In another thread I sited several techniques that Pa Kua, Hsing-i, and Aikido appear to share, which are not just similar, but identical both in structure and application. I'm curious to see others thoughts on this, as I've trained a bit in all three.

The thing is, these aren't just common similarities. I wouldn't be surprised to see a front snap kick taught by any of the karate or Tae Kwon Do styles, or a hook punch shared between boxing and Muay Thai for example. These are practical and logical techniques that could be developed in any country, at any time, by any people, because they are efficient and practical.

Instead, the techniques I'm thinking of I had thought to be pretty unique. While they're natural for thier intended purpose, they're more sophisticated than usual. For example, "Golden Phoenix Spreads Wings" is a Pa Kua movement which to the untrained eye would have no practical application at all. It involes spreading your arms out, with elbows bent palm up while you step forward and turn. I'd never seen it before in another art until I was taught it in Aikido as Kokyu-ho, and though it's extremly unusual looking, it makes for an incredibly effective throw.

Aikido also features beng chuan, tsuan chuan, and pi chuan. In fact these are the only hand techniques formally taught in most Aikido sylabuses. Aikido calls them Tsuki, Gyate-tsuki, and Shomen-uchi. Power is generated in an identical way as far as I can tell, and the basic training method of line walking is the same also.

Foot work in Aikido is pretty linear having more in common with Gao Pa Kua or Hsing-i, but the toes are always turned out in Ko-bu unless the Aikidoist is using a Bai-bu step which we call "Tenkan".

As with Hsing-i, Aikido's empty hand techniques all translate to the armed techniques, and the preferred weapons are very similar. Hsing-i uses Spear and saber extensively, while Aikido uses Short Spear (in practice we use Jo), and Katana (Bokken). The Jo is used in the very same way as the Spear is used in Hsing-i.

Someone posted something around here a few months ago where they noted that during their trip to Bejing University they were asked to demonstrate Aikido. The University coaches exclaimed that what they were doing looked just like Pa Kua. I don't necessarily think this means that Aikido came from China, but it's very interesting how similar the philosophy and actual techniques are to some CMA.

The reason that it seems so strange that Aikido has so many similarities between these arts is that Aikido has few similarities to any other traditional Japanese art. You'd think an art supposedly developed in recent times and based on older Japanese arts would look more like them. Could it be that O-Sensei, Aikido's founder, borrowed a little from CMA? Or could it be that because he had similar goals to the internal styles that he came up with similar methods independantly?