Jingang Bashi 金刚八式

Name

The term Bashi 八式 means "eight styles" and refers to the 8 routines or "lines", while the word Jingang 金刚 refers to the "Invincible" Adamantine/Diamond Buddha Warrior Attendants, the supernatural protectors of Buddhist temples often featured in statues outside them.

The Ma Family, being Muslim, refer to their set as GanGong Bashi 刚功八式 instead.GangGong 刚功 translating to English as "hardness practice" and lacks the religious/philosophical connotation of Jingang 金刚, instead referring to the artistic expression during the practice.

History

Tracing back to Shaolin NeiYuan QuanFa 少林内院拳法 ("Shaolin inner-courtyard fist"), these movements are not exclusive to Bajiquan, as Jingang Bashi is actually from shaolin. The movements were adopted by several (but not all) schools of Bajiquan many years after its initial inception and are prevalent in most traditions, however, their execution does vary between different traditions as the movements have changed over time.

The Shaolin Ba Shi (8 postures) was trained alongside the Shaolin Dan Shi (single postures) as a foundational set in Qing dynasty era Shaolin Quan. During the 1800s, these routines reached Hebei and began to influence several styles including Ba Fan Men, Xing Yi Quan, Bagua Zhang, and Baji Quan enough to become a part of their curriculae.

Some styles teach that Shi Yushan 石玉山, future head of Tianjin's eleventh Guoshu Guan (national Martial Arts Association), was taught it by a Shaolin monk. Late, Tian Jinzhong 田金钟, a disciple of Shi's who had also studied with Wu Xiu-Feng (吴秀峰), implemented the movements into the Baji curriculum.

In the Ma Family, their GanGong Bashi originally stems from Li RuiDong's line.

Jingang Bashi can also be found in Yue Jia Duanda Chui (岳家短打捶，General Yue Fei's Close strike hammers), as it spread from Shaolin to the area in Shandong province from which Tanglang Quan was eventually developed.

Due to Dong Hai Chuan having learnt Ba Fan Shan and Jingang Bashi from his elder cousin, a famous Ba Fan Shan master in Hebei, it seems there is also a connection between the Jingang Bashi and Bagua Zhang.

Training

The Jingang Bashi are generally trained linearly, consisting of repeating a single movement multiple times. They can be practiced using only one side of the body, or by alternating left/right.

The Form

Names are presented in their Chinese terms, followed by Pinyin, and finally an English Translation. If you are on the mobile page, please slide the table to the left to view the rest of it.

Style	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
Shaolin	降龙 Xiáng Lóng Subdue Dragon	伏虎 Fú Hǔ Beat Tiger	分心掌 Fen Xin Zhang Divide Heart Palm	穿捶 Chuan Chui Piercing Hammer	盖捶 Gai Chui Covering Hammer	野马掌 Ye Ma Zhang Wild Horse Palm	捧肘推山 Peng Zhou Tui Shan Hold Elbow Push Mountain	单凤掌 Dan Feng Zhang Single Wind Palm
An	撑捶Chēng Chuí	穿掌 Chuan zhang	降龙 Xiáng Lóng	伏虎 Fú Hǔ	劈山掌 Pī Shān Zhǎng	探马掌 Tàn Mǎ Zhǎng		虎抱 Hǔ Bào
Baji Association	撑捶Chēng Chuí Punter's Fist Lü Baochun	穿掌 Chuan zhang Piercing Palm Lü Baochun	劈山掌 Pī Shān Zhǎng Mountain Splitting Palm Lü Baochun	降龙Xiáng Lóng Taming The Dragon Lü Baochun	伏虎 Fú Hǔ Take Down The Tiger Lü Baochun	探马掌 Tàn Mǎ Zhǎng Spying Palm Lü Baochun	虎抱 Hǔ Bào Tiger's Embrace Lü Baochun	圈抱掌 Quān Bào Zhǎng Three Circle Embrace Lü Baochun
Huo	撑捶 Chēng Chuí	迎面掌 Yíng Miàn Zhǎng	降龙 Xiáng Lóng	伏虎 Fú Hǔ	劈山掌 Pī Shān Zhǎng	探马掌 Tàn Mǎ Zhǎng	圈抱掌 Quān Bào Zhǎng	虎抱 Hǔ Bào
Ma
TianJin	降龙 Xiáng Lóng Zhou JingXuan	伏虎 Fú Hǔ Zhou JingXuan	Cheng Zhang Zhou JingXuan	撑捶 Chēng Chuí Zhou JingXuan	Long Na Zhou JingXuan	探马掌 Tàn Mǎ Zhǎng Zhou JingXuan	劈山掌 Pī Shān Zhǎng Zhou JingXuan
WuTan	馬步衝捶 Mabu Chong Chuei Horse Step Punch	左右攬捶 Zuǒyòu lǎn chuí Hammerfall Strike	崩捶靠 Bēng chuí kào Collapsing Palm	連環捶 Liánhuán chuí Chaining Fist	小纏衝二捶 Xiǎo chán chōng èr chuí Coiling Double Strike	劈挑掌捎捶 Pī tiāo zhǎng shāo chuí Split Palm Cleaving	左右橫打 Zuǒyòu héng dǎ Horizontal Strike	磋步托天掌 Cuō bù tuō tiān zhǎng Hold the palm of the sky
Wudang
Xu

Characteristics of each style

An

The An Family teaches Jingang Bashi as part of its initial Bajiquan training. The lines are practiced with opening and closing movements facing the side, and feature a distinctive turning movement at the start and finish of each line. They are used to teach practitioners fa li(发力, force generation) principles prior to learning Taolu. 降龙 Xiáng Lóng and 劈山掌 Pī Shān Zhǎng are generally taught together, out of sequence, as they use similar but opposing principles.

An JianQiu translates the name into English as: "the eight hardest fighting movements", with "hardest" not referring to difficulty but to the feeling of indestructibility that is cultivated in Bajiquan. After stances, this is the first set of Bajiquan movements learned at the school.

Baji Association

Baji Association uses Jingang Bashi as a basic training method, alongside XiaoJia. Believing that it should be performed at a "moderate pace" with focus on structure and quality of movement, it is one of the most fundamental sets in the curriculum. Lü Baochun has been quoted to have advised training 200+ repetitions (100 for each side) of Cheng Chui, in particular, as a method of developing power.

Huo Family

Huo Family Bajiquan teaches the Jingang Bashi at the third "stage" (out of a total seven) of their practice, following learning foundational movements, XiaoJia, DanDa and Pigua Zhang taolu.

Ma Family

The Ma Family takes a rather different approach to the set than other schools; current practice in Ma family is to break up Ganggong Bashi and spread them out into the Ma family’s basic curriculums, as opposed to learning it in the Bajiquan curriculum.

WuDang Pai

The WuDang Pai / Shizaam school, created by Ismet Himmet, appears to have a routine known as the "Nine Fists" which seems to be based on the JinGang BaShi and includes some of the same techniques including PiShan Zhang and the first two techniques bear heavy similarities to Cheng Chui and Chuang Zhang. This version is said to come from Long Jin-Ju.

WuTan

Wu-Tan continues to follow the principle of "Basic Movements" before forms, in this case Xiao Baji. While Jingang Bashi is taught early on, especially to newly advanced Tanglangquan students, Following after 'Mabu Chong Chuei stage 1'. The layers are slowly revealed as the student progresses, gradually adding on and expanding after grinding repetitiously and meticulously. Thus, It is common for WuTang students to continually revisit the basics and the forms, even after many years; Again after Xiao Baji, Again after Da Baji and Again after Liu Da Kai and beyond.

Examples showing movements based on the body mechanics utilized in the one-punch are illustrated by the "Guardian Warrior's Eight Postures" (jin gang ba shi) (see links below). Technically, these eight sequences are not really thought of as a form, but are singularly executed and practiced in a linear fashion similar to xingyi's five elements. Each sequence is done for ten to fifteen movements before continuously moving onto the next sequence. These sequences can take anywhere from twenty to thirty minutes to perform, but close attention must be paid to the structural alignments. Too often beginning students race through these lines as quickly as possible and defeat the entire purpose of relaxed, focused training.

The essence of our Bajiquan moves is called [Eight Guardian Postures] which is the foundation of the skill moves. The eight major moves can be single-operated, combined, and disassembled. Dismantle eight hands in one move. Eight hands evolve into eight, eight and sixty-four hands, which is the essence of Bajiquan.

        The basic attack technique is based on eight major moves. These eight strokes are all centered on the "six big opening" top, hold, single, lift, carry and wrap six characters. Change into a move. One move and one hand can be dismantled. It can be divided into upper, middle, and lower by six-character decision, which can be used both inside and outside. One move can be combined with six characters. Sometimes one move includes three characters. Use two characters together, or use one character to make a move, combined and divided alternately. Its techniques emerge in endlessly, continuously, flexibly, and unpredictable, and its Yin Shou, Sanshou, and small techniques are extremely rich.

馬步衝捶 Mabu Chong Chuei Horse Step Punch

左右攬捶 Zuǒyòu lǎn chuí Hammerfall Strike

崩捶靠 Bēng chuí kào Collapsing Palm

連環捶 Liánhuán chuí Chaining Fist

小纏衝二捶 Xiǎo chán chōng èr chuí Coiling Double Strike

劈挑掌捎捶 Pī tiāo zhǎng shāo chuí Split Palm Cleaving

左右橫打 Zuǒyòu héng dǎ Horizontal Strike

磋步托天掌 Cuō bù tuō tiān zhǎng Hold the palm of the sky

The Eight Gaurdian Postures is the content of Shaolin Inner Gallery System. Tianjin Taiji Master Li Ruidong has passed on the complete content. This is why the answerer upstairs said that there is no Guardian Eight Form in the Tai Chi he has learned, because Guardian Eight Form is originally It is not in Tai Chi, but Li Ruidong joined in. The Baji boxer Li Shuwen and Li Ruidong changed their skills, and only then did the Bajimen's Guardian Eight Form. Moreover, Li Shuwen only learned the basics of the eight-style Vajrayana, and changed it in accordance with the style of the eight-pole. This is why the eight-style vajra style does not have much content, and it is not quite similar to the eight-style vajra style passed by Tianjin Li Ruidong The same reason.

The source of the Eight Forms of Guardian has been very clear, so I will talk about my own views on the subject of "Why treat things from other factions as basic skills" proposed in the answer. Although the Eight-Chip Guardian Style was learned from Li Ruidong’s predecessors, the eight-pole ancestors modified it in the form of eight-pole boxing. You can compare the Guardian Eight Styles passed by Li Shuwen and Li Ruidong. The difference is very obvious. . (Senior Li Ruidong’s main practice method is Taijiquan, but the eighth form of Guardian is something of Shaolin. It can be seen that exchanges between schools in the Republic of China are very normal.) The eighth form of Bajiquan, the move is learned from others, but issued It is the cross-top pull-strength of the Bajiquan. The movement specifications are the shoulders and elbows of the Bajiquan. It’s just that these eight movements of the eight forms of Guardian are particularly suitable for making cross-top pull-strength training templates; the use of Bajiquan can give full play to the power of these eight moves, and they are very useful; it can be said that eight The force of Jiquan and the eight-style moves of Guardian have a natural consistency. In addition, the most commonly practiced in the eight forms of Guardian are the upper step punch and the upper step palm, which are very basic movements. These two movements are originally in the Bajiquan routine. On the other hand, I think the main body of martial arts inheritance is people, not the type of boxing. What a boxer passes down depends on what he has learned, to what extent he has learned each content, and what he thinks is important, not on what is inherent in the type of boxing. Therefore, it is normal that there will be obvious differentiation after three or four generations. Wu Zhong, the ancestor of Bajiquan, is famous for Liuhe Daqiang. According to legend, Bajiquan and Liuhe Daqiang are not learned from the same teacher. To some extent, Bajiquan can be considered in Wu Zhongye’s inheritance. The work comes from another school, but Bajiquan has become the most basic training content in the inheritance of later generations. PS: Huo's Bajiquan's most distinctive technique-Diaoqiu Gong, was learned by Huo Diange's ancestors from his friend Gao Dao. (One is that the high Daoist sees the Bajimen practicing grasping the jar, and the idea given to them is replaced by a mud ball. The high Daoist does not necessarily practice it by himself. This is considered to be the method invented by the high Daoist. The core swordsmanship of Jiquan-Pure Yang Sword and advanced exercises-Yi Jin Jing, were all added by the sage Li Shuwen (who does not know who learned it). Although splitting the palm as a separate routine for selective practice is not very important in the Huo's Bajiquan system, the most basic warm-up activity-walking the acupoint, is the thing for splitting the palm.