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Dong originally called his art "Zhuanzhang" (turning palm). In his later years, Dong began to speak of the art in conjunction with the eight trigrams (bagua) theory espoused in the Book of Changes. When Dong began teaching his zhuanzhang in Beijing, where the majority of his students were already accomplished martial artists. Dong's teachings were limited to a few "palm changes" executed while walking a circle, and his theory and techniques of combat. His students took Dong's patterns and theories and combined them with their original arts. The result is that each of Dong's students ended up with quite different interpretations of Baguazhang.

Most of the various styles of Baguazhang found today can be traced back to one of several of Dong's original students. One of these students was a man called Yin Fu. Yin studied with Dong longer than any other and was one of the most respected fighters in the country in his time (he was the personal bodyguard to the Dowager Empress, the highest prestige position of its kind in the entire country). Yin Fu was a master of Luohanquan, a Northern Chinese external style of boxing before his long apprenticeship with Dong. Another top student of Dong was Cheng Tinghua, originally a master of Shuaijiao (Chinese wrestling). Cheng taught a great number of students in his lifetime and variations of his style are many. A third student of Dong who created his own Baguazhang variant was Liang Zhenpu. Liang was Dong's youngest student and was probably influenced by other of Dong's older disciples. Although Baguazhang is a relatively new system of martial art, it became famous throughout China during its inventor's lifetime, mainly because of its effectiveness in combat and the high prestige this afforded its practitioners.

In China, Baguazhang is often taught in conjunction with Hsing­yi-chuan because it is believed the two arts complement each other. Baguazhang movements focus on the circle and the opposites of yin and yang. It is a medium and close-range system that uses upright stances. Many of the offensive techniques are subtle and indirect, but very effective for self-defense. It likes to circle the opponent and attacks with the palms.

Because the art is based on the Book of Changes, students learn to constantly adapt their responses to a self-defense situation. Baguazhang is based on evasive footwork and a kind of "guerilla warfare" strategy applied to personal combat. A bagua fighter relies on strategy and skill rather than the direct use of force against force or brute strength to overcome an opponent. The strategy employed is one of constant change in response to the spontaneous quality of combat.

Baguazhang is a very circular art that relies almost entirely on open hand techniques and full body movement to accomplish its goals. It is also characterized by its use of spinning movement and extremely evasive footwork. Many of the techniques in Baguazhang have analogs in other Northern Chinese systems; however, Baguazhang's foot work and body mechanics allow the practitioner to set up and execute these techniques while rapidly and smoothly changing movement direction and orientation. Baguazhang trains the student to be adaptable and evasive, two qualities that dramatically decrease the amount of physical power needed to successfully perform techniques.

The basis of the various styles of Baguazhang is circle walk practice. The practitioner "walks the circle" holding various postures and executing "palm changes" (short patterns of movement that train body mechanics and methods of generating momentum that form the basis of the styles' fighting techniques). All styles have a variation of the "single palm change," which is the most basic pattern and is the nucleus of the remaining palm changes found in the art. Besides the single palm change, other patterns include the "double palm change" and the "eight palm change" (also known variously as the "eight mother palms" or the "old eight palms"). These patterns make up the foundation of the art. Baguazhang movements have a characteristic circular nature and there is a great deal of body spinning, turning, and rapid changes in direction. In addition to the single, double, and eight palm change, most, but not all, styles of Baguazhang include some variation of the "sixty-four palms." The sixty-four palms include patterns that teach the mechanics and sequence of the specific techniques included in the style. These forms take the more general energies developed during the practice of the palm change and focus them into more exact patterns of movement that are applied directly to a specific combat technique.

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