Читать книгу Pa-kua. Eight-Trigram Boxing онлайн

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Robert W. Smith

Allen Pittman

Flat Rock, NC

PART ONE Introduction to Pa-kua Boxing

1

What Is Pa- kua?

She moved in circles,

and those circles moved....

—T. Roethke

“I Knew a Woman”

PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE

Pa-kua, pronounced “ba-gwa,” is one of the three martial arts that comprise the internal system (nei-chia) of Chinese boxing. The theory of Pa-kua, based on the Book of Changes (I Ching), is difficult, but actualized as Pa-kua chang (Pa-kua Palm), a boxing-meditational exercise, it is even more difficult. Done to cultivate the tao (the way), the circling movements of Pa-kua both manifest Heaven and Earth and order and organize yin and yang. They follow the seasons and benefit man. When practicing Pa-kua, you walk the circle as though macrocosmically walking in the universe, affecting and being affected microcosmically by the changes inside your body.

The name as well as the rationale of Pa-kua derive from the system of philosophy that gave rise to the Book of Changes—an ancient metaphysical treatise over three thousand years old but timeless in its wisdom. Originally a manual of oracles, the Book of Changes evolved into a compilation of ethical enumerations, eventually becoming such a compendium of knowledge that it was chosen as one of the Five Classics of Confucianism. It became a common source for both Confucian and Taoist philosophy. The central theme of the book, as well as of the system of boxing, is that everything is in flux. While the book’s basic idea is the continuous process of change underlying all existence, Pa-kua has absorbed these ideas and transmuted them into a system of exercise and self-defense.