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Pa Qua

History is the Art

            During the end of the Qing Dynasty, while Tung Hai-Chuan was teaching in Su Wang Fu ( House of Lord Su ) of Beijing was Pa Qua first known to the common man. Later, it became one of the three core internal arts of China along with Taiji and Hsing I.  Mr Tung was unconventional in his methods of teaching and was able to teach according to the students' talents. He merged all the styles his students have learnt before into Pa Qua making it rich in many strengths and techniques. Therefore, each students have their own unique version of Pa Qua.

 Fu Zhen-Song is the third generation of disciples for Pa Qua. His master was the student of Tung Hai-Chuan, Gu Qi-Shan.  Aside from this, he was also a practitioner of Chen Style Taiji. Over the years, Chen Yan-Shi became a master of both Taiji and Hsing I. Therefore he was able to grasp the essence and strengths of all three styles of internal arts. Integrating the structured power of Hsing I and Taiji's soft techniques into Pa Qua, he created the unique

Fu style Pa Qua Zhang

             In the year 1929, Master Fu and North Shaolin's Gu Ruu-Zhang, Ziranmen's  Wan Lai-Xin, Daisheng-pigwa's Geng De-Hai and Wang Xiao-dian journeyed down to the south to start their own schools. This was known as "Wuhu-sha-jiangnan" ( Five tigers journeying to the south ). During this time, they earned the respect through their skills by the local martial community. Later, they were each in turn made Headmaster of Central Chinese Martial Arts Institute, Guangdong and Guangxi Chinese Martial Arts Institute. Their student, Suen Bao-Gang was hired to become the instructor of Hong Kong's Chinwoo Athletic Association which brought Pa Qua into Hong Kong. 

Style's Characteristics

                The center principle of Pa Qua is for the practitioner to move in circles continuously. This changes the direction and distance between him and his opponents. Avoiding direct attacks while waiting for attacking opportunities. When one does attack, the attack should always incorporate the ability to change. This it why it encourages palm strikes instead of fists as it is changeable during the attack. Palms could do almost everything which fists could. While it could also use the friction of the hand and the opponent's skin to its advantage. Hand techniques include Tui ( push ), Tuo ( lift ), Gai ( downward slam ), Pi ( smash ), Zhuang (collide ), Ban (sway off ), Jie ( intercept ), Na ( grip/.grapple ), etc.  Along with the hand movements and footwork, kicking is also available. As the kick is performed during the movement, it is often unseen and unnoticed until one is struck. Leg attacking techniques could be split into Gou (hook), Liao ( groin kick ), Dian ( nailing kick ), Chuai ( twist ), Cheng ( push ), Denq ( raise ), Bai-Lian ( crescent ) Sao-Tang ( lower sweep ), etc.  Within the circular motion, the practitioner could use the momentum to take down the opponent. This exemplifies the principles of "kick for long distance, punch or grasp for short distance, lean and wrestle for close body attack." within Chinese Martial Arts

 The key points of this art is that the hips must pull, hands must move in a continued motion, footwork must move like sliding over mud. The power the absorbing of the opponent's force by relaxation and contraction of different parts of our body.

Known Routines

Empty hand

Weapons

Set Sparring

Tianlung-bashi

Yang-paquazhang

Yin-paquazhang

Lungxing-paqua

Langyiquan

Xuanfengdao

Paqua-lungxingdao

Feilungjian

Qixingjian

Shimianqiang

Paqua-tuishou