BaGua Trigrams
Click the animal name to see the description
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Yin Style Bagua is based on teachings
and philosophies that are thousands of years old, but only recently
refined in the mid-1800s by Dong Haichuan who passed the entire system
to Yin Fu. Yin Style Bagua was the art of choice for the Forbidden
City since it was catered to each individual - emphasizing their
strengths while reducing their weaknesses.
It contains eight complete systems, each based on one of the eight
trigrams of the I Ching and customized for the individual’s
body. BaGua is an internal art, meaning the drills and methods practiced
toughen an individual's organs, not just muscles. The strength training
postures, breathing and circle walking methods restructure one's
body to obey the laws of physics. By doing so, an individual's equilibrium
and spine are balanced.
8 ANIMALS
Lion – Builds the strength
of the waist, shoulders and arms the fastest of any of the systems
through the use of horizontal forces.
The eight characteristics for Lion are: sweeping, cutting, chopping,
hooking, shocking, blocking, seizing, grasping.
Snake – Focuses on smooth
movements and reactions to external forces. Snake’s characteristics
are: shoulder, elbow, knee, hip, shooting, binding, entrapping, grasping.
Dragon – Contains the
most natural posture and focuses on training the legs and arms to
work together using long movements to generate
immense force. The eight characteristics contained in this system
are: pushing, lifting, carrying, leading, moving, capturing, chopping,
entering.
Bear – Strengthens and increases back flexibility by turning
the back with quick movements. The Bear’s characteristics are:
rushing, penetrating, withdrawing, carrying, leaning, shocking, soft,
following.
Phoenix – It uses the arms to help strengthen the waist and
increase the speed of movements though full-body torque. Phoenix’s
eight characteristics are: dodging, extending, chopping, shocking,
transforming, removing, curling in, cutting.
Rooster – Develops strength in the thighs and elbows and also
increases agility through the use of lying step footwork (long low
steps) and circular arm motion. The Rooster’s characteristics
are: dodging, extending, rising, shifting, entering, whipping, rushing,
stabbing.
Kirin (Unicorn) – Focuses on developing sensitivity, flexibility
and finesse for all movements. Kirin’s characteristics are:
sticking, adhering, soft, following, hip, striking, chopping, cutting.
Monkey – Uses kicking
motions to improve balance and strengthen legs. The monkey’s
eight characteristics are: bending, thrusting, straightening, hip,
chopping, swinging, stopping, ending.
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