Bagua and Xingyi (Pa Kua and Hsing I) are two of the most famous Chinese internal Kung Fu systems (after Tai Chi Chuan.) Bagua is generally based upon the eight trigrams of the Yi Jing (I Ching) while Xingyi is based upon the Wuxing (Wu Hsing) five element theory. Here is a demonstration of Xingyi’s metal, wood, and fire element as well as Bagua’s circle walking with Tiger hand position. The order of the techniques shown in the video is: metal, wood, circle walking, fire.
The video was filmed on Wei Bao Shan, one of the oldest and most respected Taoist (Daoist) mountains in China. This mountain is located in a remote area of Yunnan province. It has not seen much foreign tourism. Although the government is restoring the various temples on the mountain, they have been neglected for many years. What was once a major Taoist center now only has a few priests remaining. We were lucky enough to meet one of them on our recent visit to China.
