# Baguazhang?



## Shajikfer (Mar 23, 2015)

I was curious if anyone has any experience with this art? I am also kind of wondering why it isn't mentioned in the internal arts section. Am I, ah, in the wrong martial arts section for it?

I do love me some circle walking meditation time.


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 23, 2015)

I have had some experience with Baguazhang, but there were (and I think are) others here that had much more experience with Bagua than I.

Many years ago I trained a little Yin style (8 palm), I the other style I do not really know but it was the swimming dragon form. More recently, last year, I was training a little Cheng style (8 palm and qigong). But I never learned any of these styles completely.


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## Flatfish (Mar 23, 2015)

I'm trying…..that's about all I can say….


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## Shajikfer (Mar 23, 2015)

Just found a neat guide online for how to step in baguazhang. Thought you guys might like it.

The Pa Kua Chang Journal - The Circle Walk Practice of Ba Gua Zhang


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 23, 2015)

Pa Kua Journal was a great and you can buy all of them on CD


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## Shajikfer (Mar 23, 2015)

I'd never heard of them! I'm exploring their site now. I kind of dislike learning from video or online guides, but I do like researching arts I practice, so its kind of like double checking to make sure I'm not doing it wrong. Plus they can offer tips that may be insightful...

I just realized I'm a hypocrite lol.


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 23, 2015)

Another good place to research is Plum Publications, but you would have to buy the books. They have some great Baguazhang translations


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## K-man (Mar 23, 2015)

Erle Montaigue was a great exponent of Bagua.  Unfortunately he passed on a few years back but if you can find his material it is very good.


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## blindsage (Apr 3, 2015)

I've been studying Bagua for the last 7 years, a combination of Cheng styles (and a little bit of Fu thrown in).  Pa Kua Chang Journal is a phenomenal resource.


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## OzPaul (Apr 13, 2015)

Tom Bisio at Ba Gua Zhang Xing Yi Quan and Nei Gong Authentic Chinese Internal Arts has some great information on his site and is also a nice guy.  You can sign up to his newsletter


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## Blaze Dragon (May 8, 2015)

Shajikfer said:


> I am also kind of wondering why it isn't mentioned in the internal arts section. Am I, ah, in the wrong martial arts section for it?



Your in the right section, the big three when it comes to neidan arts are Taijiquan (tai chi quan), Pakuaquan (Baguaquan), Hsingiquan (Xingyiquan). I studied all three with my sifu and the way I remember it being presented is building our internal energy through qigong which helped with all 3. What we call "Classical Pakua" which I think is called 8 trigrams, or 8 palms in other systems can be practice both fast or slow, we would practice these slowly in a meditative state as well as fast paced.


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## Xue Sheng (May 8, 2015)

Hey BlazeLee, nice to see you posting again


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## Blaze Dragon (May 8, 2015)

good to see you posting as well Xue Sheng


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## Kung Fu Wang (May 8, 2015)

Shajikfer said:


> I was curious if anyone has any experience with this art?



The only concern about this CMA system is the "crossing legs" from the grappling art point of view. No other CMA systems use this kind of body posture and there is a good reason for it.







It will give your opponent a chance to sweep your leg.


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## Xue Sheng (May 9, 2015)

Nice use of still photos to make a case that does not exist. No other system is as big into circling either and for crying out loud it is not cross legged, the stance is not all that different than xingyiquan if you go with just the leg position... and there are cross legged "postures" in xingyi taiji, Changquan, and several other CMA styles... and i will stop now before this becomes a PC discussion


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## blindsage (May 13, 2015)

I find it amusing when people speak with authority about things they are completely wrong about.


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## oaktree (May 15, 2015)

We do not cross our legs in our style of baguazhang in our circle walking, as for any Baguazhang styles crossing their legs at any given point maybe I do not know but I can not think of any at this moment. 
If you looked deeper in some of the styles of Baguazhang you will see a lot of them did come from a grappling background.
Cheng style is very well known for this. Cheng Tinghua - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia


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## greytowhite (Jul 18, 2015)

I'm learning it now through Kenny Gong's line. If past lives are real then I think I must have learned bagua in a past life, it's like remembering more than learning for me sometimes. Like taijiquan there is a lot of conflicting information out there dependent on who you talk with and what lineage they are from. I really like putting our xingyi on a circle, it's a great mind training exercise.


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## K-man (Jul 18, 2015)

greytowhite said:


> I'm learning it now through Kenny Gong's line. If past lives are real then I think I must have learned bagua in a past life, it's like remembering more than learning for me sometimes. Like taijiquan there is a lot of conflicting information out there dependent on who you talk with and what lineage they are from. I really like putting our xingyi on a circle, it's a great mind training exercise.


So what have you got against Erle Montaigue?


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## greytowhite (Jul 18, 2015)

I  think Erle's arts are to put it kindly, heavily modified.


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## tigercrane (Jul 19, 2015)

Interesting thread to say the least. It is said somewhere that Buguazhang is a high level art that is duly appreciated by any hard style practitioner for its guerrilla style warfare that is replete with evasive ground footwork, joint locks, and the famous "coiling body". I think any internal art will take longer time to understand. 

I am about to start learning Bagua while still practicing Okinawan karate. Actually, after I have tried the circle walking, I immediately thought to myself that it was probably mostly useless. Then, after reading more about it, I saw that I was wrong.
I think Baguazhang and other internal styles offer one to transition from hard to soft, where as someone who just practiced Internal style would do the opposite, i.e. transition from soft to hard.

In conclusion, I think as we age and we lose our physical strength and stamina, Bagua and other Neijia style offer to much more in terms of martial arts as opposed to hard styles. I have heard of many JMA and CMA practitioners having health issues because of physically demanding training.


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## Xue Sheng (Jul 19, 2015)

greytowhite said:


> I  think Erle's arts are to put it kindly, heavily modified.



I know the fast form he once posted from Tung Ying Chieh is


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## Mephisto (Jul 19, 2015)

Is there any video of Bagua sparring? Or maybe just some application? I've always thought it sounds interesting but I haven't seen it in action very much.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Jul 19, 2015)

Mephisto said:


> Is there any video of Bagua sparring?


Here is one:


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## Ben S (Mar 26, 2017)

Shajikfer said:


> I was curious if anyone has any experience with this art? I am also kind of wondering why it isn't mentioned in the internal arts section. Am I, ah, in the wrong martial arts section for it?
> 
> I do love me some circle walking meditation time.



I'm a martial artist of 35 years - my experience with baguazhang is limited to circle walking with basic 8 palms - Cheng style, learned from the book "The Whirling Circles of Baguazhang" - circle walking is amazing. It has improved my footwork, meditation, concentration, awareness and my overall practice in many ways. Like chi kung (qigong), watching someone does it doesn't give you anything - you have to DO it. A master of baguazhang will move high, low and around the back of you - very hard to locate!


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