White Jade Design Int'l

Period or Not?: A Review of Ba Gua Zhang and "Black Sash"

By Juru Biya AKA Laurel Rockefeller

After all this talk of culture and how to be Asian persona, summer wars and crown tourney merits a little different focus. We are, after all, finding out who will succeed our newly crowned King Darius and Queen Roxanne. So with mead horn raised, this musician and Chinese historian thought a bow to the fighters is called for. Whether you be knight, squire, regular fighter, newbie, or just an A&S person looking to learn a little more about another side of SCA, here's one for the fighters! And what better way than to review a new TV series of fighter interest: Black Sash.

In April, 2003, the WB network debuted the new show about a martial arts school in California. The star: Vanishing Son's own Russell Wong whom many observant viewers also recognize from the highly acclaimed film version of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and many other important TV and films. In black sash, Wong stars as the martial arts master, Tom Ballard, an ex cop who takes over a martial arts school at the bequest of his shifu (master). The students of the school are a close, but eclectic bunch who need the grounding of the ba gua zhang style's traditions as well as Tom's insightful guidance through the difficulties each faces-from homelessness to romantic entanglements and beyond. Each episode is a delight to even the casual observer who knows very little of fighting while being rich enough in accurate detail to satisfy even the pickiest SCAdian.

But what about the martial arts? It's great that this is a show worth watching, but is it relevant to SCA and what are they showing? Why are the fighters walking around in almost dizzying circles? What is ba gua zhang?

The answer to the final question is easy: ba gua means "eight trigrams"-as in the eight trigrams of the Yi Jing (remember Kongzi?) AKA the Book of Changes. Zhang means "palm"-a reference to the style's status as one of three internal martial arts (Tai ji quan and Xing ji quan being the others). For those who aren't fighters, martial arts is divided into two categories based on Daoist principles: internal martial arts are yin in nature and are more about spirituality and self development than about direct combat; external martial arts are yang in nature and are about direct combat and more military applications. Both internal and external martial arts can be applied to both individual development goals and to self defense/military applications. They simply approach combat (when it occurs) from opposite angles. The yin styles like ba gua zhang and tai ji quan are indirect and often involve using the opponent against hirself whereas the yang styles like Korean tai kwan do and Japanese kara te are more about direct attack and defense.

In ba gua zhang, the palms are indeed important. Close observers will notice this open palm hand position tendency in the style. But what visually sets ba gua zhang apart is the constant circling the fighter engages in, following the eight trigrams around the yin/yang. As all things in nature forever circle, so does the ba gua fighter in a dance that is as beautiful as it is deadly, especially against opponents who are unfamiliar with the style.

But can you use it in SCA? That's a logical question I'm sure our great warriors are wondering now. The answer: not really. I've consulted numerous online sources (http://www.shenwu.com/bagua.htm is a very good one) and the consensus is that the first use of the style as we know it today dates to Master Dong Hai Chuan of Hebei province. Master Dong lived in the early 19th century. One story goes that he learned Ba Gua from an immortal who was no less than 300 years old. If that story is true, ba gua dates to the 16th century or before and would be within the span for SCAdian usage. However, if the story is merely a story (not everyone believes in immortals, after all!), we can only say for sure that the style has been around for just the last 200 years. Of course who is to say that it wasn't around before, that Master Dong did not invent the style but merely brought it to the masses, much in the way Bruce Lee brought gong fu to a wider audience? But without proof, any use of the style as SCA period is purely speculatory.

That is not to say that a fighter shouldn't feel free to borrow elements from ba gua zhang. The basis for the style is, after all, the Yi Jing, a book considered ancient when Kong Zi saw its value in the 6th century BCE. But the style itself was not formalized until after 1810. Therefore while you might choose to use ba gua zhang (especially fighters for whom internal martial arts are attractive), you might catch it from the period police at times if you do so and such a person knows the history of it.

In summery, Black Sash is an amazing show anyone is certain to enjoy. It uses a style of internal martial arts that is both beautiful and effective in combat while focusing on developing the inner Self. It's a style that any fighter or non-fighter should definitely check out more on. While it is questionable if it falls into SCA period, it is nonetheless one of those styles anyone of any strength level can do effectively and thus should be studied as a teaching tool for more documentably in period martial arts.