Liang Zhenpu Bagua Zhang was passed from Li Ziming to the association’s founder and Li’s only American disciple, Vince Black. Vince studied with Li Ziming directly over the last years of Li’s life in the 1990s and after his passing, continued to study with his disciple, Zhang Huasen. In addition, Vince was able to spend time studying under Guo Gemin’s student, Wang Shutong. The material that makes up the association’s Liang Zhenpu Bagua system was influenced by all three of these men.
The system is characterized by its natural and practical styling designed to be simple and effective in self defense. It consists of a series of neigong sets that teach movement patterns and develop the body, both for health building and for combat. It is maintained that the two goals are identical and that what will be best for defense will also be best for health.
Following the neigong sets, a series of empty-hand forms, both circular and linear, teach the specific self-defense tactics and techniques. These are augmented by an extensive repertoire of drills and applications to teach the use of the forms and to refine the very specific coordination requirements of the method which makes extensive use of joint locking and throwing.
