Yin Fu

Yin Fu (1840 – 1909 CE)

Yin Fu was Dong Haichuan’s earliest disciple at Su Wang Palace. Some stories say that when he started studying with Dong that he did not appreciate circle walking and focused on striking and kicking methods, even laughing at the circle walking practice.

Dong Haichuan was upset at this and said, “If you laugh at circle walking again, you won’t have your front teeth any more.” Yin Fu began to laugh and Dong used a palm strike to knock out two of Yin Fu’s front teeth. After that incident Yin Fu concentrated his practice on the turning palms.

Yin Fu was thin and small, but his strikes were strong, and his circle walking practice made him very fast and agile in a fight. After the incident with Dong Haichuan he studied hard and developed new aspects of the Baguazhang art.

After training with Dong Haichuan, he held a bodyguard office in the imperial palace. Some stories say that he was a personal bodyguard to the dowager empress Cixi, and escorted her from Beijing after the failure of the Boxer Movement.

While acting as a palace bodyguard, Yin Fu also taught martial arts. Yin Fu first taught his students Lohanquan, or Paochui, and only later taught them Baguazhang. Yin Style Baguazhang is known for its strikes, kicks, and unique palm formation known as the ox’s tongue. The four fingers are close together, and the thumb pulls into the center of the hand which is hollow.

Further Study

Interview with Mr. Xie Peiqi, Yin style Baguazhang expert from Beijing, by Jarek Szymanski

Yin Style Bagua Linked Palms (Yi Shi Bagua Lianhuan Zhang) (Classical Baguazhang, Volume 9)