Fu Style Baguazhang

Fu Style Baguazhang
(傅氏八卦掌)

Fu Chen Sung practicing the large sabre form of Baguazhang.
Also known as	Fu Style Wudang Chuan, Fu Style Wudang Fist
Hardness	Internal (neijia)
Country of origin	China
Creator	Fu Zhensong 傅振嵩
Famous practitioners	Fu Wing Fay, Bow-sim Mark, Victor Fu Sheng Long, Lin Chao Zhen, To Yu
Parenthood	Chen-style t'ai chi ch'uan, Baguazhang, Wudang sword, Sun-style t'ai chi ch'uan, Yang-style t'ai chi ch'uan, Xingyiquan
Olympic sport	No

Fu Style Wudang Fist is a family style of Chinese martial arts encompassing T'ai chi ch'uan, Xing-Yi chuan, Bagua zhang, LiangYi chuan, Baji chuan and Wudang Sword. Fu Style Baguazhang is one of the five styles of baguazhang recognized as orthodox in China. It is the precipice and highest-form of the Fu Style martial arts.

Fu Zhen Song (name also translated as Fu Chen Sung) began learning Chen Style Tai Chi at age 16 from the famous Chen Family master, Chen Yan Xi. Three years later, Fu began learning Baguazhang from Jia Qi Shan (also known as Jia Feng Ming). Fu was one of the first to learn these arts, as the Chen Family had only started teaching their art to outsiders a few decades earlier; Dong Hai Chuan had only revealed Baguazhang a few decades earlier, and only took on a handful of students, one of them being Jia Qi Shan. Although Fu did not receive the formal schooling of his urban countrymen, Fu was very bright, learned the two arts well, and practiced very hard.

At the age of 26, Fu had become very famous for single-handedly defeating a large mob of bandits, a story that appears in a number of versions.

Fu traveled to Beijing where he met the other great Baguazhang masters of that period. He learned from them and exchanged information about the art. In 1928, three military generals organized the first nationwide martial arts competition in Nanjing. Fu Zhen Song was one of the five judges of the competition. When the generals wanted to test the true skill of the top winner, a young man by the name of Wang, all the judges "nominated" Fu to do the "testing." Fu had no choice but to respect the commands of his seniors and fought with the winner, Wang. According to those present, the battle went on for a long time, and at the end, Fu hit Wang off the stage with one single blow. This was to be one of the three high-profile battles Fu was famous for, the other two being the fight with Li Shu-Wen, an older and established master of Bajiquan, and with a large group of Muslims who practiced Cha Quan back in Fu's home village.

During this time, Fu met, befriended and exchanged information with the top Baguazhang masters of China. He became close friends with Sun Lu-t'ang, and taught him the Baguazhang "mud-walking step (tang ni bu)." Fu studied Yang-style taiji from Yang Cheng Fu, and one day beat him in a match of "push hands." Yang said, "You only won because you switched to Baguazhang." Fu also studied swordsmanship with Li Jing Lin.