What is Dachengdao? How it compares to other internal arts?

[Mtal]

Could anyone tell me about Dachengdao? I hear it is an internal marital art, good for health. Is it very martial? How would it compare to the other internal martial arts? Interms of training, style, techniques, fighting?

[KarateKid7]

neva heard of it :|

[fangshi]

Could anyone tell me about Dachengdao? I hear it is an internal marital art

No but I am wondering if it is simular to Da Cheng Chuan which was developed via the combonation of hsing-i with some ba gua foot work , chi gung (buddhist I think ) and some good old western style boxing .

 

Like I said I do not know if it is an offshoot or what .

[Mtal]

Oh I just read something, it is also called, YiQuan. So if anyone has any experience with this please tell me about it. Thanks.

[fangshi]

Yup , thats the one that I was refering to . There is a guy Ali on the forums that lists Yi Quan as one of his styles . Ask him.

[yangseeksyin]

Several questions need to be answered here so I will give you the answers in brief and provide you with appropriate links to more detail.

WHAT IS DACHENGDAO?

Answer: Dachengdao translates to mean The Way to Great Achievement. Broken down another way dachengdao, Dao can be thought of also similar to Tao or The Way. And is also similar in terms of martial arts "do" in the Japanese arts, For instance karate-do or aikido; is the way of karate or the way of aiki. In terms of dachengdao this can be understood as Great Achievement Way. The martial arts name is dachengquan or Great Achievement Boxing.

IS THIS A MARTIAL ART?

Answer: Yes. Dachengquan which is the art of dachengdao is a martial art. This is a complete martial art in and of itself.

To keep things understandable and simple; Dachengquan was created by Great Grandmaster Wang Xiangzhai. WXZ learned xingyiquan from a very famous master of that art. WXZ learned the most important training method in xingyiquan. Later after mastering that art WXZ spent several years expanding his knowledge and met many masters of different systems of martial art. WXZ was looking for and developing a system that is the distillation of all the martial arts. After achieving extremely high levels in the martial arts WXZ started teaching calling his art with his developed understandings simply yiquan instead of xingyiquan as "xing" is form and most people focus on form this is incorrect. So yiquan or mind/intention boxing focused instead on substance that drives form irregardless of shape.

This is a crucial understanding as irregardless of what form takes shape what style of martial art one knows or what techniques one learns and uses the fact remains it’s the substance that drives form. To understand imagine I have a cup of tea. If I break the cup the form or outer shape is broken but the tea is still the same tea, the tea as our analogy for our substance. So now the tea is on the floor and it has taken that shape. So then say I take a rag and I wipe up the tea, now the tea has taken on the shape of the rag but we still have the same substance within still the same tea. So what we are talking about is more than mere technique or form. We are talking about WXZ creating methods to upgrade substance that drives form.

In later years of WXZ's system as he continuously improved and refined his methods the name was changed in later years from yiquan to dachengquan WXZ was honored in this later period of development that some of his students and other masters began appropriately honoring WXZ's great accomplishment by calling his boxing methods just that; Great achievement boxing or dachengquan.

Then after this later period of development perhaps for political reasons as well as WXZ great personal development and humility as WXZ felt there is never a limit that is reached the name for his later period of achievement began again being called yiquan.

ARE YIQUAN AND DACHENGQUAN THE SAME?

Answer: This depends. As some of WXZ's students may have only learned from him in earlier years, throughout the development, or only in later years. The answer is if a rose is a rose than by any other name is still a rose. So are they the same with different names maybe it depends. The differences may be small or may be very significant. The same can be said of just looking for a dachengquan teacher for instance. Let's say you meet one teacher is he the same or just as good as another teacher. See my point even within systems by the same name much personal ability, teaching skills, and knowledge of the system can be different. Some teachers of yiquan also call their system interchangeably dachengquan are their differences again the answer is it depends there may be no difference at all or their may be great differences. The name yiquan is shorter, descriptive as mind/intention boxing, and is popular in part because of politics. However, it is arguable that for practical matters dachengquan is a more appropriate name as it expressly implies the later developed achievement of WXZ's life work. So really what’s important just like the art itself not really the name or shape but the substance behind the name. For those wishing to learn this art what is most important is finding great teachers of it.

There are several methods to dachengquan practice however the key method to learn is zhan zhuang.

WHAT IS ZHAN ZHUANG?

Answer: ZZ can be translated as The Art of Nourishing Life. Or broken down as "Standing Post" however standing post denotes something dead perhaps or lifeless, nothing could be further from the truth with zhan zhuang, so perhaps better translated as "Standing Like A Tree" as trees are alive. This method of training that is non-specific in its development but instead raises the organism to a higher level is becoming better known and more widely practiced today. Of course the best people to learn zhan zhuang from it go without saying are in fact dachengquan/yiquan masters. As this is the foundational practice of their art.

IS DACHENGQUAN JUST QIGONG, GOOD FOR SELF-DEFENSE, JUST MEDITATION OR WHAT? Answer: Dachengquan is literally good for most every area of human development I mean that quite literally. As it does not matter what area of development you are interested in. Be it martial arts, spiritual, meditation, healing, longevity; or athletic performance such as stamina and strength. As such you don't even have to be interested the martial arts to achieve derive benefit in any area you are looking for by studying dachengquan. If all you’re interested in is business performance or academic performance this is also for you. Because dachengquan focuses on developing substance inside and outside equally cultivated and maximizing the potential of an organism.

SO ARE YOU SAYING I SHOULD GIVE UP MY MARTIAL ART, OR THAT I HAVE TO GIVE UP MY MARTIAL ART TO LEARN DACHENGQUAN? Answer: No. One of the wonderful things about dachengquan is remember it has no real forms or patterns of endless techniques. Because there is no focus specific system as such but instead a method to train and develop you and maximize potential because of this there is no real threat or competition with other systems. You see you can just study dachengquan as a complete system. Or you can study dachengquan which will internalize your own chosen system and raise your chosen martial art to a whole new level.

IS DACHENGQUAN AN INTERNAL ART THE SAME AS TAIJIQUAN OR BAGUAZHUANG? Answer: Yes dachengquan is a so called internal art but it is not the same as other arts. Taiji and bagua for instance require more space and are actually slower at developing the substance as talked about that drives form as they focus on movement, techniques, and forms with qigong; where as dachengquan focuses more on the qigong. Also, keep in mind if you are already interested in or accomplished in another martial art learning forms learning differently patterned forms and principles of movement as well as utilization of form requires just that; Learning another system internalizing it into your nervous system, memorization and reaction. You have to keep possibly contrary principles, theories, and patterns straight in your head and utilized properly according to each system. In other words you can actually be making things more difficult for yourself learning different systems like that. These types of problems are not a problem or impediment at all to your chosen system when learning dachengquan.

What WXZ did was take the essence of the martial arts and various practices to create the quintessence of achievement. In terms of systems he distilled the essence from shaolin, xingyi, taiji, bagua, boxing, qigong, etc. that focuses on specific methods that cultivate the essence of the martial arts.

HOW WOULD A MASTER EVEN BEGIN TO ACHIEVE AND TAKE THE BEST OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS? Answer: Look again at yourselves. From one moment to the next you can change your movement, activity, and position. But unless you substantially change your structure, composition, and substance then you are essentially the same irregardless of your outward activity. Imagine a person being ill sick imagine the same person being a master knowing the best forms and most impressive techniques. Now imagine the same master possessing that superior knowledge but all they can bring to the table to fill their form is what they have at that moment so if the substance is sick, impeded, disorganized, weak it really doesn’t matter how good the system is.

Next consider that human beings are essentially similar. What I mean is a human does not have an exoskeleton like an insect, we are mammals not amphibian, and human structure and design does not have the same structural makeup as any other animal or creature for that matter. So there are all these systems some based on insects or animals or competing theories but in the end the human body can do only so much. So really if you understand this structure and function is similar, so therefore we have advanced concepts that are true such as centerline theory and gravity, and advanced levels of development though specific kungfu achieved still has some limits or ends that are similar from person to person; so there is the concept of one martial art as so many martial arts work though the same limitations there are similarities underneath it all.

IMPORTANT LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION:

You can visit either of Grandmaster Wang Rengang’s websites for more information. There is also a PDF file on Zhan Zhuang by Master Wang’s teacher Grandmaster Wang Xuanjie available on his website or from his Yahoo! Group.

http://dcdkungfu.com

http://www.geocities.com/dachengdao/

Please note I do not regularly have the time to visit many forums; if you would like to participate in discussions, ask questions, and find more information already written. Master Wang Rengang’s forum is a good place to check out: I have written several articles there already that do a better job of answering questions. My nickname there to search the message archive is also yangseeksyin. You can also get direct feed back from Master WRG as he is the group’s moderator.

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Dachengdao/