The origins of Baguazhang can be traced back to the 17th century in Qing dynasty China to a famed martial artist by the name of Dong Hai Chuan 董海川 (1799-1882), regarded as the founder and original disseminator of Baguazhang.

Born in Zhu Jia Wu of Wen’an County in Hebei Province, Dong Hai Chuan began studying the martial arts at a very young age. Once an adult, Dong traveled all over China exploring his fascination of Daoism. It was during this time that Dong created what is now regarded as the signature of Baguazhang -- the Circle Walking Palms -- based on theories and principles extracted from the Yi Jing 易经, or Book of Changes.

After developing the Circle Walking Palms, Dong relocated to Beijing to assume a post in the mansion of Prince Su. It was there that he began openly teaching the art of Baguazhang. Many top martial artists from throughout Beijing, Tianjin, and other parts of Hebei province came to exchange hands and measure themselves against Dong. Convinced of his mastery in both martial skill and ethics, each challenger without exception became Dong’s disciple. By the end of the 19th century, Dong already had over fifty indoor disciples. Because most of these disciples were already masters of other martial arts styles, Dong adapted his teaching to the individual backgrounds and skill sets of his students; as such, each student’s method of training and expression of the palm changes differed significantly from the others. This, in turn, resulted in the emergence of numerous sub-styles of Bagua, most notably the Yin style developed by Yin Fu 尹福, and the Cheng style developed by Cheng Ting Hua 程廷華. It is the Cheng style of Bagua that is promoted and taught by Master Ng in our San Francisco Bagua classes.

Cheng style Baguazhang  程派八卦掌

The third of four brothers, Cheng Ting Hua (1848-1900) was born in the Cheng family village in Shen county of Hebei province. Fond of the martial arts since his youth, Cheng Ting Hua left his hometown at a fairly young age and went to Beijing to both improve his martial arts skills and apprentice for a gentleman who made eyeglasses (Cheng would later open his own eyeglass store outside the Suiwen Gate in Beijing, for which he was nicknamed "Eyeglass Cheng").

When he was approximately 28 years old (1876), Cheng Ting Hua -- then already highly skilled in Shuai Jiao, the Chinese art of wrestling and takedowns, and Xing Yi Quan -- sought the tutelage of Dong Hai Chuan, who was already very well known in Beijing. Cheng came at the recommendation of Dong's two senior disciples, Yin Fu and Shi Ji Dong, and became Dong's fourth inner circle disciple. 

It was not long before Cheng Ting Hua became widely recognized in the Beijing martial arts community as a person of extraordinary abilities. After Dong Hai Chuan's death, Cheng integrated the Circle Walking Palms he learned from Dong and his thorough understanding of their principles, with his own special features and experience in Shuai Jiao and Xing Yi, to create Cheng style Baguazhang. Some of these special features include the mud-wading step known as Tang Ni Bu 趟泥步 as well as the close hook and wide swing steps known as Bai Kou Bu 擺扣步. Another principle characteristic of Cheng Bagua is the Dragon Claw palm 龙爪掌, where the thumb is spread wide, the tiger's mouth is curved and pushed up, the index and middle fingers are spread apart with the middle finger erect, and the ring and pinky fingers are wrapped.

On August 14, In the 26th year of Qing Guanxu (1900), Cheng Ting Hua was involved in a confrontation with the 8 Army Alliance troops near the Suiwen Gate, and was shot and killed while trying to climb a wall to escape. Although Cheng died when he was only 52, his Cheng Baguazhang legacy was kept alive through his younger brother Cheng Dian Hua (also a student of Dong Hai Chuan), his sons Cheng You Long and Cheng You Xin, his nephews Cheng You Gong and Cheng You Sheng, and top disciples such as Liu Zi Yang, who brought Cheng Ting Hua's Baguazhang back to their family ancestral village to train and mentor the next generation of Bagua masters, one of whom was our Great Grandmaster Sun Zhi Jun 孙志君 (1933- ).

Born in 1933 in the Cheng family village, Great Grandmaster Sun Zhi Jun received his Bagua training from three primary teachers: Liu Zi Yang 刘子扬, Cheng You Sheng 程有生, and Cheng You Xin 程有信. As a child and young teenager, Great Grandmaster Sun would spend days and evenings studying with his teachers, continuing his practice well into the night after everyone else had long gone home. It was through this unwavering tenacity that Great Grandmaster excelled amongst his training brothers, becoming the favorite disciple of Cheng You Sheng who taught him the Xia Pan 下盘, or lower basin walking and stances, the most advanced level of Bagua training.

In 2012, in recognition of over sixty years dedication to the martial arts and more than three decades of teaching both in China and abroad, the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China conferred upon Great Grandmaster Sun the Chinese National Cultural Heritage Award, making him the official National Representative Successor of Baguazhang 八卦掌代表性传承人.

One of Great Grandmaster Sun Zhi Jun's senior disciples and top students is our Grandmaster Jia Shu Sen 贾树森, who has followed in his teacher's footsteps and is now passing on the authentic Cheng style Bagua teachings and philosophies to our founder, Master Mike Ng, who continues to preserve and advance this knowledge here at Baguazhang San Francisco.