Bagua Zhang

Baguazhang (Chinese: 八卦掌) is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being Taijiquan and Xingyiquan.

It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or neijia gong). Bāguà zhǎng literally means "eight trigram palm," referring to the trigrams of the Yijing (I Ching), one of the canons of Taoism.

Read More

XingYi Quan

Xing Yi Quan (Chinese: 形意拳 is classified as one of the Wudang styles of Chinese martial arts. The name of the art translates approximately to "Form/Intention Fist", or "Shape/Will Fist".

Xing Yi is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements and explosive power that's most often applied from a short range. A practitioner of Xing Yi uses coordinated movements to generate bursts of power intended to overwhelm the opponent, simultaneously attacking and defending. 

Read More

Taiji Quan

Taijiquan (simplified Chinese: 太极拳; traditional Chinese: 太極拳; pinyin: tàijíquán; Wade–Giles: t'ai chi ch'üan; literally "Supreme Pillar") is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for both its defense training and its health benefits. It is also typically practiced for a variety of other personal reasons: its hard and soft martial art technique, demonstration competitions, and longevity. As a consequence, a multitude of training forms exist, both traditional and modern, which correspond to those aims. Some of Taijiquan's training forms are especially known for being practiced at what most people categorize as slow movement.

Today, Taijiquan has spread worldwide. Most modern styles of Taijiquan trace their development to at least one of the five traditional schools: Chen, Yang, Wu/Hao, Wu, and Sun.

In this Video we can see an example of Taiji.

Read More

Internal Style

Internal styles (內家; pinyin: nèijiā; literally "internal family") or Wudang Styles focus on the practice of such elements as awareness of the spirit, mind, qi (breath, or energy flow) and the use of relaxed leverage rather than unrefined muscular tension.

While the principles that distinguish internal styles from the external were described at least as early as the 18th century by Chang Nai-chou, the modern terms distinguishing external and internal styles were first recorded by Sun Lutang; who wrote that Taijiquan, Baguazhang, and Xingyiquan were internal arts.
Components of internal training includes stance training (zhan zhuang), stretching and strengthening of muscles, as well as on empty hand and weapon forms which can contain quite demanding coordination from posture to posture.Many internal styles have basic two-person training, such as pushing hands. A prominent characteristic of internal styles is that the forms are generally performed at a slow pace. This is thought to improve coordination and balance by increasing the work load, and to require the student to pay minute attention to their whole body and its weight as they perform a technique.

Read More