Ba Gua, Pa Kua, Bagua, Pakua, Bagua zhang, Bagua Quan, Pakua Chuan, Youshen Bagua, Longxing Bagua, Xinyi Ba Gua, Yinyang Bapan Zhang, are the many ways I have seen this system spelt or pronounced. Usually if the chuan or zhang is left out of the spelling then one would be referring to the philosophical aspects of the art, but to me you cannot have one without the other, so any way is ok. I have also heard bagua referred to as eight trigram boxing and eight diagram boxing, being the art is based upon the I-Ching, I believe Eight Trigram Boxing would be the most appropriate.

Unlike most martial arts, Ba Gua can be traced back to its founder, and like other systems, this also can be twisted and filled with falsehoods in hopes to further the mysteries that surround the martial arts. Dong Haichuan is accredited as the originator of Ba Gua; Dong Haichuan's martial skills were already at a very high level, when he began to study with some Doaist monks who used circle walking as a form of moving meditation. Dong Hai Tuen incorporated their philosophies and circular methods to create Bagua. Some say Dong Hai Tuen learned Pakua from a monk named Bi Deng Xia, who himself learned bagua from the real originator. There are, of course, other versions of the origins of pakua, too numerous to name here. For all that it is worth Dong Hai Tuen’s students definitely contributed to the popularization of this style through out the world, and many of the recognized styles of Ba Gua can be traced back to the students of Dong Haichuan.

Ba Gua usually consists of various circle walking techniques, followed by two “palm changes” (ways to reverse direction on the circle), and eight postures, sometimes named after animals, and sometimes not. These eight postures in turn create an endless array of combination; the most widely used is the 64 combination sets, because eight times eight equal sixty-four. Chi gung is usually practiced along with exercise and warm up sets. Some systems offer weapons and others don’t, the most common weapons include the straight sword, saber, broadsword, deer horns, staff, and double daggers. The original version is usually referred to as dragon or swimming dragon style.

Web link for Ba Gua: www.bodyelectricmethod.com http://www.plumflower.com/ba_gua_zhang_2_.htm, http://www.pa-kua.com/, http://www.shenwu.com/bagua.htm, http://site.netopia.com/bagua, http://www.circle-of-light.com/fengshui/bagua.html, http://www.hsing-i.com/pa_kua/, http://www.chiflow.com/pakua_overview.htm,

There are many forms of Ba Gua today, and most seem to have a direct lineage to Dong Hai Tuen himself, they can include: Dragon Style, Yin, Goa, Sun, Cheng, Liu, Fu, Lu Shui-Tian, Li Zhenqing, Liang, YinYang, and Yang.

Jay C Shrewsbury Oberlin, OH martialarts@oberlin.net www.bodyelectricmethod.com