“Ba-Ji-Men” features a style of original austerity, swiftness and straightforwardness. Every move is with specific purpose and usage, absolutely free of intention to be fancy. Its training is particular about harnessing of Qi, which is built up in Dan-tian and delivered right with the punch to crack the opponent’s stance and targeted where it is fatal. “Ba-Ji-Quan” (Ba-Ji Fist) is particular about eight human body areas, the head, the shoulders, the elbows, the hands, the hip, the groin, the knees and the feet, which are crucial to the body’s motion. The phrase “Ba-Ji” (the “eight extremes”) is used to remind the learners of the coordination of the body and the balance with the surrounding, and thus can be interpreted as constant alert on one’s surrounding. The practice of “Ba-Ji-Quan” is to perfect, to the extreme, one’s skill with these areas.
Bibliography
Dictation by Master Chen, Chi-wen
Chen, Kuan-yu (2011), Family tree of Ba-Ji-Men. Unpublished.