Henan, Zi Lu Bagua Quan
Zi Lù Yīn Yáng Bāguà Quán
Zi Lu Yin Yang Bagua Quan is a traditional martial art practiced in the Kaifeng area of Henan province.
The local villagers referred to the martial arts they practiced as Bái Quán (an old generic term for empty handed boxing methods originating in the Ming dynasty, the term, not the methods).
However when the art was brought to the attention of a group of people doing a survey of the province’s “intangible cultural assets” they noted the similarity to some mid Qing dynasty manuals they had recently collected in the area.
The martial art in the manuals (Zi Lu Yin Yang Bagua Quan) was believed to have died out. However it was found that the forms and exercises listed in the manual, including the names and descriptions of individual postures matched exactly with the villagers martial arts.
According to legend recorded in the manuals this style was created by Zi Lu, one of the disciples of Confucius.
Zi Lu’s father died when he was still a small child leaving the family in poverty. According to the collected manuals he then began studying martial arts and created this system in order to protect his widowed mother.
In the Confucian records Zi Lu was known for his filial piety and his skill with the Jian (straight sword)