Ba Fa, or Eight Methods, is a
Chinese martial art
Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...
developed by Li De Mao () during the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
. He combined the techniques of
Fanziquan (),
Paochui (),
Tantui (),
Tongbeiquan () and
Xingyiquan
形意拳, Xingyiquan , or Xingyi, is a style of internal Chinese martial arts. The word approximately translates to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist".
The style is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements, and expl ...
() into a new style based on the theory of eight methods (). The eight methods are: outer trap, inner trap and stab, flick, support, shake, chop and reel. () This style includes both single forms, pair training, as well as weapon training such as spear, saber and sword. Eight Methods Big Spear (Da Qiang, 大枪), also known as the Big Pole, is a specialty of this style. This technique first appeared in 1906, just before the Revolution of 1911. It combines the methods of the Yue-family spear (), Pear-flower Spear () and Liuhe Spear () with principles of the eight methods. It is also designed to work on foot or on horseback.
Ba Fa Quan is popular in regions such as
Shanxi
Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...
(),
Datong
Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province, China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population o ...
(), Inner Mongolia (
Nei Menggu ) and
Yuencheng City.
[Wu Bin, Li xingdong and Yu Gongbao(1992), "Essentials of Chinese Wushu", Foreign Language Press, Beijin, ]
References
{{Reflist
Chinese martial arts