A short history of Internal Martial Arts in real life security during chaotic times.
Full interview transcript here:
http://www.chinafrominside.com/ma/bagua/machuanxu.html
Mr. Ma Chuanxu is a living legend among current practitioners of Baguazhang in Beijing. Unlike many other teachers he gained his fame not by winning routines competitions or appearing in martial arts magazines but because of his fighting skills tested in many life-and-death fights with bandits during years of service in Public Security Bureau. Only recently one of his colleagues from PSB revealed some of Ma's feats in one of Chinese martial arts magazines - Ma Chuanxu defeated several art smugglers during a fight; caught several drug dealers; "cleaned" train station in China's Zhengzhou of thieves and bandits (he alone caught more than 110 of them within a month). He did it all without using any weapon. He is probably the only person practicing internal martial arts who was employed as the main martial arts coach by Beijing Municipality Public Security Bureau. Many of his students now serve as bodyguards for high rank government officials in China. I have heard about him since my arrival to China in 1990 - "Big Beard" Ma (Ma Dahuzi) was considered to be the true inheritor of Li Ziming's and Guo Gumin's Baguazhang - but never had a chance to meet him. The occasion arose in November 2000 - so I called him and he invited me to his house and agreed for interview. I found many of his explanations to be very clear and shedding light on many issues - like Neigong, features of Neijia, Qi development - that are often discussed but rarely understood by martial arts practitioners. The interview below is basically full transcription of the conversation recorded on the audio tape.
JS: What does it mean that Bagua uses "Clever Power"?
MR.MA: "Clever Power" in Bagua is expressed by its techniques and strategy. Its like going somewhere - taking a longer way or shorter. In Waijia you take a longer way, while Bagua practice is the shortest way to fighting efficiency supported by internal skill.
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