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THE ROYAL COURT SET  

Bagua-Taijiquan 

By William Beattie 

  Bagua Taijiquan comes from Yang Family Boxing; first Yang Luchan passed it to Xia Guoxun, Xia taught Liu Dekuan (nicknamed "Liu Big Spear"), Liu taught Cheng Haiting (Cheng Tinghua's oldest son), who passed it to Guo 

Zhushan (disciple of Cheng Tinghua and Li Cunyi) and Jiang Xinshan. It is said that Xia Guoxun was Yang Luchan's son-in-law so he must have received true transmission; Xia and Liu Dekuan were sworn brothers; Liu, Cheng Tinghua and Li Cunyi were also sworn brothers through Jinlan ceremony. Because of these close relations Bagua Taijiquan is said to relatively well preserve the original appearance of taijiquan. Since Guo Zhushan and Cheng Haiting were kungfu brothers and very skilful Bagua practitioners, they put some Bagua movements, kicks, etc. into Taijiquan, so that the flavor has changed. Since Cheng Haiting passed away early, Bagua Taijiquan that is known nowadays has been researched and developed by Guo Zhushan, who then passed it to Zhang Wanying, Jing Dewai, Qiao Hongru and others.  Researcher- J.Szymanski 

After returning from my Beijing trip in February, I started to really contemplate the state of affairs in internal martial arts.  The reason I studied with every Master I crossed paths with in China was because I wanted to whole heartedly compare different styles and schools of thought. I differentiated between what the styles could offer and what the Masters were offering as far as combat skill and proficiency.  I scoured parks and acquired about the best Masters from almost every outstanding practitioner I came in contact with.  There were a few that I met on the fly that I regret not taking the time to follow up and meet.  I had tons of telephone numbers inked on papers scattered across my work desk, and the choice to try and narrow down which numbers I would call and which ones I would discard was treacherous. I simply didn’t have time to meet and interview hundreds of people and at the same time keep to some kind of acceptable daily schedule.  

  It took me almost a month to settle in and find an apartment in Chaoyang, but my last two months in China would prove to be the icing on the cake.  For me, the best of them was Master Chen who at about 5’8 stood erect with gaiety.  He invited me to his daughter n’ laws house and we sat and drank tea for hours discussing issues that ranged from health issues to politics.  The notion I gathered from him was that one should not put to much importance on martial arts and should rather be concerned with love and intellectual accolades.  He expressed to me a great disdain for promiscuity and people that disbelieve in God.  Eventually we toyed around a bit with a few techniques that he had been anxious to show me after the Friday prayer at the Masjid in the Xuanwu district of Beijing.   He was by far the kindest man I had met in China and at the lofty age of 84 he sped off on his bicycle as he usually did a few hours after the Friday prayer service.   

  The more Masters I exchanged thoughts with the more and more I began to realize the inside joke in China about the frenzied US visitors that easily become entranced by fancy showmanship and over exaggerated fa jing reactions students would entertain their Masters with.  A few times I caught master Cheng off guard during push hands practice and he would stomp his feet and pretend to be propelled backwards beyond what was humanly possible. He would give me a smile and wink as the onlookers were flabbergasted at this new white fajing wizard from the West.  Ritan Lu Park always had a lot of things going on.  I came across people practicing delirious forms of Tai Chi that seemed too possessed by animals. One guy that I walked past was starring at a bush in front of him and chirping like a parakeet while convulsing his arms like a mad bird.  Some of these old people had literally gone loony and thought that were getting in touch with some kind of higher chi force. Good luck to them!   

  The majority of the practitioners I came across in China were older folks that were genuinely cordial; and exceptionally energized as they went through their daily exercise workouts.  After getting the best of Master Cheng at Ritan Lu Park, he introduced me to his Master Shengli.  His wife stayed close to him at all times and they were literally like two love birds that found their nesting place in the parks parameters.  Shengli was a very humble man that couldn’t have been older than 50.  He had trained all his life in the fighting arts and proclaimed to me that his Master was a recluse Monk that lived around the Shaolin Temple region.  

We didn’t waste any time getting into the thick of things, as Cheng was looking on grinning and inwardly hoping that I would get the best of him in our first taiji push hands challenge. I was surprised to what I found. Shengli was very experienced and understood relaxation at the highest of levels. I could have easily stayed in a defense relaxed mode, but then that wouldn’t be any fun would it be! I applied light force and to Chengs amusement I managed to catch Shengli off guard with a dead on straight forward push after feinting horizontal force.  

  Shengli did manage a few times to sense my moments of weight shifting and detected those small ripples of change as he would try to catch me off guard with a good push here and there, but nothing he exerted could be considered as being remotely effective.  We gained a new found respect for each other as he was profoundly interested in my horizontal pushing and sensing techniques.  I explained to him how I had developed it on my own after many years of Yang and Wu Taiji practice. For me this seemed like common sense but for him it was somewhat revolutionary.  I showed him and Cheng the ins and outs of the technique and found Cheng practicing it the following day as I arrived to Ritan Lu.  

  I showed them the Wu Style drill that I had practiced to develop this feat, and also the Swan Qigong drill, but I decided to keep the Heisman drill I developed secret for the time being.  Maybe this goes against Taiji brother etiquette but I felt like I wanted to keep something for myself, otherwise I would one day see this technique in a Tai Chi magazine and I doubt that I would get so much as  a grain of credit for it.  They knew I wasn’t revealing everything as they tried to cajole me on many occasions to show them all of what I knew.   

  One day a newspaper journalist showed up with a few photographers while Master Shengli and I were going through a short set form from the Yang style of Tai Chi.  The place was swarming with so called experts as Shengli and I proceeded in our scheduled workout.  After we finished, the conversation turned to fajing philosophy and we had a crowd of people asking Shengli and I our perspectives.  Shengli stuck with the logic that only through Song and Wu Wei could one achieve effective Fali and Fajing.  This was true but I offered the logic that projection of the mind was important during the push to get the maximum of effects.  A few old people listening in seemed to agree as I pointed to my head and then I pointed outward as I described a push.  I then showed them that breathing out and projecting with the mind in my opinion was the Apex of this art. Shengli didn’t disagree but persisted that Wu Wei was most important.  The reason I slightly disagree with this is because Wu Wei is the natural state of the mind of a person between thoughts.  This is simply the state of the mind during observation and listening.  Thus the intention of the mind is like will power with out words.  My advice was only accepted because of my skill level.  I simply disagree with trying to reach some form of happiness through empty mindedness.  The whole idea behind being spirited is the process of thoughts/words being expressed without fragmentation/doubt over a certain time frame.  Thus a person’s thought structure is disrupted when a person is continuously pushed into no-mind. Rather continuous thought and no thought should come naturally like flowing water depending on the situation of the moment.  Forcing the no-mind state is no more than suppression of emotion and true intention. Thus a person never really deals with his emotions or ideas.  Things should be worked out and reflected upon in the mind if one wishes to iron out the wrinkles of ignorance and disruptive thinking in my opinion. 

  The reader may ask, “What does this have to do with Bagua Taijiquan?”  Simply put- my ideas and perspectives on the internal side of martial arts doesn’t usually fall into the traditional frame work of what is accepted.  As long as I am throwing around my push hands partners; I will stick to my guns and do what I know works in the combat arts sector.   

  The reason I put this book together is because I wanted to express to the internal martial arts community my take on the best of Bagua Taijiquan, and not what some old man showed me in a park, because his master said this is the way it has to be.  I have pushed around a good share of Masters and I feel I have earned the right to develop my own system within this art form.  I have come to the conclusion that I will only applaud movement-complexity in Bagua Taijiquan if it is useful and holds absolute purpose. For this reason my form is unlike forms that you can see by the likes of Fu Zhensong.  I initially hesitated in unveiling this repertoire to my martial art peers, but in the spirit of gratuity I have decided to lift the veil of secrecy and break bread with the general population.  I have personally used this set to reach new plateaus of balance and breathe control.  As I get older, I realize the need for simplicity and effectiveness in my day to day work out routine.  This set is fun to perform and in my opinion could catapult a master or beginner in the internal martial arts field to new heightened levels.  This is to your health and longevity! 

Sincerely, 

William Beattie