Video: Baguazhang (Eight Trigrams Palm) Form and Applications

[beareagle]

Master Wei-Chung Lin, a disciple of the Yizungyue School and the Chief Instructor of the Chinese Taoist Martial Arts Association in Skokie Illinois, demonstrates a Cheng style Baguazhang form and its applications.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAq1WA_RCiI

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Nice!

 

[qi-tah]

Very interesting clip... i also do Cheng style ba gua and a lot of this looks very similar to what we do. I'm assuming this is their old eight palms, although i counted 9 palm changes (bit hard to tell with all the editing)?? The palms changes look much longer and more complex than ours, their no#8 (i think?) palm changes contained our whole No#8 change plus some swimming dragon-like stuff! No#9 (?) looked like something out of our swimming dragon form too.

I have to say though, i've practiced three different "versions" of Cheng style (during my search for a good ba gua teacher) and i've never seen anyone open and close their forms like that! Does anyone else continue walking while they are closing?

I liked the application for the hook hand on the clip... must try that!

Here is a short montage clip of my teacher doing some Cheng style ba gua - sorry the quality of the video is so poor, it's the intro to one of our training DVD's and I'm guessing someone recorded it from a screen or something. The apps look quite similar to the Sifu Wei Chung Lin clip.

 

[Steel Tiger]

Well this is a very different style of bagua to mine, but I have to say I have not seen opening or closing like that. We definitely stop moving to close.

I think there might have been nine palms, it is hard to tell, they are very long.

 

[terryl965]

Nice video

 

[beareagle]

Well this is a very different style of bagua to mine, but I have to say I have not seen opening or closing like that. We definitely stop moving to close.

I think there might have been nine palms, it is hard to tell, they are very long.

1. Use different ways to open or close a form is just a matter of artistic taste. One can actually learn to do the movements in different ways very easily.

2. The form is structured according to the spec of the Gao style Cheng school Pre-heaven palm form. That is, there are eight palms plus the final touch "black dragon swings its tail."

 

[Steel Tiger]

1. Use different ways to open or close a form is just a matter of artistic taste. One can actually learn to do the movements in different ways very easily.

2. The form is structured according to the spec of the Gao style Cheng school Pre-heaven palm form. That is, there are eight palms plus the final touch "black dragon swings its tail."

Very interesting. The opening and closing I use is called a "Swan Bow" and it is static.

Is the Gao style one that you practice yourself?

 

[beareagle]

Is the Gao style one that you practice yourself?

Master Lin's last Bagua teach, Grandmaster Pan Yue, is a direct lineage holder of the Tianjin Gao Yi-Shen style Bagua system.

 

[Changhfy]

Thanks for the link,

Ive always enjoyed researching Bagua and overall checking it out.

Steel Tiger, You called the stance a Swan Bo. I havent heard of the character expressed Swan. Do you happen to know any other translation or can you upload the character? (are you using the Yale translation? I have heard of the Swan character in Yale but not really anywhere else)

To help understand the essence.

Thanks in advance.

take care,

 

[tshadowchaser]

I enjoyed that clip

I do not know the style/system well but it looked smooth and flawless to me

 

[Steel Tiger]

Thanks for the link,

Ive always enjoyed researching Bagua and overall checking it out.

Steel Tiger, You called the stance a Swan Bo. I havent heard of the character expressed Swan. Do you happen to know any other translation or can you upload the character? (are you using the Yale translation? I have heard of the Swan character in Yale but not really anywhere else)

To help understand the essence.

Thanks in advance.

take care,

To be honest my teacher only ever referred to it as a Swan Bow and I have never seen the character for it, mores the pity. It follows this pattern: stand with feet together and hands at sides, brings hands up at the sides like two bird wings, fingertips momentarily touch at full extension above head then come down into the Returning Ming position (you know the one, right hand a fist, left hand wrapped around it), from there you bow from the waist bringing your hands up above your head as you do so.

It might be called something else, perhaps a Crane Bow, in other places.

 

[Changhfy]

Oh I'm sorry were you mixing the English with the Chinese?
Anyways I understand what you mean, thanks for the clarifications.



take care

 

[TaiChiTJ]

Recently, in a webpage discussing Sun Lu Tang's contribution to chinese martial arts. Shifu Mancuso discusses Sun Lu Tang's efforts:


Sun Lu Tang created his Open/Close form of Taiji in 1918. He incorporated his philosophy and the arts of Xing Yi and Bagua. Sun had started his training with Li Gui Yun at the age of 12. Next he studied with "Devil Hand" Guo Yun Shen. Next he learned Bagua from Cheng YanHua. Hao Wei Zhen taught him Hao Taiji. From all this Sun decided that Xing Yi was characterized by its character, Bagua by its unification and Taiji by its softness.


By the "unification" inherent in Ba Gua, I guess he meant Ba Gua unifies movement by combining stepping, with hand, arm and limb position all at once into an appropriate application.

It is interesting to note that the idea that Hsing-I, Ba Gua and Tai Chi constitute the major Internal Arts of China is not necessarily agreed on by all Chinese martial arts practitioners. It is Sun Lu Tang's conclusion, many Chinese perceive the whole field differently. While I'm rambling a bit here, its always fascinating to me how differently the first palm is done by different practitioners.

Thanks for the videos.