I have been practising Pa Kua for about twenty years now. This is an art that focuses on the palm as a weapon. Power is developed through the legs and waist in a twisting motion. The footwork of Pa Kua lends itself to close quarters fighting.

Pa Kua may or may not be an old art. The Pa Kua trigrams were first discovered and arranged by the Yellow Emperor 3000 years ago. But the first recorded instance of the martial art was in the nineteenth century. These early practioners are said to have learnt the art from Taoist monks, so it goes back a bit further than 200 years. How far? I don’t know.

Pa Kua really breaks down into three parts. Walking the Circle is the essential and most noticeable aspect. The Palm Changes, of which there are eight, go hand in hand with the circle. They are attacks and allow direction changes. The final aspect is the form which generally has 64 techniques, though some forms of Pa Kua have less.

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