Principles of BajiQuan

Theory and philosophy ...

Extract from a 19th century manual showing the relations
between BajiQuan and YiJing theory

Although  BajiQuan was mainly developed during  the first  generations by members  of  the Hui minority  who  are  traditionally  of  Moslem  confession, the  theoretical  and  philosophical  concepts of this martial art are based on the Chinese traditional thought, and more particularly on  taoism. This is due to the fact that through the centuries, the major part  the Hui did fully integrate culturally into the Chinese  society, and thus they have adopted a large amount of basic principles in their daily life and religious practice. For this reason,  it can be noted that most ancient Hui frequently  studied  some chinese classics  from  Confucianism and other schools of thought, such as  the “Book  of  the changes” (YiJing, 易经) or  the Annals  of  springs and the autumns” (ChunQiu, 春秋) along with  the Koran  (GulanJing, 古兰经). Consequently, BajiQuan, like many other styles practiced by the Hui (XingYi Quan, XinYi  LiuHe Quan, etc) constantly  refers to some principles  classically  encountered in Chinese  martial arts.

This influence can be found in the name of the style. The term “Baji” (八极, literally “8 extremes”) which in Chinese indicates an “infinitely remote place” or “the very ends of the earth” comes from a Chinese classic dating from the 2nd century (the Huai Nan Zi, 淮南子), which is strongly influenced by Taoism. In addition, the practice of Baji Quan constantly refers to classical concepts of internal Chinese martial arts, such as : the alternation of Yin & Yang, the respect of the 6 internal and external harmonies of the body, the circulation of the  internal energy (called Qi, 气), etc. Moreover, the names of many moves in BajiQuan are referring to chinese traditional deities, such as like : 

- ErLang Dan Shan (二郎担山) ： ErLang wears a mountain on his shoulders
- Yan Wang San Dian Shou (阎王三点手) ： the 3 pointing hands of Yan, king of hell
- Bai GuanYin (拜观音) ：venerating GuanYin, goddess of mercy
etc.