Baguazhang

[Bagua Dragon]

Greetings fellow martial arts practitioners and Enthusiasts.........any South African Baguazhang practitioners or fans here??? i see very little on Bagua in this forum

 

[Xue Sheng]

Use to be a couple Bagua folks, but they have not been around in a long time. I did train some bagua, but not a lot, A yin 8 palm and the rest was Shang and only a form or 2 of that. I am, for the most part, a Taijiquan/Xingyiquan guy

 

[Bagua Dragon]

Great, Im a Yinstyle Baguazhang practitioner and teacher under the lineage of Master Hejin bao. I also practice and teach yang style Taiji.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Yang style Lineage to Tung Ying Chieh I am also teaching.

Xingyiquan, to many teachers and I claim no lineage there.

Also trained Chen, some with Chen family, but I am not a student of the Chen family and I no longer do any Chen style. Currently working on Sun style taiji as well.

 

[Bagua Dragon]

How are you finding Sun style in comparision to Yang taji?

 

[Xue Sheng]

How are you finding Sun style in comparision to Yang taji?

It appeals to my Xingyiquan side, have not done it long enough to have any real depth of understanding of the style. But it does have, in some postures, a surprising similarity to Jeet Kune Do

 

[VPT]

I always thought that the chasing/closing footwork inherited from Wu-Hao taiji to Sun style would make plenty of sense to Xingyi guys. At least it makes sense to my Bak Mei.

My teacher tells me that Xingyi and Bak Mei have plenty of similarities in principles and ideas, but that they also differ a lot in many aspects that makes crossing over harder than one would think.

All of the above has of course nothing to do with Bagua.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I always thought that the chasing/closing footwork inherited from Wu-Hao taiji to Sun style would make plenty of sense to Xingyi guys. At least it makes sense to my Bak Mei.

My teacher tells me that Xingyi and Bak Mei have plenty of similarities in principles and ideas, but that they also differ a lot in many aspects that makes crossing over harder than one would think.

All of the above has of course nothing to do with Bagua.

I also found a lot of similarities between Xingyiquan and Jeet Kune Do.

But back to Bagua, since this is what it is about with a correction. I said I did Shang, it was Cheng, sorry about the mistake.

I liked Bagua and if I was younger, had more time or it was all I did I would have stuck with it. But the last time I was training Cheng style I realized that for me (and I am more than willing to say this is only me) to get Bagua to where I wanted to to be that I would have to quit everything else I was doing at that time (Taijiquan, Xingyiquan) and focus only on Bagua.

Bagua is a great style and I wish there were more Bagua folks on MT....or at least that the few that use to be here were still here

 

[Encho]

I have done very little Yin style and know of students of He Jinbao one of my teachers is a student of his though I learned a different family style from him then Yin.
I personally like Cheng style and practice a form of it as well as Liang style. At the end of the day Old palm set is enough and maybe fixed form set is enough, I feel learning many routines is a waste of time and you are better off spending time walking circle or applications.

 

[VPT]

What, really, is the circle walking good for? I've never managed to grasp its utility.

 

[Bagua Dragon]

Circle walking has huge benefits, firstly walking in a circle and changing direction helps the body to start accessing both the left and right sides of the brain equally. You should walk with your waist twisted which helps massage and detox internal organs. By walking in a circle you are creating a vortex of energy, if you walk long enough (atleast an hour) you will literally feel the energy you are creating hence it also becomes a meditative practice. And lastly it has huge combat purposes, the circular movement helps with getting around your opponent, evading attacks, absorbing attacks etc. However the way you walk and change will differ depending on what you practicing, for instance if im practicing combat i wud do much more turning, my circle is smaller and my turns are tighter, quicker and more explosive but if im walking as an internal practice, i walk slower for a much longer time, my changes are slower and softer.

 

[VPT]

Can you paraphrase your reply in a way that has a common interface with modern sport science methodology? Because most of that now ('vortex of energy') is simply impenetrable to me.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Can you paraphrase your reply in a way that has a common interface with modern sport science methodology? Because most of that now ('vortex of energy') is simply impenetrable to me.

have you ever done any bagua?

Bagua, in training, moves in a circle..... can be referred to as a Vortex.

Ever feel energized after a good workout?.......energy

 

[greytowhite]

What, really, is the circle walking good for? I've never managed to grasp its utility.

From what I understand circle walking has a few different purposes. Tactically it's good preparation for fighting multiple people. Circle walking is a foundation practice and some lines of bagua include linear sets like the 64 Palms, still others have the Penetrating/Linking Forest Palm sets that start with a small number of poles and go up to 9 poles to weave between and strike. Another thing that circle walking really helps one do is separate the lower and upper torso in different postures so one can be strong in awkward positions and return to neutral also creates a lot of strength.

These are solo training methods. One can also circle walk with a partner to build structure. I've trained in some exercises similar to the poles above but with people instead of stakes. The exercises go up not only in persons participating but also levels of difficulty. So, the person who is weaving between other people usually has the goal of just not getting hit. Difficulty levels can go from the instructor telling the "poles" to strike, to coordinated striking, to complete free style.