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Another member of the triumvirate that is the neijia (sister art to taijiquan and xingyiquan) is the art baguazhang. It is regarded by many as superior to the other two insofar as its defensive focus goes (with xingyiquan being the more offensive and taijiquan finding a balance between the two.) It shares its founding legend with xingyiquan and was ostensibly created at the same time. (See my article on xingyiquan for more information on that.) For those curious, baguazhang was featured in the movie The One, starring Jet Li, used by the "good guy" character in that film.

Baguazhang's focus tends toward a more evasive, defensive styling than might otherwise be seen. Its emphasis on internal energy, coupled with this defensive style likens it to other "soft", circular arts (think aikido). Many masters agree that of the three neijia, baguazhang is the most powerful internally.

The style itself is based upon movements derived from the Chinese I Ching, a book of wisdoms and prophetic "trigrams", specifically those eight that offer (according to opinion) the most potency. The mechanical philosophy of the art is circular in nature, based upon the idea that evading strikes and coming in for attacks at unconventional angles is the best way to fight. The art relies almost exclusively on hand strikes, pushes, and grapples, with almost no kicks evidenced.

Very good observation. The mechanical secret to the art is a classic, simple one. A punch (or kick!) cannot hit what is not there in the first place. A baguazhang practitioner is always in motion, and never, ever moves in a straight line in any direction, even though it might seem they are. The flaw in the art, however, lies in the footwork. As a primary boxing art, baguazhang's footwork is fluid but simple and a blow sufficient to break their root can disrupt their motions and flow.

Not in the same way as, say, Capoeira or Taekyon. It relies on the ability to move specifically and draw power from a deep root. This is why baguazhang is usually taught in tandem with xingyiquan, so that they can compensate for each other's weaknesses in this area.

The issue at hand with flow is that a flow can be predicted. By alternating the techniques and styles in a harmonious fashion, you can punctuate the flow with the more abrupt techniques of xingyiquan.

It's hard to say, honestly. Almost all of the power of this martial art is generated internally rather than muscularly, and speed is less important to any given martial art than technique. Baguazhang walks a very careful balance between martial theories, and altering that balance would probably damage the art more than help it. Baguazhang is something of the "ultimate" traditional martial art, in that it has been taught in exactly one way for a very, very long time with almost no alteration. Ask me and I'll tell you that this is because they got the art right many centuries ago. Ask someone else and they might claim stagnation. Either way, something that has been intact like this for so long would suffer if you altered its foundations.

Is it truly useful in a real fight?
If you can become a master there is obviously
set material to learn i would assume?
Therefore, how to you plan on adapting to uncommon
scenarios?

I just returned from my first Baguazhang learning in over five years, and boy am I out of shape for that art. A new sifu just moved here, and I'm his first student. Three hours in a low stance later and I find that my krav maga training and xingyiquan practice both left me woefully unprepared. Taijiquan played into it somewhat, but the new sifu insists that my thighs be parallel to the ground at all times, which hurts like a mofo. Still, I know that the rewards will be worth it. He's a really good teacher, reminds me of my old taijiquan sifu in a lot of ways (though this man is American, not a Hong Kong native like Sifu Liu was.)

So here's hoping that in a month or two I'll be able to start posting a much more detailed explanation of the style in this forum. Wish me luck!

M'kay, a couple of weeks in and things are starting to come together. My postures are still somewhat weak, a side effect (according to Sifu Long) of my height. Apparently, the longer your legs the harder it is to master the strengthening postures, which I suppose is why they're called "strengthening postures" and not "postures any jackass can do wandering in off the street." xp

We've started to meld the postures into the circle turning now, practicing slowly so as the harmonize the movements of feet and arms with the abrupt, exploding energy of strikes and pushes and the subtle blocking and capturing techniques. Also, I happened to mention my study of xingyiquan, and immediately Sifu Long began to show me how to incorporate the five fists striking format (which is linear in nature) into the circular motions of baguazhang.

I now sort of see why masters teach these two arts together traditionally. The abrupt alteration of circle to line and back again, coupled with the uniquely explosive energy of both arts' movements is an almost perfect blend. I do bemoan that there are almost no kicks in either art, but I think I can actually add a bit of capoeira into the forms since the circular motion promotes the kicking format of that art with a minimum of disruption.

Meditation, thankfully, is zero problem. I've resumed the yi-quan qigong practice that I once did faithfully every day as a qi-building exercise (thanks, Wing Chun for a wonderful format of qigong!) Hopefully, my internal energy will continue to build to a powerful level. According to my Sifu, it is already fairly powerful thanks to my taijiquan and the formerly mentioned qigong practice. Qi is central to the application of baguazhang. With it, the explosive maneuvers take on an entirely different, insidious dimension. A strike that might look inconsequential can do damage days after it occurred. Sifu Long's own teacher told him stories of his father during the Japanese occupation of Chinese territory during WWII. Apparently, he used the (forbidden at the time) art to defend his farm against a squad of troopers. They all walked away from the fight largely unharmed, until four days later when they all died of a strange malady of the internal organs.

At any rate, there's the update. More to come.