Yin Style Baguazhang
尹式八卦掌The oldest family branch of bagua, from Dong Haichuan's first student. It is known by the axe palm: a short, penetrating strike with the edge of the hand.
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About Yin Style Baguazhang
Yin style baguazhang is the oldest of the family branches of bagua and derives from Yin Fu, who lived from 1840 to 1909 and was the first and senior student of Dong Haichuan, the founder of the whole art. Yin Fu served at the imperial court as a bodyguard, and his school still carries the character of an art meant to protect someone rather than to win a match. From the later branches, above all from the Cheng style, the Yin style differs in the shape of the palm and in the nature of its power. It uses the so-called axe palm: the fingers are together and slightly bent, the strike is delivered with the edge of the hand and is short and penetrating, whereas the Cheng branch works with a looser palm and a longer pushing force. From this comes the overall impression too — the Yin style is usually described as sharper and more direct. The common core of bagua remains the basis: circle walking, in which the practitioner constantly goes around an imagined centre and changes palms, and the eight changes that unfold from the walking. The school is arranged into eight animal sections, each with a set of techniques of its own. The year 1880 in the catalogue marks the period when Yin Fu was teaching, not the founding of the school; it was named as a separate branch only after his death.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.