Muslim Chinese Martial Arts

Introduction Muslim development and participation at the highest level of Chinese Wushu has a long history. Many of its roots lies in the Qing Dynasty persecution of muslims. The Hui chinese muslims started and adapted many of the styles of wushu such as Ba Ji Quan, Pi Gua Zhang, Liu He Quan.. etc. There where specific areas that where know to be centeres of Muslim wushan, such as Cang County in Hebei Province. These traditional chinese martial arts where very distinct from the turkic chinese muslim styles practied in Xinjiang.

The Chinese Muslim practioners where so adept at their martial arts, and there styles such as Pu Yi and Ba Ji Quan, where so renowned, that they formed the backbone of the bodyguards of the Chinese Emperors. Most where students of Li Shu Wen. Such as Huo Diange bodyguard to Pu Yi (the last emperor of China), Li Chen Wu bodyguard to Mao Tsedong and Liu Yunqiao secret agent for the Kuomintang and instructor of the bodyguards of Chiang Kai Shek. As a result Ba Ji Quan became known as the 'Bodyguard' style