In the late Qing Dynasty, Master Yin Fu and Master Gong Baotian were both great masters in the imperial court. They served in the court for a long time and taught Baguazhang. Gong Baotian is a descendant of Yin Fu's mantle and received personal guidance from Patriarch Dong Haichuan. He has completely inherited the original style of Bagua Quan, a unique style of palm-piercing skills that was secretly passed down in the Qing Dynasty court. This boxing integrates the Book of Changes and the Theory of Changes, using the eight trigrams as a disk and the pointing tree as a circle. It is based on the principle of generation and restraint of the five elements and is in line with the yin and yang of the eight trigrams.
Gong Baotian, courtesy name Ziying, was born in December of Xinwei, the 10th year of Tongzhi, and died in June 1943. He was a native of Qingshan Village, Mashidian, Rushan City, Shandong Province. After practicing with Yin Fu for decades, he learned the true meaning of Bagua Quan. He once served as a close bodyguard for the general of the Eight Banners Army of the Qing Dynasty, and later succeeded Yin Fu as the general manager of the palace and a fourth-grade sword-wielding guard. He resigned before the fall of the Qing Dynasty and traveled to three northeastern provinces and various places in Shandong. Mr. Gong Baotian is thin in stature, but his arms are above his knees, his body is as light as a swallow, and he can move like an ape. In the martial arts world, Mr. Gong is known as the "Monkey Palace". He has extremely profound skills and has defeated many martial arts masters. He is known as "the number one golden man in Jiaodong". He is a rare martial arts master and a martial arts master at that time. Later, he was hired by Zhang Zuolin, the king of Northeast China, as the chief martial arts referee of the three northeastern provinces, the patrol envoy of the three northeastern provinces and the chief coach of the three armed forces. After Zhang Zuolin resigned under Zhang Zuolin, Mr. Gong returned to his hometown in Shandong to teach Bagua skills to many students. But there are not many genuine disciples. The sign of recognition between apprentices is one of the eight stunts taught by him. The eight stunts are: swallows walking through the forest, swallows playing in the water, swallows floating, swallows floating on the water, silver snakes walking through the forest, withdrawing to change shadows, withdrawing and stretching the palms, and lions shaking bells.
Liu Bingxi is a disciple of Gong Baotian and the second generation successor of Gong’s Baguazhang. Born on March 9, 1908, in Huangtan Village, Mouping County, Dengzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province. At the age of 12, he became a disciple of Taizu Changquan master Jiang Nailin. Later, Master Jiang sent him to Gong Baotian for further study, specializing in Baguazhang. The taught Baguazhang pays attention to tranquility, emptiness, softness, emptiness, and spirit. It is based on the big pine, big soft, dragon-shaped monkey, internal energy as the foundation, walking and turning as the core, fine sticking and listening, and light and agile changes. The main steps are walking steps, wading steps, digging spiral steps, running steps, etc. The steps are fast and the body techniques are changeable. Palm piercing is the main method. The techniques include "piercing, teasing, rolling, pressing, cutting, and tapping." ", bomb, bundle" and other methods, the force is cold and the bomb is crisp and fast. The body technique has lines and angles, and is known as the "Diaojiao Bagua". It has many hidden lines and triangles, with inner corners for defense and outer corners for hitting. Master Liu Bingxi learned routines, single manipulation, various instruments, hidden weapons, etc., and inherited Grandmaster Gong Baotian's soft snake whip strength, finger snapping, palm flicking, butterfly piercing flower palm, kite piercing forest palm, and stamping impact. His palm skills and other stunts are superb and wonderful to perform and fight. Liu Bingxi, a master of profound martial arts, was a disciple trained by two old masters, Gong Baotian, the Baguazhang master, and Jiang Nailin, the Taizuquan master. Master Liu Bingxi taught many students but had few apprentices. Master Liu's personal disciples include Yang Chen in his early years, Rong Huafeng and others in his later years.