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Ba Gua Zhang or Ba Gua Chang, designed to defend simultaneously against multiple opponents, is an internal form of martial art distinguished by serpentine turning and circling movements. After executing an evasive movement from one attacker, the artist - defender immediately circles, coils, and changes to respond to a second or third aggressor coming from the opposite direction. He doesn't’t stop there, but immediately turns back and proceeds to counterattack against the original attacker. The Ba Gua practitioner, fluid and powerful when under attack, moves like a whirling dervish - continuously maneuvering in quick arcing and flowing patterns. These coiling and twisting movements are very important. They are central to Ba Gua as a Taoist yogic art, an art entirely centered around the mysterious notion of chi. When a Ba Gua artist is cornered and under attack, the assailant suddenly finds the would be prey coiled and twisted, and then behind him. The physiological by-product that results from this type of martial art develops secondary benefits that are quite significant. Due to its fluid coiling, turning, twisting and jumping, the art of Ba Gua articulates the spine and extremities in ways that maximize health. The muscles next to the spine twist, nerve function increases, and the muscles, ligaments and tendons stretch.
This process is consistent with nei tan internal arts where the muscle groups are counter opposed in order to (as the Chinese traditional phrase refers to the process) "open the joints and the gates of energy." This opening has the effect of improving blood supply to the nerves as well as keeping the body supple and youthful, hence the value of the energy-based Taoist yogic arts. The ethos and spirit of Ba Gua is contained in the I Ching or Book of Changes, the ancient classic of wisdom and philosophy. Its roots predating Chinese history, it has been adopted by Taoists and Confucians alike as a wisdom text that, as a way of studying all phenomenon, codifies the events of creation into the binary system of Yin and Yang. In this codex, yin is negative or receptive while yang is positive and creative. The interplay of these forces is called the principle of opposites. Since Ba Gua is modeled on this philosophy, it also concerns itself with this yin and yang interplay of opposites, applying these laws not only to the philosophical and spiritual, but to the physical as well. This gives a tremendous depth to the art, making it supreme as a system of health as well as method of self defense. 
The movements of Ba Gua are designed to nourish chi, the life force, and thus prevent disease. They improve circulation of blood and create harmony and efficiency of the body by reducing unnatural friction and pressure on the joints. In the course of the normal day, the forces of weight and gravity, together with artificially constant, flat and level walking surfaces, interact with human tendencies to hold tension and "swing" weight. This places unnatural loads on the body. In seeking the path of least resistance, the body denatures its muscular skeletal balance. Muscle groups moving out of balance become weak or flaccid or tense and locked up. Proper and balanced exercises, such as those found in Ba Gua Chang, reverse these deleterious effects and neutralize aging and deterioration trends through a balanced, "soft" exercise that keeps tendons and joints flexible. Ba Gua training starts with "walking the circle", this is the most fundamental exercise.
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