An introduction to swimming dragon baguazhang
While I am on the topic of the internal arts I thought I'd share with you my notes for the seminar I'm holding tomorrow on the Chen Pan Ling "swimming baguazhang" system. Background Baguazhang (Pa kua chang) or “8 trigram palm” is an ancient Chinese martial arts system that belongs to the internal (neijiaquan or wudang) school. Baguazhang is said to be a physical manifestation of the Yi Jing (I Ching) – the Book of Changes, one of the ancient Chinese classics attributed (in part) to Confucius and strongly influenced by Daoist(Taoist) thought. Legends trace the origins of Bagua to Tung Hai Chuan (A.D. 1798-1879) who is said to have learned this art from an anonymous Daoist monk in the mountains of Kiangsu province. Shifu Dan's teacher Chen Yun Ching’s lineage (as depicted on the left) traces directly back to Tung via three different sources. After becoming famous in Beijing, Tung was challenged by Kuo Yun Shen (known as "Divine Crushing Hand")