He worked closely with Cheng Tinghua (another second generation bagua zhang practitioner) to increase the popularity of bagua. Liu is credited with blending his study of taiji with his study of bagua to form taiji bagua. It is believed that Liang Zhenpu spent much of his time studying with Liu Dekuan in addition to Dong Haichuan. He made a point of working with many of the other second generation practitioners. His desire to train martial arts and study continued when he moved to Beijing and began to study bagua zhang.
Liu wanted to increase his knowledge of martial arts and traveled throughout China to study from highly regarded masters. He was so skilled with the spear that he became known as Daqiang Liu (Big Spear Liu). His teacher, Liu Shijun was famous for his use of the spear and Liu learned the Six Harmonies Large Spear. Before learning bagua, Liu studied Yue Fei Quan. Liu Dekuan was born in Cangzhou, Hebei province in 1826. In 1980, the four steles and his body were moved to the Beijing Wan An Public Cemetery on the city's far westside. During The Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, the monuments were knocked down and buried. One of these new stones contained the generation names created by Dong. Before he died, Master Dong had written a poem to designate the names for the next 20 generations of his lineage. On March 21, 1930, a group led by Master Ma Gui placed two more steles at the site.
A second stone was added by Bagua practitioners in 1905. A single stele was placed there by his students in 1883. He was originally buried near The Red Bridge just outside Beijing's East Gate. It is likely that he had a criminal past and was reluctant to provide details of his whereabouts or associates.ĭong passed away on Octoin Beijing. Later he was employed as a tax collector for the prince and traveled extensively throughout the lands that the Prince controlled.ĭong rarely talked about his teachers and kept much of his past shrouded in mystery. This dexterity enabled his abilities to be noticed and he began teaching his martial art. According to legend, Dong was acting as a server at a party and was able to seamless weave in and around guests while holding trays in each hand. It is believed that he synthesized this daoist practice with his previous martial arts to create bagua zhang.ĭong later moved to Beijing and was employed in the palace of Prince Su. In his youth he traveled throughout China and is believed to have studied daoist training methods that included some kind of circle walking practice. More information on Jan can be found at Dong Haichuan ĭong was born in Wen'an, Hebei province on Octoor 1813, where he studied several martial arts.
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The Gao Yisheng style has a preheaven and postheaven set of palm changes, a series of 64 linear attacks, a series of paired attacks known as the dismantling palms and a large variety of weapons including the straight sword (jian), broadsword (dao), cane, and mandarin duck knives. Gao Yisheng learned his bagua from Cheng Tinghua. Adam was also fortunate enough to train with three of the most senior Gao Yisheng style practitioners from mainland China - Liu Shuhang, Ge Guoliang, and Li Xueyi. Starting with foundational training and progressing to the palm changes, linear attacks and weapons. She participated in multiple trips to China to learn directly from masters there.Īdam began training with Jan in 2002, learning Gao Yisheng style bagua. She was an active member of the North American Tang Shou Tao Association, studying with Tom Bisio and Vince Black. Jan has practiced bagua, xingyi and taiji for over 20 years. More information on Gao can be found at Jan Vanderlinden In 2012, Adam began teaching a beginning bagua class of his own, following the material from Tom's curriculum. In 2008, Adam travelled to Beijing to study the straight sword (jian) with Gao. Gao returned a year later to teach a week long seminar on the bagua dao (broadsword), qinna (seizing and locking techniques) and the 64 linear attacks. Beijing Gao Family style is now a blend of Yin style bagua and Liang style bagua.Īdam first studied with Gao Jiwu in 2005 when Gao travelled to NY to teach a workshop. Guo Gemin studied with Liang Zhen Pu and is credited with creating the 64 linear attacks employed by many bagua styles. His father, Gao Ziying, enhanced his Yin style bagua by studying with Guo Gemin. His grandfather, Gao Wencheng, studied with Yin Fu and Liu Dekuan, both direct disciples of Dong Haichuan. He is also the current lineage holder of the Beijing Gao Family Style. Gao Jiwu is a 5th generation bagua practitioner from Beijing.