Introduction
China Hand Kung Fu Academy teaches the Traditional Style
Pa Kua Chuan.
Like many other styles of kung fu, Pa Kua has several
different pronunciations: Pa Kua, Pa Kua Chuan, Pa Kua
Chang, Ba Gua, Ba Gua Zhang, Ba Gua Quan. No matter
how you say it, it is still all the same...Pa Kua.
Also, like many other styles, Pa Kua has many influences
depending on the teacher and their background. As in
all internal martial art's, pick a style, stay with it as
the concepts should follow regardless of who's style you do.
Pa Kua was was founded by Dong Hai Chuan
(1798 - 1879) in northern China, though many might argue
differently, the most reliable information is Dong Hai Chuan
did found Pa Kua. Pa Kua, like the other internal
martial arts of Tai Chi and Hsing Yi, has three main
components to it: martial, health, and performance.
Though it is not as popular a style as Tai Chi, it is
growing. Pa Kua is the youngest of the three internal
arts and considered and is a companion system to Hsing Yi
and Tai Chi.
Pa Kua traditionally was taught as a
advanced system, meaning you had to have other kung fu
experience in order to learn Pa Kua. This eliminated
the need to teach basic kung fu skills to the student who
was already familiar with martial skills. Today, you
can learn Pa Kua having no knowledge of any kung fu or
martial art. All you need is a good teacher and the
will to want to learn.
Pa Kua traditionally didn't have weapons.
Though as time has gone on, many have incorporated weapons
training into their Pa Kua systems. This applies to
the bare hand techniques too.