Ba Gua: Advanced Hidden Knowledge in the Taoist Internal Martial Art »

Liu Xing-Han, of Beijing, China, is the last of the fourth-generation Ba Gua disciples. He began his martial arts studies in 1917. In 1996 he was the subject of a China National Television documentary commemorating his life's work, and has been written about in Chinese magazines, martial art journals, and newspapers. In the United States several issues of Pa Kua Journal, including its debut edition, covered his work. He is the author of three books on Ba Gua in China. He continues to teach the internal tradition.

John Bracy became a fifth-generation lineaged disciple of Ba Gua Zhang in 1988. He founded the Hsing Chen School of Internal Martial Arts in Costa Mesa, California in 1976 and has continued as a director since it incorporated in 1990/ He has studied at advanced levels in the United States, Taiwan, mainland China and has attained advanced rankings and honors in several styles of traditional kung fu. As a graduate exchange student in Taiwan, he researched psychotheraputic applications of acupuncture.

This history and instructional guide explores both the how and why of Ba Gua. Early chapters cover qi (the life force), the nature and meaning of inner power, and the metaphysical and symbolic aspects of Ba Gua practice. Later chapters describe power training exercises as well as sexual, athletic, and martial applications.