What is Jiulong Baguazhang?

Nine Dragon Eight Diagram Palm is the English translation of Jiulong Baguazhang. The diagrams to which the name refers are the 8 fundamental trigrams of the Yijing (I Ching), the ancient Chinese Book of Changes. Historically, Baguazhang emerged as a distinct Chinese martial art in the 1800’s in Sichuan province and its origin is attributed to Dong, Hai-Chuan. Since then, different styles of Baguazhang have appeared of which Jiulong is one. Unlike other systems, its connection to Master Dong is not clear and there are no contemporary writings that document a connection.

Jiulong Baguazhang was a family style, its methods kept from public view until the Li family fled Sichuan to escape from China when the forces of communism took power. According to Li family legend, Jiulong was conceived by the Daoist sage Li, Ching-Yuen who claimed to have learned this method from a Daoist monk in the Emei Mountains of China. It was passed down to his cousin Li, Zhang-Lai, who passed it to his son Li, Long-Dao (Frank Li) who escaped to the United States where he imparted the art to John Painter through a 20 year apprenticeship.

Qigong for Health and Boxing

The art of Jiulong Baguazhang emphasizes training in mind and body beginning with seated and standing meditative exercises that emphasize calm awareness, mental imagery, and posture. Mental and physical flexibility and relaxation are trained through a form of Tibetan/Daoist yoga called Daoyin. All students of the art practice standing, weight shifting, stepping, and circle walking while holding and changing upper body postures. These postures are also known as Palms.

Each Palm is named after one of the Yijing’s 8 symbolic trigrams: Heaven, Lake, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, and Earth. They not only represent forces of nature but are also associated with specific mental and physical health benefits according to traditional Chinese medicine and philosophy. In Jiulong, each posture is also associated with a mental attitude and a way of moving the body.

Practicing mental imagery involving physical sensations, a student learns to ”feel” as if they are activating a Palm’s specific acupuncture meridians to improve health or “feel” as if they are exerting physical force in a particular way with a particular intention (such as might be needed in combat).

One might call such training a form of active self-hypnosis as much as it is in fact qigong. It can be applied to enhance mental and physical fitness as well as martial skill. Although rooted in tradition, such practice is no different in kind from methods used by sports psychologists, law enforcement, and the military to improve performance in athletes, police officers, and soldiers.

Principle Based Training

Although repetitive practice is the key to achieving any skill, and Jiulong Baguazhang has an abundance of such practice, there are no fixed forms or kata to memorize and perform. Instead, the emphasis is on basic postures and whole body movements that the student learns to combine, either for health practice or to develop combat prowess. The focus of teaching is on how to control the mind and move the body optimally to improve strength, coordination, endurance, and well-being.

For those following the martial path there is the additional focus on the kind of mental control and physical movement needed for self-defence. The result is the ability to respond and adapt spontaneously to the chaos of physical confrontation instead of relying upon a memorized sequence of movements or techniques to counter an attack.

Jiankang (Health) Practices

There are several ways of translating the word qi or chi into English. One of these is unseen force or energy. Gong can be translated as skill or power. Thus qigong can be taken to mean something like “energy skill” or “skill in using unseen force”. Others have characterized Qigong as moving meditation.

In the Jiulong system “energy” and “unseen force” refer to the inherent power of the mind to have an effect on the body. There are multiple qigong exercises that can be done while seated, standing, and moving. Circle walking, the practice that characterizes all Baguazhang styles, is performed in combination with specific mental attitudes and imagery to increase resilience, reduce anxiety, promote fitness, and address health issues.

When students develop adequate mind/body skill and understand the basic principles of health practice they become free to develop a personalized program of exercise that best suits their needs.

Zhandouli (Combat) Baguazhang

As noted above, each of the Palms of Jiulong represent a mental attitude as well as a way of moving the body. In combat training, this includes how to evade, strike with different parts of the body, lock, and throw. Each Palm can be considered a separate martial art that shares basic principles with the other Palms but are expressed differently.

Training begins with holding postures while standing and using mental imagery to conjure the physical sensations of exerting force as well as the emotional attitude associated with a particular Palm. This practice is called Yi Xin Gong (YXG) or, in English, Intention Attitude Skill and can be considered a form of mental rehearsal of a physical action but applied to combat rather than an athletic skill.

The same practice is brought into shifting, stepping and circle walking, thereby training mind and body together in each of these practices. This form of training results in highly coordinated and extremely powerful whole body movements that allow students to strike, lock and throw while moving continuously at combat speeds. Partner practice and martial games teach the importance of distance, timing, combat tactics, and perhaps most importantly, situational awareness.

The Ninth Dragon

A student who has learned all 8 Palms is said to have passed through 8 Dragon Gates and is ready to pass through the 9th. In this phase of training the student learns to mix and match the movements and attitudes of all the Palms. In the well-trained student, responses become instinctive, mind and body united, working with astonishing speed and power to counter one or multiple opponents on different terrains.

According to traditional teachings, whether one studies the health arts or the martial arts, the goal of practice is to become one with the Dao, flowing through life’s twists, turns, and conflicts, with grace, power, and balance. We hope you’ll join us.