Various lines of Baguazhang claiming lineage to Ma Gui (but comprising different material) are still actively taught in China as well as in Japan, North America, and Europe.

[7] Ma Gui began studying Baguazhang at the age of twelve with Yin Fu and then with Dong Haichuan while still a teenager.

[9][10] Ma Gui advocated a rigorous approach to training with a heavy emphasis on developing extraordinary lower leg strength.

He often had Liu Wanchuan (Li Baohua's grandmaster) look at his shins, and would occasionally allow people to hit them with wooden or iron staffs.

[2] While an impressive feat, the majority of Ma Gui's leg training was not done through walking at such an extremely low level, but rather was cultivated by countless hours of his system's "bear walking:" slow concentrated circle-walking in a horse stance that dramatically transforms the large tendon lines from neck to feet and strengthens the entire body.

[12][13][14] Ma Gui was most famous for his devastating fighting technique called the "zhibi wanda"—a wrist strike with a straightened arm.

His reputation only grew over time, and after surviving both the turmoil of the Boxer Rebellion and later the Xinhai Revolution, he eventually became a martial arts instructor at the National Police School in 1919.

To Liu Wanchuan, watching from the side, Ma Gui's body looked very light, as if his feet did not even touch the ground.

Many third and fourth generation Baguazhang fighters were influenced by Ma Gui's teachings but only received bits of his knowledge.

Today there are only two known lineages that can be said to have received the full transmission of his martial arts teachings—the schools of Liu Wanchuan[17] and Wang Peisheng.