Is there a one martial art combining Hsing-you and Pa qua?

Answer 1

Right here;

http://www.Amazon.com/Study-Taijiquan-Sun-Lutang/dp/1556434626

The Sun style of Tai Chi Chuan, which combines the stepping techniques of Pakua Chang ("Eight Trigram Octagon Boxing"), with Hsin Yi Quan ("Mind and Spirit Form Boxing"). If you wish to study this style of Tai Chi Chuan you will have to travel to Taiwan, where it is most commonly practiced. In mainland China, the "five orthodox" styles of Tai Chi Chuan are the, in order of practitioners;

1) Yang

2) Wu

3) Hao Wei Zheng also called "Wu" in some provinces but it has led to so much confusion its called the Hao We Zheng style, and yes, its vastly different from the other Wu style, which is in fact derivative of the Yang.

4) Chen

5) Sun

Since you are asking about the Sun style; the Sun style of Tai Chi Chuan combines the stepping motions of Paku Chang like I said, stepping motions designed to be evasive maneuvers in a fight. Additionally, form Hsing Yi, it uses a lot of linear "spear" type techniques, and these are blended together, with the circular motions of the Hao Wei Zheng style, in fact a derivative of the Chen family small frame form of Tai Chi Chuan. Tai Chi Chuan is generally divided into large, medium, and small frame forms, each form, designed to "train sensitivity." The belief being, the greater one's sense of awareness for one's surroundings, the more sharpened one's instincts and the more sharpened one's instincts the greater the odds of survival in a nasty encounter. But that is just the icing; what is meant by "frame," is namely, the size of the movement. Big circles are used in a Tai Chi form, to train the body to respond to large attacks. By "large" I mean, things such as tackles, power blows, charges, that sort of thing. Medium circles, medium frame forms, are used, as the name implies, for mid range work, where most fighting often takes place, and within these frames, Chinese Martial Arts are full of "underhanded" and devilishly sneaky techniques. From a seemingly disadvantageous position for example, a Shaolin monk from mid range, could easily snap the arm of an MMA fighter attemping a choke hold. Yes, such a technique exists. Small frame forms, are designed to develop ultra high sensitivity to the TINIEST movement an opponent makes; moving so much as an inch, is enough for a Tai Chi Chuan master to use that momentum to throw them off balance as much as 10 feet. All a Tai Chi master needs to send you flying, is one inch of movement. See though, to attain that level of skill isn't easy; it requires rigorous training in all the frames, additionally, rigorous training in pushing hands.

By and large, the Yang style of Tai Chi Chuan has kept only the large frame, emphasizing pushing hands practice for small movement sensitivity training, arguing for the fact that doing it the Chen family's way is too time consuming. A word of warning regarding the Sun style; I have experimented, usually always with only a small handful of begining forms, with all the styles. The style I ultimately stuck with was the Yang, because the Dunn DVD was the only one available that could competently teach it, and it is exceedingly difficult to learn martial arts forms from a book. However, for all 5 styles, I managed to teach myself the first 10 steps, always, without failure. The style, which made me feel like my body was burning up, was the Sun style. Five steps, I swear to you, only five steps, is all it takes, and from doing the Sun style for five steps, your body will be burning up. Sun Lu Tang was not messing around when he designed his Tai Chi form; when that master said "this style will circulate your chi vigorously, but please do not be frightened..." he wasn't messing or kidding around. In fact master Sun had a gift for understatement.

Even though ultimately all internal martial arts lead to the same thing, and same levels of accomplishment, in my opinion the most powerful of the styles is the Sun Style. Oh yeah, Sun is pronounced "Sune" like Microsoft's "Zune" but without the "Z" sound. Its like "Zune" but with an "S" sound. Sune Lou Taang; that is how you pronounce it I believe. Sun Lu Tang was unique among internal martial artists of modern times, in that he received a classical Chinese education, that is he was educated in the Confucian curriculum, one of the last men of his generation to be educated in such a manner, he was trained in the proper use of the I-Ching oracle, among other Daoist practices including internal medicine, additionally, he was a caligrapher, and in fact, the book you see in the amazon.com link I pointed out to you, the caligraphy on the cover was not done by a computer or printer, it was done by him. Moreover, I think it even said he was also trained in Chinese medicine. The only other known-to-Chinese-tradition internal martial artists who boasted such a curriculum, was the legendary founder of the art Shang Sang Feng. Sang Feng, like Lu Tang, was a polymath, a genius. Sun Lu Tang was doing high level caligraphy, at the age of 5. When his family was too poor to afford ink and paper, at the age of 12, he taught himself caligraphy by brushing water onto thin paper, paying painstaking attention to each pattern, that is how determined he was to perfect the art.

As a side note, interpret this how you will I don't care; I have more respect for Chinese people, specially the likes of Sun Lu Tang, because when you hear stories of men who became great scholars, or women renowned for their skill in martial arts, there are many similar such stories of miserable poverty, deprivation, and basically every possible disadvantage in life you can imagine. Sun Lu Tang learned caligraphy because the man who taught him was old, and long retired, and noticing the boy's intelligence did not want his potential to go to waste. Unable to practice on his own outside the school because like I said, his family could not even afford ink or paper (both relatively cheap in China, even in his time), he use water and paper, and used the water patterns on the paper, to perfect his caligraphy. See when you hear stories about ashkenazi Jewish nobel prize winners, they almost always come from upper middle income families, not poverty stricken ones like Sun Lu Tang's. Sun Lu Tang had every disadvantage you could possibly imagine, and yet, he became a martial artist far more skilled than any Israeli Krav Maga expert, a scholar more knowledgeable, intelligent, and truly versed in what he studied, than any ashkenazi Nobel prize winner, and further more spiritually speaking, he became a man of a character far more humble, and outstanding, than any orthodox Rabbi. Additionally in his old age, when he was 60, upon having been examined by a western doctor, the doctor said the man had the body of a 40 year old. Frankly, I doubt very many ashkenazi men in Israel or anywhere can say that of themselves. Having every advantage in life, its easy to soar to high places, is what I am trying to say, and yet it is they, not Sun Lu Tang, who receive the most praise. Frankly, and considering what the bastards did to my family, it makes me sick to my stomach. Furthermore, the teachings of master Sun regarding proper Tai Chi practice have done more for me, than whatever the hell those ashkenazi nobel prize winners were researching, because ultimately the only people who enjoy the fruits of nobel laureates are all rich brats and snobs. Forgive me for inserting such personal issues but I feel it was relevant to the man.

I know you were only asking about the martial art but if it serves to convince you to study it, if you are trying to decide on a style of Kung Fu, perhaps let me convince you to study the Sun Style of Tai Chi Chuan if a school is available to you. The truth is you can't pick a better style than that one; if there was a style that is "superior" to it, even though internal martial artists don't like to compete because of philosophical reasons, it would have to be the Wudang style of Tai Chi Chuan, the one practiced, and handed down by, the legendary Shang Sang Feng, however as most Chinese have written in the few Chinese martial arts books that have made it to these shores, Wudang Tai Chi is taught only at Wudang, and anyone wishing to learn it, must go to Wudang and forsake everything else. Furthermore, the masters of Wudang Kung Fu as it is called are EXTREMELY picky in who they choose as a student, legend has it that one look at you, just one look, is enough for them to reject you, and don't try to be persistent because you will only waste your life. Regarding who the Wudang masters pick, their decisions tend to be final on the spot the second they see you. Believe me, Wudang has never had a shortage of ambitious martial artists, sometimes from as far away as Vietnam, Japan, or Korea, wishing to learn its secrets. Because so many hundreds of martial artists make the pilgrimage, there is never a shortage of aspiring students like I said, but usually, a Wudang master will chose only one student every 50 years. So what determines whether you can study at Wudang or not? The truth is no one knows; you gotta remember that years of tyranny from differing corrupt imperial dynasties rendered most of the Chinese population illiterate for many centuries, and where there are illiterate people, there are stories, exagerations. For example, of Sun Lu Tang it was said that his Xing Yi teacher, used to make him jog while touching the back end of a horse. At first, the horse would only trot, but as the story goes pretty soon his master had the horse run at full gallop, and Sun Lu Tang could apparently run just as fast. Now, Sun Lu Tang's daughter, Sun Jiang Yung (R.I.P.), when interviewed back in 1989 (I think), was asked to comment on that story and she replied "oh that's ridiculous! No one can run as fast as a horse!" Perhaps ashkenazi Jews when running away from a fight after bullying someone they're such damned cowards, sure, could run that fast, but most people can't. The surest sign of a despicable coward, is someone who can run at fast speeds to avoid being punished for wrong doing. To be motivated by fear, to run at high speed, is a truly disgusting thing. I don't think master Sun was a coward, because I know that a willingness to train for 8 hours a day, almost nonstop, to perfect a martial art, takes courage. Now without steroids, without fancy gyms, without the prospect of financial gain or reward, perfection for perfection's sake, takes much courage.

Sorry for the personal stuff I put in there but again, I felt it relevant; if you must study a style of Tai Chi Chuan, I highly recommend the Sun style. It is, possibly, just as potent a style when it comes to circulating Chi, and getting where you wish to get more rapidly, as the Wudgan style, or at the very least second best. See, the Chen, Yang, and Wu styles of Tai Chi Chuan, were all heavily influenced by Shaolin Kung Fu. As was the Hao Wei Zheng style. If you look at certain Shaolin routines, many techniques can also be seen in the Yang long form. In fact, virtually every stance in the Yang style of Tai Chi Chuan is derived from Shaolin. If you need help with your stances for your Yang style Tai Chi practice, the best person to consult is a Shaolin monk, because the stances are exactly the same. Many Yang tai chi schools neglect stance work, so if you wish to perfect your stances, you will have to consult a Shaolin monk. Without solid stances, the Yang Long Form loses a lot of its power, or rather, its ability to circulate chi; the Dunn DVD I feel is incomplete because it does not cover each individual stance on the 13 postures enough. To compensate, I have used the stances shown in "25 Shotokan Kata," figuring since that since its all southern Chinese martial arts derived, that the stances are the same (mostly). However take it from someone who has experimented, with all 5 styles except Wudang; the Sun style, believe it or not, is easily the most potent. Remember, that style was designed by someone trained, prior to learning Tai Chi, in two other internal styles, additionally, he was trained in all sorts of Daoist lore, possessed unique intelligence, and as if that wasn't enough he even knew Chinese medicine. With that kind of a curriculum, its only natural that the Tai Chi style developed by Master Sun circulates the chi more potently and efficiently than all other Tai Chi Chuan styles known, and it is not a style of Tai Chi you want to underestimate and criticize, don't make that mistake please, and don't be deceived by its seemingly simple forms. Trust me, getting those forms right, simple as they look, is murderously hard on the mind, the concentration it requires for the small, exacting movements and coordination with each step, is enough to mentally exhaust you enough that if you train hard enough you will eventually collapse from exhaustion; that, is the intensity that the Sun style will make your chi flow with, if you are not careful, if not guided by a teacher, the style of Tai Chi developed by master Sun WILL knock you down to the ground. The Sun Style of Tai Chi Chuan in my opinion, is for advanced martial artists only; Shaolin temple graduates, holders of 5th dans or higher in Karate, or, Tai Chi practitioners who have practiced a more benign style such as the Yang for years. In other words buddy that style is not for noobs as they say in gamer parlance; I found that out the hard way.

good luck.