Pigua QuanHistory: Pigua Quan, or Axe-hitch boxing, was known in ancient times as armour wearing boxing. Ming dynasty General Qi Jiguang included the defence of using armour while fighting in his book, A Ne Essy on Wushu Arts. When the National Wushu Institute was founded in Nanjing in 1928, Pigua Quan specialist Ma Yingtu invited another pakua fighter Guo Changsheng from Hebei to lecture, and the two of them expanded the art, adjusting the moves but keeping the essentials and adding explosive power, as well as skills from the 24-form Tongbei Quan. The revised Pigua Quan turned out to be a completely new art, which was said to be feared by even deities and demons.
Today's Pigua Quan has come mainly from this revised version. The axe-hitch boxing, which is popular in Gansu province, consists of axe-hitch, blue dragon, flying tiger, Taishu and Dajiaji Quan (big frame boxing), while the popular version in Cangzhou is made up of axe-hitch and cannon boxing. Execution of axe-hitch boxing demands accuracy, agility, continuity, speed, power, dexterity, and subtlety, though different styles have different stresses in execution.
Piguaquan (Traditional Chinese: 劈掛拳, literally "chop-hanging fist"), also known as Piguazhang (劈掛掌, "chop-hanging palm") due to its emphasis on palm techniques, is often practiced along with Bajiquan (八極拳, literally "eight extremes fist") and is a style of wushu (Chinese martial arts) that features explosive, long-range power. It originated in Hebei Province of North China, but today is also well-known in other places, including Taiwan. Piguaquan's power is from the accelerational force of the arms which are often in rotation. The hip movement in Piguaquan is more subtle and gentle compared to Baijiquan, because you only need enough to guide the big chops whereas in Bajiquan, the hammers, punches, elbows and swings rely completely on the quick and powerful rotation of the hips, and sink to bring its power out.
It is often said that originally, Bajiquan and Piguaquan were the same art but split hundreds of years ago. Li Shuwen (李書文) remarried the two systems in the late 19th to early 20th century and today these two styles are often taught as complementary arts, especially in Taiwan. In fact, there is a Chinese martial arts proverb that goes: "When pigua is added to baji, gods and demons will all be terrified. When baji is added to pigua, heroes will sigh knowing they are no match against it."In Mainland China, Piguaquan is still often practiced as a stand-alone art as well.
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