THE EUROPEAN BAJI GATHERING
Bā Jí Quán
Bā Jí Quán • 八極拳 • literally translates as "eight extreme fist." It is a Chinese martial art that specializes in explosive short range power and is famous for its characteristic elbow strikes.
Bā Jí Quán originated in Hebei Province in Northern China and was at first called Ba Zi Quán • 巴子拳 or 鈀子拳 • "rake fist" probably because the fist, when not striking, is relaxed and held slightly open resembling a rake.
There are different family styles of Bā Jí but they are sufficiently similar to be identifiable as the same martial art and students from different lineages are able to practise together with mutual respect and co-operation.
Bā Jí is becoming increasing more popular around the world the European BaJi Gathering exists to promote knowledge, understanding and skill in this unique fighting system.
This introduction has included information from the Wikipedia article: Bājíquán.
The European Gathering
The European BaJi Gathering was something that came to life step by step...
In 2006 Wim Seeuws (Belgium) started making arrangements for his teacher (Wu Lianzhi) to come to Europe and had the idea of making the event open to the wider European BaJi community...
"Because I know that the BaJi community is very small here in Europe I wanted to use this occasion to get as many practitioners together as possible.
I already had some contacts in France and Italy and it seemed logical to try and find other schools also who would like to join us.
So, before I started with all the arrangements, I looked up all the BaJi schools I could find and did a survey. Most of them where very enthusiast about this initiative so during the beginning of 2007 I started with the practical things.
The main idea was just to bring people together with the same mindset: People who like BaJi and who would love to train with other practitioners, no matter what branch or teacher.
Wu Lianzhi was ultimately not able to attend because of last minute problems with his visa but we found three other respected teachers to help us: Lü Baochun, Zu Yaowu and Jung Yunghwan Each contributed a unique perspective and teaching style and made the even a great success.
We had participants from Belgium, Italy, France, Sweden, Finland and the UK. With more then 40 people we trained together in good spirit and on the Saturday evening we all went out dinner at a Chinese restaurant which provided us with a good opportunity to get to know each other better.
Everyone agreed that we achieved our goal of bringing individual practitioners, and even schools, together in an atmosphere of mutual respect and friendship.
The BaJi Gathering is not for promoting any particular branch of BaJi or any particular teacher and is no place for politics. Its purpose is only to bring practitioners together.
We all share the same passion, a passion that is difficult to explain if you do not know BaJi. But perhaps you would like to learn and join us next time."
Regards,
Wim Seeuws
