GrahamB wrote:Thanks - it was interesting to dive into Bajiquan for a bit, there's a lot of depth there
I finally made time to listen to both of these podcasts.
Well done on both counts.
I’ve not had a lot of exposure to Bajiquan outside of my own tradition, so it was nice to hear the perspective of Miika and Rikard. Everything that was said was right inline with what I was taught by my Wutan teachers. It was a fun renewal of the art for me.
I thought the second interview was with Rikard and Miika again, until I started looking for it and was directed to the Heretics podcasts.
I have to say that this was my favorite Heretics podcast. I thought you both were spot on with your observations and information.
I loved your discussion of the origins of Bajiquan. I don’t remember the exact wording. I’ll have to go find it. But, we should treat the origins of all martial arts that way. With very few, mostly modern, exceptions, no one man created a martial art, and those that did stood on the shoulders of giants.
The only thing that I was taught concerning the origins was that Bajiquan was likely Baziquan and staff (巴子拳棍) mentioned as being famous in his day by Qi Jiguang in his 1560 manual.
Damon also mentioned the Hui people. It’s not a popular view today, but I think there is evidence the influence of the Hui was a catalyst that invigorated CMA in the Ming Dynasty and may have given birth to CIMA. The Khans of the Yuan Dynasty imported conquered educated of Indo-Persian lands and others as engineers, scholars, and even elite soldiers. With the collapse of Yuan, for the most part, the Ming Dynasty embraced these peoples. Many were integrated into Chinese society and others maintained an Islamic (Hui) community.
Their influence on weaponry is blatant. The talwar had a strong influence on dao development. Middle Eastern bows and archery revolutionized both Mongolian then Chinese archery. Chinese military strategy was forever changed. But, these were evolutions of technologies of cultures that dated back to the Parthians and ancient Scythians.
I’m a bit of a heretic myself, I guess.