What Is Pa Kua?

Pa Kua is a Chinese form of martial arts and is frequently pronounced (and spelled) as Ba Gua.  It is considered a soft/internal style of martial arts, and therefore features breathing exercises along with meditation and weapons training.  Pa Kua is mainly known for its unique footwork which includes coiling, circle walking, spiraling, drilling, spinning moments and twisting.  These are not done separately and are combined with powerful heel strikes.

Pa Kua And It’s Origins

Pa in Chinese means eight while Kua refers to changes. Hence Pa Kua is the art of eight changes.  It is thus a total composition of knowledge of the situations of our life that do not remain the same as they keep changing over time.

Pa Kua Chuan

The most common and the popular form of Pa Kua is the Pa Kua Chuan.  It can be recognized easily due to the tendency to walk in a circular fashion that adapts itself very well into a style of fighting.  It requires a great deal of balance and flexibility, and as such tends to be extremely demanding of its practitioners.

Weapons That Are Used

Weapons form an integral part of Pa Kua.  The various weapons that are used in this ancient art form include: the long staff, short sticks(which are generally paired), the three-section staff, the two-section staff, and the pa kua jian. Knives used for throwing and night sticks were also a part of the weapons used.

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