guas, from which the Ba Gua Zhang name comes, then interplay among themselves to create sixty-four (eight x eight) arrangements of eight yin and yang line diagrams.
The binary codings of the / Ching and the Ba Gua diagram have many cor-respondences to Ba Gua Zhang martial art practice. In most styles the sixty-four changes of the / Ching have been adapted into or closely associated with the sixty-four palms (movements) of Ba Gua Zhang.
In the same way that the Ba Gua diagram and the / Ching mirrored myste-rious universal principles, the art of Ba Gua Zhang was believed by its practi-tioners to mirror the principles of creation through movements corresponding to the philosophical ethos. Central to this ethos is the idea that the universe gives birth to phenomena through change and interplay of bipolar opposing forces of yin and yang.
T h e Chinese philosophy of yin yang, a separate school until 200 B.C., viewed phenomena in the universe as mixtures of yang (positive/charged) and yin (negative/receptive) "mechanisms of change." In seasonal terms, the clas-sic example of yang is high summer, while winter represents extreme yin. How-ever, just as the year goes by and summer gradually changes to winter, all phe-nomena are seen as gradations of yin and yang.
Modern interpretations of yin-yang
A modern scientific-based interpretation of this principle includes the neuro-receptor sites in one's brain activated by positive and negative electro-magnetic interplay. Positive-negative electrical changes govern nervous signals sent from one's brain by which bodily actions such as digestion occurs; again an example of a process brought about by bipolar electrical change. Other examples are the pos-itive to negative electro-chemical reactions that produce changes in plants' photo-chemical cell reactions from day to night and electro-photo-chemical reactions that accompany the growth and development of bones (brought about by piezo-electrical charges). Thus magnetism (the interplay of bi-polar electro-magnetic forces against each other) are basic to life processes and can be under-stood in terms of yin and yang.
When bipolar opposing principles are incorporated into the martial arts they deepen practice and provide for efficient movement within and external to the body. Since Dong Hai-Chuan's time, many have believed that study of the ultimate principles of the internal martial arts will be impeded if not under-stood through the bipolar laws of yin and yang.
mechanisms of change
American Ba Gua student Dave Phelps studies the
"lotus palm" with "Uncle"
Yang. Temple of Heaven Park, Beijing, China 1994.
sung
gang rou shen gi
mien ch 'nan
The positive/ negative binary coding of yin and yang and how this applies to Ba Gua martial arts
There are many ways to understand yin and yang in the martial arts. The ideal human model, where forces of yin and yang are most balanced, is the healthy infant who physiologically reflects the optimal merging of these forces. Separation and division between these forces brings about growth, since growth requires yin and yang to oppose: Where the extreme merging of yin and yang equals birth, the extreme division of yin and yang is death. According to the Tao Te Ching, the ultimate bible of the Taoists, balanced "softness" is equated with the life force and "stiffness" (extreme hardness) results in death. Life energy, when hard and without softness, is unable to express power. Blood ves-sels provide an apt analogy: when soft, they transfer vital fluid, but they become brittle and vulnerable to arterial disease when hardened by plaque; yet when too soft they may burst, and if in the brain, causing cerebral hemorrhage. Soft and hard merge to create the youthful body. The perfect yin-yang balance is the goal for the martial artist. A true master moves like a young tiger, with fluidity both soft and hard and unquestionably powerful. The image of an accomplished inter-nal master is the effortlessness and powerfulness of a predatory cat. An interinter-nal master moves with neither unyielding stiffness nor limp lifelessness but with an effective grace that brings sung, (coiling, loose and wiry) power to fruition that is gang rou shen gi, a balance of hardness and softness.10 A true internal master has no need for hand- or body-hardening exercises (a throwback to pre-Taoist yogic martial arts). Instead he practices mien ch'uan (cotton palm).
Yin-Yang in internal power
Just described is the principle of the yin and yang in motion. In internal mar-tial arts this is the unity of calm and action. (Calm + action = internal power).
Yin is the calm aspect of movement; yang is the active aspect. According to ancient philosophical views of the law of the universe, nothing can be outside the law of yin and yang.
Although perennially tending toward opposition, when yin and yang are unified, there is power. Consider the example of an electrical motor, its power formed through an electrical charge that causes magnetic resistance and ensuing
movement. An electric motor turns because the magnets resist and push against their polar opposite. Like a quiet motor that generates immense power with lit-tle detectable activity from the outside, the martial artist who brings yin and yang close to unity generates combat-effective internal power without outwardly
appearing powerful.
Reflected in this martial system one extreme is calm, the other is ment, and the cycle between activity and stillness governs all life. "Before move-ment there is calm, however, this calm carries with it the intent to move." The para-dox of Taoist internal yoga as applied to mastery in the martial arts, is that "even when you are moving you are still" and "when still you are in motion." The para-doxical merging of activity and stillness is the expression of the interplaying opposites of yin and yang that lie at the heart of Taoist yogic practice. "The per-son who can understand this secret and incorporate it into practice is on the road to becoming a highly skilled internal martial artist."