The martial art essentials of Cheng Style BaGuaZhang

      The martial art of Cheng Style BaGuaZhang takes the 48 styles of BaGuaZhang as the base and also, several essentials are indispensable.

 1、Essential one: Hit the eyes

Hit the eyes of the opposition when falling to doing and compel the opposition to be hurried with defence, thus, break the attacking purpose of the opposition. The meaning of purpose is the same as that of intention, because pneuma comes from intention and strength comes from pneuma, thus, intention means strength. So, do not use strength but use intention, in another words, strike with intention but not with strength, because it is the best  and the most laboursaving way to strike with intention. For instance, if somebody is struck by the static in dry winter days, even he or she is aware of that, he or she has already been surprised and be too late to avoid that. The intention and the pneuma are broken, so the strength is broken.

2、Essential two: Boost the courage

It means that one must be confident to win and must boost the courage, that is to say, one who dares to strike is bound to win. The gall, from the viewpoint of traditional Chinese Medical science, is the organ in mesial and obverse plane and all decision-makings come from it, so its attribute should be Mu in the five elements. The courage and the driving off evil can all be due to the gall, and it is believed that only one is courageous, can he or she be able to take charge of the important mission. What a summary the ancients have given out about the important role of the gall! So, boost the courage and it will be possible to win the strong as the weak and win the more as the less. The brave will win when the two armies clashed!

3、Essential three: strike the points

Strike the vulnerable spots and the acupuncture points of the opponent and designedly strike those spots which the opponent fear to be hutted. Human is flimsy and as a martial artist one should know the physiology structure of human. For instance, the hand slap in Taiji attempt to control the gravity center balance of both sides and try to achieve the ability of Hua strength, of which many skills are used to control the elbow joint of the opponent. As to wrestle、judo and aikido, they are the same with Taiji ,that is to say, they attempt to control various joint of the opponent so as to tumble and catch the opponent. In BaGuaZhang, there are also plenty of skills of catch and wrestling which aim to control the joints and acupuncture points of the opponent so as to override the opponent, for example, one can catch the opponent at the upper limbs points: NeiGuan, HeGu, TianJing, QuZhe, ChiZhe or at the lower limbs points: SanYin,ShangQiu,XiYan,DuBi and so on. It is possible to kill the opponent if the opponent’s points are struck, so it is forbidden to strike the points abusively or one can get into trouble! Be cautious to the points below, which can be mortal: TaiYang, RenYing, JiuWei, QiMen, ZhangMen, QiChong, YaMen and so on.

4、Essential four: Be nimble

It means to be rapid and prompt. The soul of Cheng Style BaGuaZhang lies in the speed, and what’s more, it is one of the important characteristics which differentiate BaGuaZhang from XingYi and TaiJi.  “Chou Shen Huan Ying” is a famous skill in Cheng Style BaGuaZhang, both Cheng YouSheng and Cheng YouXin are well versed in the skill in those years. This skill is named as “Chou Shen Huan Ying” because the speed of the practicer is rapid and before the opponent can strike the practicer, he or she has bypassed to the behind.

The four essentials are listed above and they must be minded.