing Yi's ve elements, theTiger and Snake forms of the twelve animals, and BaGua Zhang's single and double palm changes. WhenLiang was thirteen, Zhou died (1934) and Liang's family

sent him to Beijing to go to school. While in Beijing,Liang continued to practice on his own. However, hestates that his training with his rst teacher was not

very exact. His teacher would show him something andthen go sit and drink tea and let Liang practice on hisown without paying much attention to what Liang wasdoing. Liang said that naturally he made mistakes. Hestates that when training internal martial arts the fourthings one must guard against are as follows:

1) The breath must not be held or forced.2) The shoulders must not be hunched up orheld tightly.3) The stomach should not be sucked in.

4) The chest should not be stuck out.Liang says that because his rst teacher did not teachhim in great detail, he made some mistakes whenpracticing on his own and thus he did not make muchprogress. When Liang nished his school studies in1939, he returned home to Zhuo Zhou and found hissecond martial arts teacher. In 1939, Liang started studying Ba Gua Zhang and

Xing Yi Quan from Cheng Ting Hua's youngest son,

Cheng You Xin ( ). Cheng was a bodyguardfor an ofcial in Zhuo Zhou for three years duringthe Japanese occupation. When the ofcial lost hisposition and left Zhuo Zhou, Cheng You Xin was out of

A few of the dozens of handwritten Ba Gua and

Xing Yi books Liang has collected

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Liang Ke Quan discusses Xing Yi ghting theory

with Henan style Xing Yi practitionerLi Xing Gong in Beijing, April 93

strategy, and helped him rene his skills. In 1952 Liang Ke Quan was arrested by theCommunist government for his involvement with theGuo Min Dang during the war and put in jail for fteen

years. While he was in jail he had nothing to do butpractice his martial arts. He says that he practicedevery day from early morning until noon. Liang saysthat while many of the prisoners in jail were in verypoor health, he remained healthy because of hispractice. In 1967 Liang was released from prison,

however, because of his background he could not ndwork. The only job he could nd was the same jobhe performed while in the prison, so he stayed at theprison of another 15 years working there as a laborerand a "free" man. Liang left the prison, which was near

Tianjin, and moved to Beijing in 1982. After rening his Ba Gua and Xing Yi skills on hisown for 30 years at the prison, Liang began travelingto areas of Hebei, Shanxi, and Hunan which wereknown for their boxing. He met with as many of theolder generation instructors that he could nd anddiscussed Xing Yi and Ba Gua practice, training, andtheory. Liang is a virtual catalog of Xing Yi Quan

methods. He can demonstrate nine or ten differentways that each of the ve elements are practiced byvarious Xing Yi branches and styles and tell you whythey were practiced that way and what unique aspecteach different method trained.

Liang Ke Quan's Xing Yi and Ba Gua BookCollection Almost every generation of Xing Yi Quan andBa Gua Zhang practitioners has left behind writtenmaterial which recorded their experiences for futuregenerations. The majority of this material was neverpublished publicly and was only shown to the most

dedicated students. These students were allowed hand copy the material to use for their own referencand to hand down to their descendants. Liang KQuan, who is an incredibly skilled calligrapher, haspent his whole life hand copying such manualrecording the instruction he received from his teacherand recording his own experiences. The amount material he has recorded is astounding. His libraincludes hand copied manuscripts by such notable

as Liu Qi Lan and Han Mu Xia ( ) and an originversion of Sun Lu Tang's ( ) Xing Yi book, whicwas published in 1915. He collected and copieanything he could get his hands on.

Liang Ke Quan's Teaching Methods When teaching students, Liang emphasizes th

basics. He starts most of his students practicinXing Yi rst and his Xing Yi students practice nothinbut San Ti Shi(Trinity standing posture) and pi qua(splitting st) for the rst six to eight months of practicLiang has a rule which states that when practicing hstudents have to sweat three times. He says, "The

have to practice San Ti Shiuntil they sweat, then thepracticepi quan( - splitting st) until they sweagain, and then they practice two-person sets untthey sweat again." Although Liang knows various styles of Xing Quan, he says that all styles of Xing Yi adhere tcertain basic principles. When teaching his studenthe san ti standing posture he emphasizes the followinpoints:1) The length of the stance is such that if thpractitioner were to assume the standing posture anthen kneel down on the back leg keeping the toes

back foot in place, the knee of the back leg would touc

just behind the heel of the front leg. In other wordthe stance length is approximately the length of oneshin from knee to ankle.2) The hands press forward and the elbows seethe centerline.3) The body has ve bows: the two arms are bows, thtwo legs are bows and the spine is a bow.

4) Han Xiong Ba Bei ( ) or "hold the cheand lift the back" and Chen Jian Zhui Zhou(or "sink the shoulder and drop the elbows." These twprinciples are very common to all internal martial artLiang says that when one adheres to these principle

correctly, it helps to open up theRen

Meridian (in the front of the body.5) The head presses up and the buttocks are relaxedownward. Liang says that this alignment helps open up the DuMeridian ( ) which runs from thcrown of the head to the perineum down the back. Hemphasizes that the buttocks do not "tuck under" thesimply relaxes downward.6) The back hand is held against the body just undthe navel and the front hand is at the height of thshoulders.7) The front hand, front toes, and the nose are alonthe same line.

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Liang Ke Quan demonstrates his Ba Gua for the students at the school which he founded inhis hometown, Zhuo Zhou

8) The Three Upliftings - the head presses up, thetongue touches the roof of the mouth, and the ngers

point upward.9) The Three Roundings - the arms, legs, and backare rounded. The legs are rounded such that the groinarea has a feeling of being round while at the same timethe knees have a feeling of closing in.10) The Three Hollows - the soles of the feet are hollow,the chest is hollow, and the palms are hollow.11) The Three Quicknesses - the eyes, heart, andhands are always prepared to move quickly. Liang says that he views Ba Gua's basic standingposture as having similar requirements to the san tiposture in Xing Yi except that the Ba Gua posturehas the "three links:" the nger of the bottom hand

is just under the elbow of the top hand; the elbow ofthe bottom hand is next to the ribs; and the eyes are

watching the index nger of the upper hand. WhenLiang teaches Ba Gua, he rst teaches his students to

walk the circle while holding this basic posture. Whenwalking, Liang says that the body should never waiverand he teaches his students to walk slowly beforethey learn to walk fast. Liang emphasizes that whenpracticing Xing Yi or Ba Gua the whole body must

be connected so that the jing ( ) is fully expressedat the "tips."

After students have familiarity with the basic walking,he has them practice the walking at all three levels or

"basins." After building this solid foundation he thehas the students practice the changing postures. Th

changing postures are practiced at two levels. Theare rst practiced in a "xed step" manner wherebthe student does not continue walking the circle whilexecuting the change and the movements of the changare executed very distinctly. The next level is calle

you shen( ) or "swimming body." At this level thstudent continually walks the circle while executinthe changing postures. Liang says that eventuallthe correct way to practice Ba Gua is to move fas

while maintaining balance, coordination and a smoothcontinuous ow in the execution of every movement.

Liang's Fighting ExperienceWhen I asked Liang if he had ever used his martia

arts skill in a real ght, he quickly replied, "Fight? love to ght. I'll ght anybody!" and then proceedeto tell me several stories about ghts that he has hadHe even produced several newspaper and magazinaccounts of fights that he had been in. Severaaccounts are retold below. When Liang was young his family was wealthand they owned several homes in Beijing which therented to others. Unbeknownst to the Liangs, one othe tenants was a spy for the Japanese and had suble

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his home to a Japanese translator who was living inBeijing. The Japanese man would then rent the house

out to others at a very high price. He was makingmoney renting the house, however, he was alwayslate paying rent to the Liang family. One day Liang'smother went to ask the Japanese man for back rent.

The man refused to pay and threatened Liang's mother.When his mother returned home she was sad andsilent. Liang asked her the reason and she would notanswer. He then understood what had happened. Liang went straight to the residence of the Japaneseman to try and get the money, however, the Japaneseman became angry and threw a teapot at Liang. Liangdodged the teapot and it broke on the wall. Liangthen jumped at the Japanese man and beat him to

the ground with Xing Yi's splitting st. As this eventoccurred during the "anti-Japanese" war, the Japaneseman had Liang arrested. However, Liang's family

bargained with the police and he was let free. Later Liang had some more trouble with the

Japanese. On the eve of the Spring Festival in 1940,a celebration was scheduled at an experimentalfarm training school which was sponsored by the

Japanese. On the playground the Japanese gave ajudo per formance on a large wooden platform. AChinese student was used for the demonstration and

was thrown off of the platform during the execution ofone of the techniques. When he landed his head hit the

ground and he was knocked out. The Japanese coaca short, strong man, proudly stood in the middle of thplatform. When Liang saw his countryman throwoff the platform in such a manner he became furiouand jumped onto the platform. The Japanese coacimmediately sprang forward to attack Liang. Instead

backing up or side stepping the attack, Liang steppeforward and executed a throw from Xing Yi's snakstyle. The Japanese coach picked himself up anattacked again. Liang again used a technique frothe snake style and threw the coach on the groun

When the coach stood up this time he said, "Whtechnique is this?" Liang replied, "This is Xing Quan. A Chinese style!" The Japanese coach let oua laugh to hide his embarrassment, but he did not tto attack Liang again.

Another coach of the Japanese judo team approacheLiang and wanted to use the "twisting skill" from judto hold Liang's neck. The Chinese in attendance we

worried that Liang would not be able to escape frothis hold, however Liang was calm. Just before thchallenger was about to apply the hold, Liang used

technique from Xing Yi's tiger form to escape and thethrew the man to the ground. The Chinese spectatoburst into applause. More recently Liang had some problems with few martial artists in his hometown. Eight years agLiang Ke Quan started a martial arts school in hhometown, Zhuo Zhou. One of his students had thidea and Liang helped him make the arrangements.

Liang Ke Quan practicing his Xing Yi Quan

Liang Ke Quan (far right) with famous Ba Guainstructor Li Zi Ming (seated right) and Xing Yi

instructor Li Gui Chang (seated left)

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The school is located on the site of an old truck repairfacility. There is a large dirt lot (football eld size)surrounded on all sides by long one-story buildings.

The buildings are used for dormitories, the schoolofce, guest rooms, kitchen, and classrooms. There areapproximately 50 students, ranging in age from 6 to 16,

who live at the school and practice full time. When he started the school, the school gave thedistrict mayor some furniture as a gift in order to

insure good relations with the local government. Lianggave his student the job of managing and running theschool on a day to day basis. Although Liang lives inBeijing, he serves as the chief advisor to the schooland visits frequently. The school is administered byLiang's student, however, all tuition which is paid bythe students' parents must rst go through the localgovernment. The government keeps a share and thenis supposed to give the rest to the school to pay theinstructors and feed the students. Evidently the mayor

was taking more than his share of the money andLiang found out about it. Liang confronted him andthe mayor made it worse by trying to cut a deal. He

told Liang that he would split the prots with him andre the school administrator. Evidently the mayor didnot know that the school administrator was Liang'sstudent. Liang became even more upset and toldthe mayor he was going to do something about thissituation. A few days later, 20 August 1991 to be exact, themayor sent a famous Shaolin practitioner and two ofthe Shaolin teacher's students to the school. One ofthe students was a local thug who frequently did themayor's dirty work. When the men showed up at theschool Liang was practicing calligraphy in his ofceand heard a commotion outside. When he went out

he saw the men beating up the school administratorand two of the school's students. When Liang cameout, one of the men asked him what he wanted. BeforeLiang could confront the man, another grabbed him bythe shoulder from behind. Liang spun around quicklyand hit the man who had grabbed him in the nose with

Xing Yi's drilling st, followed by a smashing st to thethroat and an elbow to the solar plexus. The man fellto the ground unconscious. The Shaolin instructorthen came at Liang. Liang avoided the attack and hitthe man in the ear with a chopping palm from Ba Guaand then came back with the same hand and struckhis opponent in the jaw. He too was knocked out coldand lay on the ground next to his student. Seeing this,the third man ran away. The rst two men were putin the hospital and it took one of them 24 hours toregain consciousness. A local ofcial who had a higher position thanthe mayor heard of the incident and told the mayor tomake amends with the school. The mayor would notadmit to sending the thugs to the school, however, hereturned all of the gifts that the school had given himand asked that they call it even.

Two Americans Admitted as6th Generation Inheritors of

Ba Gua Zhang

Fourth Generation Ba Gua instructor Liu Xing Haaddresses the group at the ceremony. Fellow

Cheng style practitioners Wang Rong Tang andLiang Ke Quan co-ofciated the ceremony.

On August 20, 1994, Eric Gulbrandson, 22, anDon Quach, 26, were admitted as 6th generationdisciples and "inner door" students of Ba Gua Zhanunder John D. Bracy in a special ceremony thatook place in Beijing. Bracy's instructor, Liu XinHan, ofciated the ceremony. Liang Ke Quan, WanRong Tang and other internal martial arts instructorco-ofciated the formal ceremony. Gulbrandson and Quach have been students of BGua under instructor John Bracy for several years

The "inner door" ceremony marked an end to nearla month of intense study of special Ba Gua Zhansubjects in Beijing. Their study included long stafquarter moon knife, and long saber. John Bracy teaches Xing Yi Quan, Ba Gua Zhangand Tai Ji Quan in Costa Mesa, California (see Pa KuChang Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 1)

Three generations of Ba Gua: Jerry Lin, JohnBracy, Liu Xing Han, Eric Gulbrandson,

and Don Quach at Dong Hai Chuan's tomb

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contemporary wushu were upset with my statemenMy reason for using these words when talking abouour trip to mainland China was to let people know ththere still is something other than the silk pajam

dance routines left in mainland China and this what we are going to study.Many Ba Gua Zhang practitioners feel like goin

to mainland China to study would be a big waste time because they are interested in learning more thachoreographed form movements. Our group is gointhere to study with individuals who do not teach formroutines which are designed to win tournament eventI wanted the readers to know this. I felt I needed make that distinction so that people would know whato expect if they go on this trip. Perhaps my word

were too strong, and I am sorry if people were offendeFor people who want to learn that type of "Ba Gua,"

think that it is great if that is what they are lookinfor in Ba Gua. Good luck at the tournament, I hop

you bring home a nice trophy. My announcement ithe journal was addressed to those who are lookinto learn more than the ashy form, someone gointo China on a Chinese government-sponsored wushtraining trip would get. Fortunately for those of us who are interestein trying to preserve the martial arts as they werpracticed and taught in the days when these art

were trained for use in combat, there are a numbof individuals still around in China who are willing tteach combat oriented Ba Gua. However, if one wa

to travel to mainland China today in search of sucindividuals, chances are they will not be found. Thedo exist, however, they are somewhat "underground

They do not associate with the government "wushupeople and they are not happy about what the mainlangovernment has done to the Chinese martial arts itheir "contemporary wushu" programs.

Contemporary Wushu When I was in China in the fall of 1991 I attendedcontemporary wushu event and I also visited a coupof "contemporary wushu" schools. The event was hein a very large coliseum with many government ofciain attendance. The news media covered the event anit was evident that the Chinese government had spena lot of money putting together this event. It was vemuch a carnival atmosphere. There was a parad

before the event began and Chinese acrobats providepre-tournament entertainment. While all of thperformers in this event were very skilled at what thedid and had obviously worked very hard to perfect theskills, in my opinion, none of the performer's routinehad any real martial content. They were just dancerI had seen many of these disappointing performancein the U.S., but this was China! I had hoped for bette

Right or wrong, the majority of Ba Gua practitionersI have talked to in the United States today think thatthe contemporary wushu performance style Ba Gua

which is coming out of mainland China is a terrible

excuse for martial arts. They feel that it lacks any realmartial content and is nothing more than an empty,owery dance routine; a external health exercise at best.Most serious Ba Gua practitioners have absolutely nointerest in performance Ba Gua. Furthermore, theyfeel that contemporary wushu Ba Gua performers giveBa Gua a bad name among serious martial artistsfrom other styles.

In my job as the Pa Kua Chang Journaleditor I havevisited dozens of schools all over the country, attendedalmost every major tournament held in the last three

years, and talked with literally hundreds of martialarts practitioners in person, over the phone, or through

written correspondence. Through investigation, Iknow that while a few practitioners really enjoy thecontemporary wu shu style Ba Gua, the fact is thatmost practitioners don't want anything to do withit. Over 1,000 practitioners subscribe to the Pa KuaChang Journal and about 1,500 additional copies ofeach issue are sold at bookstores and news stands.I suspect that there are probably twice that many

who practice Ba Gua in this country. Yet, attend anytournament in the U.S. and you will only nd ve orsix competitors in the Ba Gua Zhang event. Why?Ba Gua Zhang practitioners in this country simplyare not interested in performance Ba Gua. They

want more.Most martial artists interested in the study of Ba

Gua Zhang are interested in quality internal martialarts training which extends beyond gymnastic formroutines. They are interested in a well rounded program

which includes the combat, health, meditation, qi gong,qi development and other internal strength developmentcomponents taught in a complete, systematic mannerand thus when they see performance Ba Gua themajority instantly know that something is missing.Furthermore, because most of Ba Gua that we haveseen coming out of mainland China over the past ten

years has been of the contemporary wushu variety, thepopular opinion is that the communist government inmainland China has stripped martial arts of all itsreal value and thus the dance Ba Gua is the only BaGua mainland China has to offer today. Because ofthis, many practitioners have no interest in going tomainland China to study. When I rst announced our plans to take a group tomainland China to study Ba Gua in the July/August1993 issue of the Pa Kua Chang Journal, I stated that"this will not be contemporary wushu 'put on the silkpajamas and dance' style Ba Gua Zhang. We guaranteethe real thing." Naturally journal readers who study

Martial Arts Taught in the Old Tradition (Part 1):It Still Exists in Mainland China, But It is Not Easy to Find

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While watching these performers it was obvious tome that they could not take their routines and defendthemselves with the art they were mimicking if their livesdepended on it. When the full contact event occurred,this became blatantly obvious. Without exception, all ofthe contestants in the full contact event used westernkickboxing techniques. Not only that, but their levelof skill was so bad that any decent western kickboxeror good western boxer could have cleaned house easily.What happened to all of the great techniques that they

performed in their solo routines? Those techniquesthat they worked so hard to perfect and made lookso beautiful in their brightly colored silk outts werethrown out the window because they were not properlytrained in how to use them. At the government sponsored wushu schools inChina the students train very hard, however, they donot train how to ght, they train how to perform. Theydont train in one style, they train in many styles. Theylearn dozens of compulsory forms from various martialarts styles. My question is, how can they be expected toreally develop any deep level of skill in any one of thesearts? Additionally, they train every style in an identical

fashion. They train Ba Gua and Xing Yi in the samemanner they train the compulsory Long Fist routines.To them a form is a form is a form.

Most of the really good Ba Gua and Xing Yi instructorsI've encountered in China have spent their entire livesstudying nothing but Ba Gua and/or Xing Yi and theystill feel as though they have not had enough time togo as deep as they could have. How can one expect awushu performer who has studied nothing but formroutines for 10 or 15 years, trained in 6 or 7 differentinternal and external styles from a half dozen differentcoaches to have a deep understanding or skill in artslike Ba Gua or Xing Yi, much less apply these artsin a real ght? It is not happening over there in the"contemporary wushu" schools, but it is happening inthe traditional schools.

Traditional Martial ArtsThe traditional "schools" in China consist of a handful

of students studying one art with one teacher in theteachers home or in a local park. They start with thefundamentals of the style and they build slowly andsteadily, studying every aspect of the art with a truemaster. By studying the art in this manner thesestudents gain much more than the sterile environment

of a government sponsored wushu school could everoffer. Arts like Ba Gua and Xing Yi cannot be massproduced in a large school setting and the trainingcannot be mixed with a dozen other styles. To developa deep understanding requires study of every aspect ofone art, with one teacher, and a lot of time and hardwork on that one thing every day.

In April of 1992 Liang Ke Quan took me to atraditional wushu tournament in Beijing . Thecircumstances were much different than the yearbefore at the contemporary wushu tournament. Thetournament received no government support, it washeld in a dimly lit warehouse with broken glass in the

windows, most of the lights did not work, and the was cement. The practitioners did not have fancy colorsequined outts. There were no government ofcion hand, there was no media, no parade, no camerno cover charge, very few spectators, and no carnatmosphere. The practitioners did not jump from ring to another performing a variety of compuls

wushu routines. It was plain and simple. Studedemonstrated the one art that they had been studyfrom their one teacher.

There was a huge difference in the qualityperformance here as compared to the contempor

wushu event I had attended the year before. I watchthe Ba Gua and Xing Yi events and got a much differfeeling from these practitioners. They had strengpower, connection, intention, and rened skill. It wevident from their movement, power, and intention tthey had been trained in how to apply what they wdoing. After seeing these practitioners I felt very that the government is hyping the dance Ba Gua atrying to erase what I would consider to be the rthing out of existence.

Contemporary Wushu versusTraditional Martial Arts

In my opinion, in mainland China today the governmis promoting performers and dancers, not martial artis

There is no doubt that these contemporary wushu peowork very hard to perfect what they do. I also ththat wushu basic training is valuable for any beginnmartial artist. Their basic skills training is great for development of exibility, strength, coordination, balaand stamina. However, after basic skills training thprogress rarely reaches beyond performance orienform routines. While I have a great deal of respecttheir work, dedication, and ability, in the end, they still only performers, not martial artists. They htaken one very small aspect of the martial arts, namforms practice, standardized it and made that the sand total of what they do. These performers have grexibility, body control, and strength, however, so gymnasts, acrobats, and dancers and we do not c

what they do war arts.The contemporary wushu practitioners have tak

traditional forms and lled them full of head whippinose aring ash and pizazz so that they will be m

visually exciting. In the process they have stripped thof much of the real content. By real content, I am

only talking only about ghting skills, but additionaI am referring to correct health promoting, and interstrength promoting, structural and energetic alignmeand connections which make arts like Ba Gua sugreat health maintenance vehicles. Internal martial aperformed correctly should be a combination of efci

body alignments, natural movements and focused marintention. The body alignments, internal connections anatural movements allow the internal energetic strengto reach full potential and the correct martial intentmoves that power and energy. The contemporary wuspeople have taken the "naturalness" out of arts whare ideally performed naturally and efciently. Th

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have tried to make something visual which should behidden. Many of the internal masters have said that ifthe power can be seen by an observer, it is not internal.Furthermore, in Ba Gua they have standardized an artform which is based on the principles of variation andchange. The wushu people focus on the ower andignore the roots, trunk, and branches. During my trips to China I have traced the originsof a number of the popular Ba Gua contemporary wushu routines and in the process I have been fortunateenough to witness some of the older generation mastersdemonstrate these same forms. The differences are

very obvious when the two are compared; in thecontemporary wushu routines there is no doubt thatthe body articulations have been greatly modifiedto emphasize "flash" and in the process structuralintegrity, natural, efficient movement, and basicinternal alignments are sacrificed. Many Ba Guainstructors in China fully agree with this assessmentand in China today there is a very great distinctionmade by the traditional stylists between what isreferred to as contemporary wushu and what is called

traditional wushu.While some of the contemporary wushu stylistswould argue that their arts are traditional, seeingsomeone from a traditional school demonstrate theirskill next to a contemporary wushu artist is like

watching Muhammed Ali shadow box next to a balletdancer. Both have a high degree of athletic ability andgrace, but there is no doubt who you would want on

your side in a bar ght. While winning bar ghts isnot the only reason, or even the main reason to studymartial arts, strip them of this quality and intentionand they are no longer martial arts. You might as wellcall it "martial dance."

Because the government in China is promotingsomething, this does not necessarily mean that it ispopular with the elder generation martial artists. Sincethe purpose of my trips to mainland China has beento meet elder generation martial artists who still teachin a traditional manner, most of the martial artistsin mainland China whom I have met feel that thecontemporary wushu is not martial arts at all. Theyfeel that it is worthless, silly, and not deserving ofthe name wushu. Of course you never hear aboutthese people in the media because the communistgovernment will not allow it. They are trying to put"contemporary wu shu" in the Olympic games and

so naturally anyone who is not "with the program"is harassed into silence. Most practitioners that Ihave met in China who are over the age of 70 thinkcontemporary wushu is ne for health, or performance,

but they dont consider it to be anywhere close to whatthey would call real martial arts. In my view, the real thing is something thatis complete. If someone takes an art and removesa segment of the training process, it is no longercomplete, it is a fragment. In 1992 I visited the homeof Li Tian Ji ( ). Li Tian Ji had studied Ba Gua

Zhang with his father, Li Yu Lin ( ), and with Sun

Lu Tang ( ). His father had been a student

Sun Lu Tang and also a student of Li Cun Yis () student Hao En Guang ( ). Li Tian Ji is knowto have taught a particular form of Ba Gua to many the early contemporary wushu students. When I m

with Li, I asked him where that form originated. Htold me that he himself had made up that form bacin the 1950s when the government was attemptinto standardize martial arts training. He said that compiling this form, he took pieces of the Ba Guthat he had learned from his father and simplieit so that it would be more accessible to the generpublic. Consequently it became one of the standacontemporary Ba Gua wushu forms in the wushschools in China. At the wushu schools, study of thone form was the entire Ba Gua "program." Is thdrastic simplication of Ba Gua still the real thing? my opinion it is not. There is no system of training, nBa Gua specic supplementary exercises, no interndevelopment method, no step-by-step training procesno ghting method, and no lineage associated witstudying this simplied form alone. In my opinion,

is too watered down to be what I would consider reBa Gua. Ba Gua Zhang has a very complete, Ba Guspecic, system of training, it is not just a form.

Contemporary wushu Ba Gua is great exercise anI would recommend it to anyone who wants to improvtheir external health, exibility, coordination, and bodstrength. However, I would not consider it real BGua and I do not consider wushu Ba Gua to be ainternal martial art. They have removed the qualiti

which make the art internal. I become concernewhen I see that only a small fragment of this deep anwonderful art is being passed along to students in thUnited States who study with these modern day wush

stylists. I feel that if a teacher leaves out the qi gonthe meditation, the breathing exercises, the footwordrills, the basic hand sets, the body developmenexercises, the power development exercises, the man

various straight-line and circle-walking forms, thsparring aspects, the many two-person sets, the ghtinphilosophy, the ghting applications, ghting theorieand methods, the internal strength developmentraining, etc., which is all Ba Gua Zhang specic, his her teaching is not balanced and not complete.

In China, it is my experience that the traditionteachers have much more to offer than the wushcoaches in terms of martial arts, health, charact

development, and balanced practice and I want help promote them because their government wnot. This is why we are taking groups of people train in mainland China and why we will continue sponsor some of these instructors to teach here the United States. In the next issue of the Pa Kua Chang Journ

we will print part two of this article. Part two wdiscuss the history of Ba Gua Zhang instruction mainland China, what a complete system of Ba GuZhang contains and why there are so many fragmenteBa Gua systems being taught today both in and outsidof China.

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The following article introduces some basic throwingtechniques from the Gao Yi Sheng ( ) system of

Ba Gua Zhang ( ). This particular system is abranch of the Cheng Ting Hua ( ) school. Beforestudying Ba Gua Zhang with the art's founder, DongHai Chuan ( ), Cheng Ting Hua was already anaccomplished master of Shuai Jiao ( - Chinese

wrestling). Cheng combined the circular movementsand spins of Ba Gua Zhang with his wrestlingtechniques, resulting in a method of throwing whichrelies on angles, momentum, and rapid changes ratherthan brute strength. The Cheng Ting Hua style BaGua Zhang practitioners have become famous for theirskill at executing throwing techniques. The throws in the Gao Yi Sheng system followthe characteristics of the Cheng style. In addition, inGao style, much attention is paid to the set-up of thetechnique. As even the best throw is useless unlessthe opponent can be set up appropriately, the m