THE 64 HANDS OF LIU DE KWAN
As Taught By Grandmaster Liu Jing Ru
This set was developed by Master Liu De Kwan who was a second-generation disciple in both Ba Gua Zhang and Tai Ji Quan, having been the disciple of both Dong Hai Chuan, the founder of Ba Gua Zhang and Yang Lu Chan, the founder of Yang Style Tai Ji Quan. Liu De Kwan was also known as Big Spear Liu due to his proficiency with the long handled, hook bladed spear, which he became a master of when he was very young. Liu De Kwan’s first martial study was of Xing Yi Quan, which he mastered under the tutelage of famed Xing Yi teacher Liu Qi Lan, who also taught famous Xing Yi Masters Li Tsun I and Chang Chao Tung. This made Liu De Kwan one of the first people to study all three Internal Martial Arts.
Eventually, Liu De Kwan became a military martial arts trainer and at first, he attempted to teach his soldier students classical Ba Gua Zhang, but discovered that hundred man circles simply did not work for training troops. To overcome this teaching obstacle Liu De Kwan developed 8 straight-line drills with 8 techniques per drill. These drills represent his expertise in the arts of Ba Gua Zhang, Tai Ji Quan and Xing Yi Quan and worked perfectly for training Liu’s young soldier students. These drills have been passed down by a number of different schools of Ba Gua Zhang and become known as The 64 Hands of Liu De Kwan.
Liu De Kwan was a member of the Shen County, Hebei Province martial arts clique, which included his Xing Yi teacher Liu Qi Lan, Ba Gua founder Dong Hai Chuan, most famous Xing Yi Master Kuo Yun Shen, Xing Yi/Ba Gua Masters Li Tsun I & Chang Chao Tung and Ba Gua Master Cheng Ting Hwa. Liu De Kwan was a close friend of the former wrestling champion and innovative 2nd generation Ba Gua Master Cheng Ting Hwa and some people believe that Liu De Kwan actually learned most of his Ba Gua technique from Cheng as did his friends Li Tsun I and Chang Chao Tung. In 1894. along with his good friends Li Tsun I and Cheng Ting Hwa, Liu De Kwan founded the first organization teaching the three Internal Martial Arts and in fact this group coined the phrase Nei Jia Quan, or Internal Family Martial Arts. This term, Nei Jia Quan was made famous twenty years later when Cheng Ting Hwa/Kuo Yun Shen student Sun Lu Tang published the term in his first ever books on the Internal arts. With in the 1894 organization, Cheng taught the Ba Gua Zhang and Li Tsun I taught the Xing Yi Quan, while Liu De Kwan was responsible for the Tai Ji Quan content of the group’s curriculum. After Cheng Ting Hwa’s death in 1900, Liu De Kwan kept his connection to the Cheng family by helping Cheng’s eldest son Cheng Yu Long operate his father’s martial arts academy.
Master Liu Jing Ru’s teacher Luo Xing Wu was the Ba Gua disciple of one of Cheng Ting Hwa’s top disciples Li Wen Biao as well as a Xing Yi student of Li Tsun I’s disciple Hao En Guang. A famed military fighter in his youth Luo became a well established teacher of Ba Gua and Xing Yi. In 1942 Luo discovered that Cheng Ting Hwa’s youngest son Cheng Yu Hsin was teaching in a little country martial arts school and not doing well financially, so Luo invited Cheng Yu Hsin to come and teach in his school in Beijing. The young Liu Jing Ru then got to learn the Original 64 Hands of Liu De Kwan from Cheng Ting Hwa’s youngest son Cheng Yu Hsin and this is the set which he passed on to the teachers and students of The Wu Tang Physical Culture Association, in Beijing during the winter training trip of 2007-2008.
