Mengcun, Hebei: Going All Out to Prepare for the 2nd Hebei Provincial Wushu Exchange Competition

"Straight punch! Power from the waist…" At the Bajiquan Performance Hall in Mengcun Hui Autonomous County, Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, the Wushu performance program Fists Converge upon the Cosmos is being rehearsed. The athletes are set to participate in the 2nd Hebei Provincial Wushu Exchange Competition.

The 2nd Hebei Provincial Wushu Exchange Competition will be held from September 17 to 21 in Mengcun Hui Autonomous County, Cangzhou City. In recent days, at the Bajiquan Performance Hall and the Culture and Art Center Square in Mengcun, the Bajiquan team members who are set to compete have been intensively preparing and undergoing intensive final-stage training.

Mengcun Bajiquan is one of China's top ten outstanding Wushu styles and originated in Mengcun Hui Autonomous County, Cangzhou City, Hebei Province. Bajiquan is a close-combat boxing style, and its movements generally pursue a style that is fierce, unadorned, and explosively powerful. In terms of fighting techniques, it emphasizes intercepting and grappling at close quarters, as well as powerful attacks and forceful openings. Power is generated from the heels, travels through the waist, and reaches the fingertips, resulting in tremendous explosive force and highly distinctive combat characteristics, with a momentum like "a shoulder swing that can knock down the sky, a stomp that can shake the nine provinces." In 2008, it was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage.

As a local team competing in this event, the Mengcun Bajiquan team members are actively preparing, hoping to demonstrate the unique style of Mengcun Bajiquan—fierce, explosive, and unadorned—with superb skills and high spirits, convey the power of Bajiquan to Wushu enthusiasts across the country, and further promote Mengcun as the "Hometown of Bajiquan."