The I-Ching & Pakua the Martial Art

 

 

 

 

The knowledge of the I-Ching and its relation to the martial art known as pakua (bagua) can be a very debatable subject among today’s practitioners. In the early days of pakua, as a martial arts, there is little doubt that the practitioners were aware of its connection to the ancient text of the I-Ching. How much any given practitioner studied the I-Ching or even understood some of its ideas is not truly known.

 

Now that the martial art of pakua has entered the twenty first century we see many practitioner that are far removed from Dong Hai Chuan and his first students, and some that have a lineage as close as 3rd and 4th generation. Some of these practitioners are excellent martial artists, some of them acknowledge the link of pakua and the I-Ching, other see the link as important and study the I-Ching and its teachings, others claim the link as ridiculous, and write it off as mysticism that is so often intertwined in the martial arts.

 

I would not claim to be better than or hold more knowledge about pakua than the practitioners who do not “believe in”, research, or try to understand the principals of the I-Ching, but I personally believe there is a great amount of knowledge and benefits of researching and correlating the I-Ching with pakua. I do not practice mysticism nor do I predict the future, but the I-Ching and its relation to pakua is an important part of understanding pakua as a complete art and not just a “martial” art.

 

The evasiveness of pakua, its deadly palm strikes, its unmatched ability to blend and use effortless throws, its effectiveness, as a fighting art are very important. Pakua’s smooth and rooted forms, the flowing and always moving techniques, the unseen and unstoppable force it yields are all a very important aspects of pakua. These are all teachable and obtainable results of the practice and study of pakua the martial arts, but to obtain the highest level I believe the skill set goes way beyond the mentioned aspects. Certainly the fore mentioned aspects of pakua must be reached to obtain an even higher level, but I believe to reach this level a basic understanding of the I-Ching must be met.

 

We must remember that beyond the physical aspects of pakua lies a foundation of philosophies and the underlying idea to all of them is change. Pakua is based on changes and change must always be present in pakua. Changes are first taught as “palm” changes, these “changes” teach the basics of change, and the combination sets teach how things can change, and the link between the changes. When one can constantly change with no thought or intention, he has reached what I would deem as the highest level anyone can reach in any martial arts, of course the changing must naturally exhibit the correct movements of pakua at all times.

 

It is thought that the I Ching concept was 4000 years old when it was first printed, 3000 years ago, so we are working with some ancient knowledge and the fact that it has been interpreted and rewritten numerous times. Fu His is credited as the founder but King Wang and his son had a heavy influence on the I-Ching as well. In my study of the I-Ching I have research several interpretations of it and my understanding stems from both Fu His and the Wang’s, though I tend to lean toward Fu Hsi’s ideas a little more.  I have kept this simple and stripped down, for the I-Ching to be explained in writing would take an infinite number of volumes of works and you still would have not explained it all. It is said even Buddha himself stated if he had fifty more years to live, he would spend it studying the I-Ching and he still would have not grasped all it has to offer. So with this in mind I will share with you the little bit of knowledge I have of the study of the I-Ching, and its relation to the martial art of pakua.

 

 

 

 

                                                                      

                                        This symbol represents what the Chinese call “Wu Ji” the “one”, the beginning, where all things originated, the one thing that existed before time and space, the energy that sparked creation and life, what some might refer to as God.                       

 

 

Here where most scholars begin their disagreement, the I-Ching states that when the one divided, creation began, when the one divided it created the two elementary forms. These two forms are represented by a broken line: , and a whole line: , the argument is, if a circle is divided once it will only be in two parts, but the broken and unbroken line would represent three divisions not two, so the circular representation of the one is wrong, but I disagree and find it a simple fact that the original division should be represented by a whole and broken line. I will try to explain why.

 

                                                                           

                                                                            

     Figure 1                                figure 2

 

As we see, the circle is made from a whole unbroken line, this circle, in figure one, shows how a circle is an unbroken line. When the circle divides the line is broken (figure 2), thus we have a whole line and a broken line. Simple enough?

 

 

When the one divides, it does exactly that, divides. In its most pure division, the one divides into two. This is the beginning, and this is what can be referred to as “the big bang”, or the “divine creation”, the “first act of God”, this is the moment when time began and space formed, this is the beginning of motion.

 

In the I-Ching this initial division is referred to as:

 

 

The Two Elementary Forms

 

 

                                        Yang                                                                        Yin

                                                  

 

Unison                                                                        Division

Day                                                                             Night

Noon                                                                           Midnight

Hot                                                                              Cold

Light                                                                           Dark

Father                                                                         Mother

Rising                                                                         Falling

Outer                                                                          Inner

Push                                                                            Pull

Upward                                                                       Downward

Clockwise                                                                   Counter clockwise

 

(I have italicized the things that refer to the martial arts)

 

See a pattern developing here?

 

 

When the “two elementary forms” divide they create the “four embolic symbols”. They are:

 

 

                         

 

Pure Unison                  Pure Division               

Summer                        Winter                          Spring                          Fall

Noon                           Midnight                       6am                              6pm

Spirit                           External Body             Mind                            Internal Body

Father                          Mother                         Daughter                      Son     

Rising                          Falling                         Rising at angle            Falling at angle

Pure Yang                   Pure Yin               Strong Yang/Lesser Yin             Strong Yin/LesserYang

Upward                       Downward                  Upward angle           Downward angle                      

 

At this point you would think that it doesn’t look too hard to figure out, but what does it have to do with the martial arts aspects of pakua?

 

 

When the four embolic symbols divide they create the eight trigrams, or “ Pa Kua”.

 

 

 

                                   

 

 

Yang                            Yang                                        Yang                            Yang

Earth                            Earth                                        Fire                              Fire

South                           South East                                North East                    East

Stomach                       Spleen                                      Pericardium                  Heart

Orange                         Orange                                     Red                              Red

9                                  4                                              8                                  3

Heaven                         Subconscious                           Mind                            Spirit

Earth                            Venus                                       Neptune                       Mercury

 

 

 

 

 

                  

 

 

 Yin                              Yin                               Yin                               Yin

                                    Wood                          Water                           Air                               Water

                                    North                           Northwest                    Southwest                    West

                                    Liver                            Kidney                         Lung                             Bladder

                                    Violet                           Blue                             Yellow                         Green

                                    1                                  6                                  2                                  7

Nature                          Intent                            Skin                             Body

Uranus                         Saturn                          Mars                            Jupiter 

 

 

 

 

The division that takes place in the one creates a movement, the original movement perhaps, and this movement creates the change that is represented by the I-Ching, a continual change. The two create the four, the four create the eight, and so on. Another way to word this is the two changes into the four, the four changes into the eight, and it changes into the sixty-four.  These changes are based on many factors; this is where we get the harmony of the Yin and the Yang, the balance of nature. These changes and their factors relate to the martial arts, in the fact that every situation is unique, each advisory different, the surroundings, the environment can change, the number of aggressors, their intent and skill, all these and many more things can factor into real life and death situations, to be able to change and adapt is the way of true survival, Darwinism refers to this as “ natural selection” or “laws of variations”, in evolution it might be referred to as “survival of the fittest”, in the martial arts it is referred to as “pakua”.

 

Obviously in a real life or death situation one rarely has the time to ponder and analyze the situation, to assume it is possible for one to decide the individual circumstances surrounding him and the appropriate action to take according to the kua’s, well, one might be assuming way too much. The training in the changes is what makes this possible, to be effortless, or to have “no mind”, to be thoughtless in your actions and victorious in your outcome, but this “no mind” and effortless actions are based on years of practice, study, research, and refinement. I believe this is what makes pakua a whole art and not just a martial arts, one can always improve, learn more, and refine, pakua is truly endless in its whole, and as can be obviously assumed I love pakua truly for this reason, I will always be consumed by its way, amazed at its possibilities, and astounded by its simplicity.