Pa kua is a highly esoteric exercise practiced solely in China. History reveals that anything Borte loved became sacred to the Chinese and possibly Borte practiced Pa kua chang. Pa kua means “eight diagrams” and the eight diagrams are the eight way to produce unconsciousness in an adversary. Pa kua is a circular style and most martial art practitioners feel the exercise is looping and slow and has no basis in reality. Pa kua reveals the predatory postures of the praying mantis which is the most ferocious predator of the insect kingdom. In Pa kua, a practitioner circularizes all their actions and once mastered they become fast. The circle forms the basis of Pa kua and any strike delivered by a Pa kua boxer is 3.14 times more powerful than a straight strike derived from a given moving mass. 3.14 is Pi and this factor accounts for the power in Pa kua. Force = mass x velocity/radius. Pa kua is easily learned but incredibly difficult to master because a boxer circularizes their strikes off of a horizontal circular footwork. The foot work, like in Tai Chi and Hsing-I is the all of the art and force springs from a boxer moving in a horizontal circle. Most boxers feel Pakua is too hard to learn and incredibly difficult to apply. This might be true, but Pa kua is an exercise to be practiced for life that circularizes your actions. From this discipline comes perfection as is written in the Tao. From this art comes the adage,”dance like a lady, fight like a tiger”. If a student of the martial arts goes to YouTube and views videos of a preying mantis, they see that the insect punches twice the prey, grabs the prey and starts eating. Any insect bigger than a Mantis immediately induces motionlessness and the mantis will move in a circle should that insect attack, The most essential point in Pa kua is the fact that circling is both an evading tactic and an attacking method at the same time and only those people proficient in the art can accomplish this. If a boxer attacks a Pa kua expert the expert will instinctively circle and counter attack. The relevance of Pa kua lays in the fact that Yun-shen Kuo, “the divine crushing hand” and leader of the Hsing-I school was defeated in a match by a Pa kua expert. Now Pa kua and Hsing-I are coupled and complementary systems taught together. In Pa kua chang a boxer circles, extends his arm or arms, backhands and circles the other way. This footwork is also known as the single palm change;
The single palm change
Circle with one foot turning out and the other turning in. Turn in the back foot severely when brought up to the lead foot. Extend the lead foot to the center of the circle. Bring the back foot up to fore foot in horse posture. Cross hands. Step out with the back foot, foot turning out and circling the opposite way of the beginning.
All the movements in Pa kua chang are a variation of the single palm change. The exception is the double palm change used to attack an adversary closing in from the rear. “Chang” means open hand. In Pa kua chang a boxer can punch or grab, or cut with his or her hand while executing a move. In whipping back in the single palm change, a boxer can use the hand, as a fist, or as a sword to the throat. In other words, in a fist fight, the grasp is just as important as the fist.
The double palm change is a spinning backhand followed by a one two punch and then completing the single palm change and swinging back to a new direction,
Moves of Pa Kua chang
Single palm change
Double palm change
Dragon
Bear
Lion
Hawk
Snake
White monkey bears fruit
The single palm change is the mainstay of the art. All the others are variations of this single theme
Double palm change faces an adversary in the rear
In dragon, a boxer puts two hands to the sides of his or her head in an effort to block a hook. Then with the blocking hand, a boxer hammers down one-two with the other hand and then completes the single palm change
Bear is similar to dragon except the back hand cocks back to an overhand right while the lead hand protects the mouth. The back hand hammers down when attacking and with the same hand completes the single palm change. The movement looks like a boxer is swinging their hand in a figure eight, this is a circular overhand right changing into a back hand after striking. After the single palm change, this is the second basic move of Pa Kua chang.
Lion is similar to fan penetrate back in Tai chi, also known as the straight right hand. Afterwards complete the single palm change
Hawk happens as a two handed strike or grab to the midsection like a hawk swoops down and holds its prey. Afterwards complete the single palm change
Snake is the same as splitting in Hsing-i. Turn your foot inward and swing the hookercut to the groin of the adversary. Cross hands and complete the single palm change. Please remember that the single palm change ends with a cut to the throat or fist to the face. This fact is important in that if a boxer misses with the primary punches, he or she swings back with the palm change and connects. This seems ridiculous, but it works, consistently.
Two hands cutting is the white monkey. Holding the hands vertically in front of the face like a mantis, the boxer turns his hands up and the boxer swings his arms, both together in a two handed hook. This effort normally directs at the throat. Then from the other side he swings back with both hands to complete the single palm change. This movement is also known as a two handed hook or haymaker.
Circle in a clockwise circle, and then make the single palm change and circle counter clockwise. Circle the foot movements and circle in a figure 8. When someone is chasing you circle in a figure eight and end up facing your opponent from the side and attacking. Circle in a large circle if he or she has a lot of room. Circle in a small circle in a small room. Circle unto yourself in a holding cell. In Pa Kua chang, the only movement is the single palm change executed from both directions. How you use your hands is up to your discretion. A boxer can punch with their hands. A boxer can cut with their hands. A boxer can grab with their hands then cross hands and then cut the throat with the single palm change.
All the movements in Pa kua are circular. Those that aren’t, are circular when viewed from above. Eight diagram boxing is fighting in a round horizontal plane unlike to and fro, right or left in the other internal systems. The single palm change is the beginning and the end. Like swinging a weight on a string, the movements become powerful when a boxer becomes expert and his or his movements have been circularized.
The martial movements of insects are circular because they as so small, to make power is to swing their arms in a circle or an arc. In eight diagrams boxing and expert that has integrated the circle into his or her movements can evade and attack without thinking. This effect is what makes the style of the praying mantis so great. It probably can be adapted to commercial boxing. In a nutshell, in the eight diagram boxing, when a threat converges, a boxer circles and swings their arms in a circle, connects and then circles away. This effort may sound simplistic or down right stupid except that it works. Insects are the most efficient predators of the animal world and what they do helps them survive.
This writing is Pa Kua chang delivered to the west. Although esoteric and strange, this system forms the most efficient predatory system in existence if and only if a boxer can master it. The “if” is a big if because Chinese monks devote their entire lives to walking in a circle, if the government lets them. I imagine that twenty years of practicing every day, making the right turns and coordinating your movements is necessary to integrate the art in ganglionic memory. Good luck to all who endeavor to grasp knowledge in the dog days of boredom.