Gao
Yi Sheng was born in 1866 in Shandong, though he moved
to Hebei province when he was still young. As a child
he learnt the Da Hong Quan system
that was taught in his family, and later studied Xing
Yi with Li Cun
Yi. He began his study of Ba
Gua at the age of twenty six with Song
Chang Rong, a student of Dong.
After three years he had only learnt single palm change.
Having been refused more instruction from Song on the
basis that he was not ready for it, Gao was disappointed
and left to find another teacher.
When
he was thirty Gao met Zhou
Yu Xiang, a student of Cheng
Ting Hua and an accomplished fighter. They compared
what they knew, then crossed arms to test each other's
skill.
After Gao was defeated three times in
three attempts he asked to be taken as a student. Due
to the small age difference between them Zhou thought
it would be more appropriate that he took Gao to Cheng
Ting Hua. If Cheng accepted him Zhou would teach him,
though officially they would be brothers in lineage.
Because
of his background Cheng took him on. Gao then returned
to Shandong to train with Zhou while making regular
trips to Beijing to study with Cheng. Sadly after
only two years, Cheng was killed by German Soldiers
in 1900, the boxer rebellion. During an altercation
over being work press ganged into a work detail he
pulled a short knife and was shot jumping over a wall
in an attempt to escape. Cheng was only fifty-two.
After
Cheng's death Gao continued his study with Zhou until
he was forty-five when he returned to his hometown
in Shandong and began to teach. After defeating a
number of local teachers Gao soon developed a reputation
and martial artists from the neighbor villages came
to study with him.
One
day a long bearded Daoist monk came to watch Gao's
class. He didn't look very happy with what he saw.
Noticing his expression Gao asked him what was wrong.
The Taoist told him 'Even though you have been scraping
the surface of this art for many years you are still
boxing blindly'.
Questioned
further the Daoist revealed himself as Song
Yi Ren. He had been a
student of Pi Cheng Xia, the
teacher of Dong Hai Chuan.
He claimed that Dong had only stayed long enough to
study the pre-heaven skills of Ba Gua, and to teach
the art completely the post-heaven skills also had
to be taught. Gao then begged the Daoist to stay and
teach him. He stopped teaching himself while learning
Baguazhang again from the beginning.
In
the preface written by Gao in the Manuscript of "Yu
shen Bagua Lian Huan Zhang" (Swim
body Eight Diagram Linking Palm) , Gao said:
When
I was young, I liked martial arts very much. For a
long time I carried on the family teachings. I had
high regard for the Inner Family Arts, but I could
not find them. When I was thirty years old, I followed
Zhou Yuxiang of Wuqing County Wafang Village and practiced
Baguazhang.
Then
I went with my teacher to Cheng Ting Hua's school
to continue my training. I concentrated my attention
and devoted myself to Baguazhang. ?K Now and then,
Liu He, Wang Shutang, and others of the Bagua genealogy
instructed me. Wang was engaged in business in the
capital. For a long time he followed Master Cheng
on a tour. ?K I felt sad that though I had a little
instruction I was still ignorant. ?K When I was forty-five
years old, because friends invited me to their ancestral
home in Haifeng, Shandong. In their free time, the
friends studied in the palm arts. I followed one who
had the appearance of a beggar coming to beg. I asked
what his name was, but he did not tell. He only said
these words:
Where
is your hometown, We belong to same family, We practice
an art that does not have an end, I am Song Yi Ren,
I learned the whole set, I transmit it everywhere
under heaven, I transmit the art and I don't hold
back, This ability is to encourage people.
Therefore, we called him "Song
Yi Ren". Then I became happy through my close
association with him. I started to compare what
he told us with the secrets that I received from
Mr. Wang Shutang. Moreover, I went out of my way
to intensely study this for many years. I began
to see that when I first followed Master Zhou, I
only practiced the art of Pre-heaven, and at Song
I practiced the way of the post-heaven.
When
he was fifty Gao left Shandong and returned
to Hebei, where he taught in Yang Cun village
close to Tianjin. During this time he met with
his old teacher Zhou, who wanted to test his
student's progress. He made three attacks on
Gao, was twice deflected, and the third time
knocked away. Zhou was impressed enough by Gao's
sixty four post-heaven palms that he returned
to Shandong in search of the Sung Yi Jen, but
was unable to find him.
Tianjin
is the closest major port to Beijing. At the
time it was a thriving place with districts,
or concessions given over to the control of
foreign powers. In 1936 Gao began teaching
on the football fields of the English concession.
It
was in Tianjin
that Gao taught the majority of his students that
began to spread his style so widely. One
student, He Ko Cai began to teach in Hong Kong. Yu
I Xien took the system to San Francisco. Another Chan
Chun Feng emigrated to Taiwan.
Though
the branches of Gao's Ba Gua have diversified with
each generation, their division into pre and post
heaven has remained. The terms pre-heaven (Xian Tien)
and post-heaven (Ho Tien) refer to arrangements of
the eight trigrams. The pre-heaven arrangement has
balances the opposing trigrams opposite each other.
It represents a state of ideal balance existing in
stillness. From a medical viewpoint it corresponds
to the innate or genetic.
The
post-heaven arrangement places the trig rams in an
order that shows progressive change when followed
clockwise around the periphery. It represents the
pattern of cyclic development found in nature. Medically
this corresponds to the acquired characteristics of
an individual.
The
pre-heaven contains the strategy of the art, while
post-heaven contains the tactics. The circular changes
exercise the body through its entire range, and include
all the essential shapes and directions that can be
combined to make a myriad of techniques. To look for
a specific technique in the pre-heaven forms, to label
a movement particular for instance would be limiting
and incorrect. The ability to move smoothly transferring
the whole body's power to its periphery while retaining
the ability to change direction is the primary concern.
The
Xian Tien can be divided into single palm change,
eight palm changes and a final form called Wu Long
Bai Wei, or Black Dragon Waves its Tail. These ten
elements can be likened to a dragon. Single palm change
makes the dragon's head, all the other movements are
derived from and follow it. The body is made of the
eight changes. The tail of the dragon is Wu Long Bai
Wei which is formed from a condensed combination of
the previous eight palm changes.
Gao's
Xian Tien show the characteristics of Ba Gua derived
from Cheng Ting Hua. The back is held straight and
upright, the movements are large, round and flowing.
It is the smooth flowing quality that has given the
various branches of Cheng's Ba Gua the nickname swimming
body, or swimming dragon.
The
Ho Tien is concerned with technique. Each post-heaven
palm contains particular techniques, or principles
that are directly applied to application. Again they
are not limited to single techniques, but they are
much closer in form to this.
The
Ho Tien are derived from the Xian Tien, and are divided
into eight sets of eight palms. The different sets
themselves have different emphases. For instance one
set contains the simplest and most important principles
of application, another has kicking methods, another
elbows. In all it is a comprehensive systemization
of fighting techniques.
The beauty of Gao's Ba Gua is that it provides a entrance
to the deeper principles in its Ho Tien praxes. Leaving
it in Gao's words
"Without
pre heaven Ba Gua the art has no root,
without post-heaven the art is incomplete.
Pre-heaven is for strengthening the body,
post-heaven is for protection."
