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Liang Style Baguazhang

梁式八卦掌

The baguazhang line from Dong Haichuan's youngest disciple; eight mother palms and an unusually wide weapons repertoire.

Quick Facts

Country of OriginChina
RegionAsia
Primary FocusHybrid
Contact LevelFull contact
Belt System6 levels

Character & Origin

StatusLiving, organized
LineageTraditional
Era of Origin19th century

Organisation & Competition

Olympic StatusNot Olympic

What the style is built from

Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.

Hand strikesCore
KicksMarginal
Throws & takedownsSignificant
Ground fightingNot used
Locks & holdsSignificant
WeaponsSignificant

Catalogs & Databases for Liang Style Baguazhang

📜 Traditional Katas & Forms2 items
👊 Techniques Database4 items
📖 Glossary of Terms3 items
👥 People & Masters1 items

About Liang Style Baguazhang

The Liang school is one of the main lines of baguazhang, the eight-trigram palm, and what distinguishes it from the others is where it stands in the family tree: Liang Zhenpu was the youngest disciple of Dong Haichuan, the founder of the whole art, and so passed on the shape he had managed to catch from an ageing teacher. The technical base consists of the eight mother palms, that is the fundamental forms of the arms and torso, and the eight palm changes that unfold from them while walking the circle. Longer sets follow on: the dragon form, the sixty-four linear palms, the linking palms and the palms of the eight directions. The weapons repertoire is unusually broad and includes tools not found in other schools: besides the broadsword, the spear and the staff, it trains particular knives shaped as the rooster's claw, the mandarin duck and the crescent moon, and also the fan, the brush, the meteor on a chain and the rings. In movement Liang bagua is close to the Yin and Cheng lines, since all three come from the same root. The school counts among the internal styles, those that build on release, on the spiral turning of the waist and on guiding force through the body rather than on bracing and impact. Two main branches came out of Liang's students, carrying the names of Guo Gumin and Li Ziming, and the centre of practice remains in Beijing. The sources give no year in which Liang established his version.

Similar styles

Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.

Yin Style BaguazhangCheng Style BaguazhangGao Style BaguazhangLiuhebafaChen Style Tai ChiKuntao (Kuntao)