Liu Bin's Zhuang Gong Bagua Zhang, Volume One: South District Beijing's Strongly Rooted Style

by Jie Zhang, Richard Shapiro (Contributor)

One of the three major orthodox internal styles of Chinese martial arts (along with Xing Yi Quan and Tai Ji Quan), Bagua Zhang (or Ba Gua Zhang) is also one of the most ancient and revered. The first volume in a series of two on the form, Liu Bin’s Zhuang Gong Bagua Zhang, Volume One, is written from the perspective of a wise master who gives equal attention to Bagua’s historical evolution and to the art and practice itself. A disciple of famous master Liu Xing Han and one who honed his skills for over 20 years under the same trees in Temple of Heaven Park as the originators of Bagua, Professor Zhang Jie is ideally suited for the task. He presents the fundamental theories of Bagua simply and clearly, in such a way that they comprise both a martial arts manual and a guide for everyday living. The idea of balance in all things is stressed throughout, as is the ancient Chinese philosophy that underlies Bagua. In addition to illustrations of the Bagua movements, the book contains previously unpublished historical photographs. Equally useful for novice and seasoned practitioners, as well as students of Chinese culture and history, Liu Bin’s Zhuang Gong Bagua Zhang immerses readers in all aspects of this important martial art.

264 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2008

About the author

My name is Jie Zhang, I'm from China and loves life very much, I work in Shang Hai Hoqing Consulting Company(http://www.hoqing.com), and I'm responsible for human resources consulting projects.

I have published fiction "Heart Of Red River", business book "Cultural Challenges", book series"Beginning" and poetry "Expression Of Love" which can be found on Amazon, B&N, Smashwords. I also published app "Mysterious English" which can be found in Google play store, some videos like " The cat loves to greet" could be found on Youtube.com. Meanwhile, some new works will be completed.

Reviews

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas and concepts. Like drawing a connection between Cheng baguazhang and Shuai jiao.

The chapter on "circle walking and single palm change" was interesting and probably the most useful thing to me in the book. I liked the extensions that could be added to the single palm changes, and the martial application photos were easy to follow.

From there I struggled with this book, I couldn't follow the "24 movements of 8 animals" form at all. It would have been nice if there was a companion DVD to go with this book, but to date I haven't seen one.

Not my favourite book on baguazhang but some useful ideas.