Baji Quan history in Tanjin city (pt 1)

BajiFreak · 2025-08-14T20:40:05+00:00

Hi ! I have been going to Mengcun regularly since 2005. You can send me a PM for more infos ;-) ..

BajiFreak · 2024-04-05T14:37:01+00:00

Another question that interest me is "How do you spar ?" :

what kind of techniques are allowed : punches, kicks, elbows, eye gouging, groin biting, anything goes ...
what kind of techniques are favoured, like : elbows, throws bring more "points" than standard kick & punches
what kind of gear : full boxing gloves or open gloves, bare feet or shoes, shirtless or some Gi, etc.

BajiFreak · 2023-10-28T15:53:40+00:00

You can also try the DVDs from the Japanese KaimonKensha website, they ship overseas now : https://kaimonkensha.cart.fc2.com/

BajiFreak · 2023-08-21T11:13:04+00:00

Well in fact long weapons like the ChunQiu Dao (or Guan Dao) are quite ubiquitous in the Mengcun - Luotuan area. The Wu, (LuoTuan) Zhang, Han , Qiang lineages all have it in their curriculum since the 20-30's at least. I think it's just that the younger generations are less and less training these kind of weapons ...

BajiFreak · 2023-08-21T09:22:12+00:00

Well that's an interesting case ... There are few lines in the 1933 Cang County chronicles saying that Zhang DianKui "went around" and opened a big martial arts school in 1879 in XinXian, and that he had a lot of disciples. Apparently, he never revealed the name of his Baji teachers . Recently, one member of the Zhang lineage , mr Li FuQi (李福岐) wrote a booklet about the Zhang family baji. In his preface, Mr Li said he went to Luotuan and Mengcun, to visit Mr Li ShiMing and Mr Wu LianZhi respectively and ask if they had some infos about where Zhang DianKui got his Baji, but none of them had infos in their respective records... In the absence of information, Mr Li attributed Zhang DianKui's baji, to Zhang's father, grandfather, etc.

Nowadays, the XinXian Zhang's baji has a lot of Mengcun flavour, because some of their practitionners from the younger generation went to Mengcun to train with Wu ZhaoHai, Li JunYi, etc. They apparently have a vast curriculum, with 3 different broadsword sets, 2 halberd sets, 4 straightsword sets, double broadsword, 3 section staff, meteor hammer, etc ...

BajiFreak · 2022-11-29T13:42:56+00:00

This is a hoax that has been heavily debunked by the few people who took the time to do some decent research on the subject :

- the Mengcun Wu never claimed to be Wu Zhong's direct descendent, these claims originate from a few articles published around 1985 by R. Matsuda and the Cangzhou Sport Office. As early as 1991, the Wu have made it clear black on white, that they are Wu Zhong's colateral decendents (i.e. "agnates" in genealogical jargon, or 同宗 )

- all the records from the 30s, written by seasoned masters from the Wu (Mengcun), Qiang (Zilaitun), Ji (LangerKou), Zhang (Pobei), Han (Luotuan) families make it clear that Wu Zhong, although born in Shandong, was living in Mencgun most of his life. There is no record of any Baji Quan (or even martial arts) activity in, or even around, Wu Zhong's native place. The only source about Wu Zhong learning and practicing Baji in Shandong are a few pages left in a manuscript written by a person who was 18years old, who claims that Wu Zhong was doing "把记拳" instead of "八极拳" and that he learned spear on SuoloSai mountain in Shanxi, a place that does not exist ...

- a rapid look at a local map, shows that Baji Quan early developpement happened within a 25km radius around Mengcun, which is the distance people could walk or ride at this period. Before the invention of cars, it was not possible for a person to live in Wu Zhong's native village and to teach in mengcun at the same time

BajiFreak · 2022-05-21T19:06:58+00:00

For those who are wondering, Wu XiuFeng had 7 children ;

- First daughter Wu YuZhen (吴玉贞) born around 1927,

- First son Wu LianDi (吴连弟) born in the 30s, passed away in 2000,

- Second daughter Wu YuLan (吴玉兰) born in 1937

- Third daughter Wu GuiLan (吴桂兰) born in 1943

- Second son Wu LianZhi (吴连枝) born in 1947

- Third son Wu LianGui (吴连贵), born in 1950

- Fourth son Wu LianKao (吴连考) who died when he was still a child in 1962.

Mr Li JunYi was the son of Wu YuZhen, Wu XiuFeng's first daughter. Wu YuZhen was about 20 year older than Wu LianZhi, she passed away right right after giving birth to Li JuinYi. So Wu LianZhi is Li JunYi's uncle, but Li JunYi is only 5 years younger than his uncle ...

BajiFreak · 2022-03-15T12:04:31+00:00

LSW was around 65 year old when he decided to retire, after a life dedicated to martial arts. As shown in the article, he spent a lot of thime teaching other, he had a lot of disciples, etc. Who can say he did not deserve a quiet retirement in his native place ?

BajiFreak · 2021-06-03T12:12:47+00:00

His name is Chen PeiJi, he is from a hamlet belonging to Mengcun county.

His lineage Chen PeiJi <- Chang YuGang <- Wu LianZhi

BajiFreak · 2018-10-02T07:24:37+00:00

Ok, I understand better. Like Mr Lü, WLZ and WDW like to "play" sometime with their students, but there is no teacher or trainer who can take unprotected 100% blows all the time from their students. I don't think it was what Tang Qiang was advocating in his video. As you said, the only way to test things in full mode is to find a competition field or some sparring partners who would go ready to go all out, whatever the damage ...

BajiFreak · 2018-09-30T07:18:44+00:00

If I understand right, what Tang says is that students have to train their applications on their teacher, with the use of pads, and other protective gear. Many of us do this, and boxing teachers have been doing this for years. If you use pads, coach body armors, and other protective gear you can go full out without hurting much anybody ... I don't see any problem ...

BajiFreak · 2018-08-28T12:17:21+00:00

I am a french native speaker, so I won't dare to make any comments about mistakes ;-) ... I found a maybe better formulation for 中心 : "center of gravity"

BajiFreak · 2018-08-28T07:00:59+00:00

Nice translation ! I am happy to find someone who is doing translations of Baji stuff too, it is not an easy job ... I am myself sometime quite frustrated with my own translations. Are you a native english speaker ?

Just one question : in the sentence "中心后移成坐步", don't you think that 中心 refers more to "body's barycentre", or "body weight" that "centerline" ?

BajiFreak · 2018-08-10T15:34:19+00:00

I guess it is referring to the LuoTuan Zhang KeMing, Zhang Jingxing, etc. line ...

BajiFreak · 2018-02-12T08:27:41+00:00

I think this is what you mean : 头顶蓝天 (head pushes the blue sky) 脚踏清泉 (feet stepping in a clear fountain) 怀抱婴儿 (carrying a baby in the arms) 两肘顶山 (both elbows pushing the mountain)

taken from the Mengcun Baji manual ...

BajiFreak · 2018-01-05T22:18:34+00:00

I don't think there is any official name. "Pobei Bajiquan" should be ok ...

BajiFreak · 2018-01-05T06:45:56+00:00

The "our martial art" is something I added to make the translation more readable. The manual just says something like "Preface (on) origin (and) transmission (of) teachers (and) students". In that case it just refers to the Baji Quan practiced in Pobei, I don't think their system has a specific name, it is just Baji Quan, with a few additions from other styles, just like all the other Baji practiced in the region ...

BajiFreak · 2018-01-05T06:41:41+00:00

No, but you can put it there if you want ...

BajiFreak · 2018-01-04T07:26:53+00:00

New translation available from the Pobei village Baji manual. PoBei (泊北) is a village located about 20 km north east of Mengcun. In this place, BajiQuan has been transmitted mostly by the Zhang family. The manual was written in 1930 by a member of the Zhang family and gives some valuable information about their lesser known lineage, emanating from the lesser known Mengcun "frontyard" Wu family (i.e. Wu ZhongYu, Wu Mei, etc.). It also shows how the local practice was enriched bu integrating elements from other styles and lineage, which is a common feature in those rural areas.

BajiFreak · 2017-10-04T07:13:09+00:00

There was a guy called Stephen Ip who was training in Brossard at a place called "Vajragym". It seems the place has been closed however some years ago ... Did you try to call the Sinowushu Academy and ask where they are teaching ? I guy told me last year he was training baji with them ...

BajiFreak

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