28/08/2021
Bājíquán (traditional Chinese: 八極拳; Bājíquán; literally "eight extremes fist") is a Chinese martial art that features explosive, short range power and is famous for its elbow strikes. It originated in Hebei Province in Northern China. The style is also called by its full name: Kai Men Ba Ji Quan 開門八極拳. The full name, 開門八極拳 (Kai Men Ba Ji Quan) translates literally as "Open-Gate Eight Extremes Fist", with 開門 referring to the idea of smashing through the target's defensive "gates", highlighting the aggressive nature of the martial art
The major features of this school of Chinese martial arts include elbow strikes, arm/fist punches, hip checks, and strikes with the shoulder. All techniques are executed with a short power, developed through training; in Chinese martial arts, Baji is famous for its fast movements. Baji focuses on in-fighting, entering from a longer range with Baji's distinctive charging step (zhen jiao).
The essence of Bajiquan lies in jin, or power-issuing methods, particularly fajin (explosive power). The style contains six types of jin, eight different ways to hit and several principles of power usage. Unlike most western forms of martial arts which require swinging motion to create momentum, most of Bajiquan's moves utilize a one-hit push-strike method from very close range. The bulk of the damage is dealt through the momentary acceleration that travels up from the waist to the limb and further magnified by the charging step known as zhen jiao... meaning: Rather than making use of a wind-up/swinging motion to create momentum, most of Bajiquan's moves rely on short range explosive force, dealing damage through a combination of the momentary acceleration traveling from the waist to the striking limb and multiplied by Zhen Jiao. The power comes from the sudden opening of the hips and the sudden stop after stepping which can be achieved by sliding the foot with the toes over the ground but with the heels raised to maintain connection.
Bajiquan is best known for its elbow strikes, and fast, short range strikes. Bajiquan uses "Eight Weapons" to strike:
Feet
Knees
Hips
Body
Shoulders
Elbows
Arms
Head
The mechanics of jin are developed through many years of practice and Bajiquan is known for its strenuous lower-body training and its emphasis on the horse stance. It is built around close, in-fighting, engaging aggressively from a longer range with its Chuang Bu (charging step) footwork and the characteristic sound of Zhen Jiao (foot stamp and sinking). Baji's horse stance is higher than that of typical Long Fist styles, and it also makes use of many other common Chinese martial arts stances such as "the arrow-bow stance", "the one-leg stance", "the empty stance" (xūbù 虚步), "the drop stance" (pūbù 仆步), etc. There are eight different hand poses, plus different types of breathing and zhen jiao. Baji has six major characteristic Jin 勁 (power issuing methods) which are:
Sinking (Xia Chen 下沉 or Chen Zhui 沉墜)
Thrusting (Chong 沖)
Extending (Cheng 撑)
Entangling (Chan 纏)
Cross (Shi Zi 十字)
Inch (Cun 寸).
