The 80% Rule

Learning Baguazhang has been challenging for me. So far, almost everything i've done in class is different on so many levels. One of the things my teacher shared with us is to not over do or handle more than we can in class. Decades of training in Japanese, Okinawan, other Chinese arts, Filipino/Indonesian, and Korean martial arts all instilled in me that we should train at 100% intensity every session.

My Baguazhang teacher was very clear that we need to stay focused and aware of our bodies at all times, and only to push to 80% at all times. He believes that working at 80% of maximum will enable us to improve steadily and prevent ourselves from getting injured in our training. Whether it be flexibility, speed, or strength, or effort exerted... we should try to stay within the 80% range of our capability. Until I hear differently from him, that will be my new guideline for training in Baguazhang.

Static Body Postures

When I was first presented with the static body postures, I was not sure what to expect, and I wasn't sure how I would be learning/absorbing them. I remember very clearly that my teacher was telling me where to focus my energies, and that I should be concentrating on what I was feeling/perceiving. We went through a variety of postures in class. Frankly, they were NOT easy to do and they clearly made me FEEL energy coursing within my body. I was really amazed. In research, I found out that some people call these static energy postures, some people call them "Mother Palms" and often teachers will teach them differently and in different orders.

Wu Ji - Standing in Preparation

My teacher emphasized the need to recognize the importance of the opening and closing of any given form or exercise. "There is a reason why all classical forms have the opening and closing postures/positioning." All life, motion, and energy begins from a "void."

Interestingly, since I have actually put thought and practice into standing and the Wu Ji state, I am much more  able to quickly achieve this readiness state and "feel" centered much more quickly than ever. Sad to admit that in my almost 40 years of training, I often overlooked this preparation as merely pomp and circumstance.
It's never too late to learn, truly.

Baguazhang for Older Men

As I ponder how to describe and discuss my last lesson, thought i'd share this inspirational man who practiced bagua until he was I think 113 years old?

Wu Chi Posture

In class yesterday, the first thing we did was to stand in the Wu Chi posture, and work on "centering" and stillness. We were told that to find one's center goes beyond just the physical center of our being, and that it was very important to be in the "moment," to be as present as possible.

Fu Style Dragon Palm Baguazhang

I tend to be a bit obsessive. I've been trying to see and learn all I can about different styles of Baguazhang. This clip below is pretty cool, I think. Fu style.

Stretching the Legs

During my last class, the Baguazhang teacher was speaking to the senior student who looked to be close to me in age. The teacher was telling him that he needed to stretch more to be able to kick higher and faster. I was surprised, as I didn't expect to hear that taught to an older student. I've been reviewing that situation and believe now that perhaps it is advisable to achieve the maximum we can safely accomplish, for flexibility, as we age and get older. I think the key is to be gentle with oneself, and consistent. Also I think it is a good idea, to gently combine strengthening along with a flexibility program. Am I a fitness expert? Hmmm, the state of NY thinks so, I am a licensed physical therapist with almost 30 years of clinical practice! As always, seek out medical advice and clearance before you all jump in and try some of these things discussed here on my blog. The vid clip below I found and think is a nice approach to stretching.

Example of Wang Shujin's Swimming Body Form

I like this form, it looks different than other forms of Baguazhang i've seen, and am fascinated by the stories of the Man himself, as a fighter and a teacher. Note: I recommend muting the sound on this clip.

Example of Sun Style Baguazhang

There are so many different styles of Baguazhang. At this point i'm leaning towards focusing on Wang Shujin's form and perhaps, Yin Style Baguazhang. This is an example of the Sun Style I found.

Basic Palm Motions

Derived from one of my DVDs on Bagua Basics:

Please note that the spelling is my own interpretation of what I am hearing/seeing...i'm to blame for any mistakes not the author.
1-Yang Zhang (palm upward)
2-Fu Zhang(Palm downward)
3-Soo Zhang(Palm facing sideward; hitting with bottom of hand)
4-Shu Zhang(Palm facing outward - fingers spread)
5-Swan Zhang (Palm facing backwards and upright)
6-Da Zhang (Palm facing downwards and backward)
7-Bao Zhang (Palms facing each other, as in embracing)
8-Chong Zhang (Palms facing outwards, wrists bent)

Wang Shujin - Teachings by Kent Howard

I found this clip very well presented on some basic Baguazhang footwork. From this presentation, it's clear that this gentleman has quite a bit to share and offer.

Jiulong Bagua

I am very interested and curious about the Jiulong Bagua taught by John Painter's group. I've watched a lot of their video clips and I am frankly super impressed by their directness of approach, their applications, some of their training methods, and when I've called them for information, I was highly impressed by their clear talk, and matter of fact attitudes. I like them.

Here is a clip of their beginning footwork. Again, I like what i'm seeing.

An Approach to Starting Out the Circle Walking

I thought this clip was useful as a good place to start.
In my class, I was initially shown a static posture, and then, shown the circle walk.
Some differences, in my class, I was told not to lift up the toes, but rather point the toe down as I stepped forward (which keeps the foot level with the ground), and first shown with the palm posture given me, and then, the circle walk with the hands on my hips, body sitting squarely on the hips, and then, I was shown an exercise to cultivate flow of chi into the fingertips, and toes... and then to circle walk with that motion, and then, back to the circle walk with the palm posture.

Lao BaZhang

Performed by Master Sun ZhiJun in his 70's.

Stand on Toes and Bounce

This is the final piece of the Eight Pieces of Brocade.
There are 3 components to this exercise... hands on the waist, hands on the back, then hands palm up in front of the chest with the toe raise... then just shake and move about to let the chi move about.

In summation, the way I describe the 8 pieces:
1-Holding Up the Heavens
2-The Archer
3-Liver and Spleen
4-Turning the Head
5-Sway the Head and Swing the Tail
6-Reach for Earth, Touch the Sky
7-Punch with Angry Gaze
8-Stand on Toes and Bounce

This represents the warm up routine for the Bagua training, after some gentle stretching and getting ready for training.

Punch with Angry Eyes

Here, with the double shoulder width foot position, inhale as we bring hands up, then slowly punch out to one side... tensing and exhaling at the last half of the punch with an angry, intense gaze.

In my class, we inhaled as we pulled BOTH hands inward, and then double punched outwards to the front with spirit!

Reach for Earth, Touch the Sky

Unfortunately this pic doesn't show the downward position, but, for me, calling it this helps me better remember the sequence.

Have feet apart, inhale as we reach upwards similar to the first movement, but don't come up on the balls of the feet, have feet stay flat. Once we reach the top, don't lower the arms, but reach forward and down as we flex at the waist and hips... try to hold the feet/toes if possible with the exhale. Can hold other parts of the leg if cannot reach the feet.

Sway the Head, Swing the Tail

Move feet double shoulder width, hands pressing down, fingers inward on the thighs... turn head and upper body to one side and exhale...allowing the chest to open up and relax...repeat on the other side.

In my class, our variation of this was to drop down into a one legged stretch on one side, and then the other.

Turning the Neck

This one is an exercise to turn/stretch the neck to either side. Opens up the lungs, heals internal bruising.
3 components... opening the lungs from the front, from the back and sides of the lungs. Use of 3 starting hand positions... on the sides of the hip (while using the shoulders to aid in the stretch), then hands to the back or kidney areas, and then hands palm up in front of the body, as we stretch the neck to both sides.

Liver and Spleen

This is the third piece of the 8 Pieces of Brocade. I call it, Liver and Spleen. The DVD by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming I recommend alot. I think his explanations are super clear and very descriptive. I also like how he presents the fundamental motion, and allows for growth and development of the movement. In my class, the only difference I noted was that we emphasized equal and opposite pushing to stretch and elongate, and  the hands crossed in front of the body, and we emphasized wrist turning out with the lower hand going down and
more posterior towards the back and down.

The Archer - Pulling the Bow

Here is the second piece of the 8 Pieces of Brocade. I call it the Archer.
Feet shoulder width, maybe just a bit wider... inhale as the hands come up, the lumbar and waist areas are used, and then, from the chest area, the hands open up into an archer's position, as we pull the hands and open up the chest area to expand outwards, hands pulling apart. This is done on both sides. During my class time, this was done to each side 2-3x.

Holding Up (Pressing or Pushing) the Heavens

The first piece or movement in the 8 Pieces of Brocade is the one pictured above. It can be called different names, but Holding Up the Heavens is the one i'm comfortable with. Essentially, begin with feet shoulder width apart, gently breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth... inhale with pushing out the lumbar spine/chest relaxed/collapsed, as we inhale, we bring the hands up towards the upper chest/neck (open the upper chest), and then press upwards. Then the hands are lowered down.

One thing that I notice right away when doing my research is the wide variety of hand positions and subtle motions of the hands/wrists used by different teachers/presenters. In the class that I attended, instead of interlocking fingers, they used open hands/palms and there clearly was more force applied than shown in some videos.

Interesting...this is where experimentation and steady practice over time will allow us to choose the variations we do. As always, please don't follow my writing and do your practice without either initially seeking out a licensed medical practitioner or the guidance of an expert teacher. I'm just sharing my thoughts/research and personal experience/thoughts. In no way, will I or any associate of my group be liable if any of you out there choose to follow the things i've posted here on my blog. OK, lol... enough of the disclaimers! Good practice to all of you out there!

Warm-Up

From my two trial classes that I had attended, I thought it was interesting that the teacher asked the students to do the normal stretching and loosening up routines commonly found in all martial arts, and then had the students go through the 8 Pieces of Brocade for warm-up, prior to starting the training session.

I noticed that when performing the 8 Pieces of Brocade, despite not fully understanding the meaning or significance of what I was doing at the time, that I developed a true sense of warmth and a gentle perspiration that surprised me, from doing it. Of course, lol, at the time the instruction of how to do it, was sadly lacking in explanation or guidance.

I have decided that this is an important place for me to begin my focus with. Chi gung certainly can't hurt one's training development, and there is quite a bit of information out there on this particular sequence and variations. I have the DVD by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming, and in future references on my blog, I will be presenting my findings primarily from his work.

The picture above I 'borrowed' from a tai chi group in Berkeley. My thanks for using the pic on my blog.

As I write more over the next few days, this will help me to better remember the sequence and some of the highlights of the 8 pieces of Brocade. I hope this will help any readers that may come across my blog and choose to follow along. Don't worry, I promise that we'll get to the meat of Baguazhang training soon, but as this is my personal path, I'm sharing my points of development and search and learning method.

Teacher?

Finding a teacher I felt comfortable with has not been an easy task. I know I should have a beginner's mind, but frankly, having studied with amazing teachers in my 40 years of martial arts experience has caused me to become very critical and I know what I am searching for. I attended a couple of trial classes last week. At this time, it doesn't look like i'm going to go in that route.

At this time, I am beginning to feel more and more comfortable with going towards a distance learning experience for myself, in conjunction with a self-study program. I may combine that with some instruction with another local teacher I found on the internet. Wish me luck!!

It's a strange thing, on the one hand, there doesn't seem to be that much information or specifics about Baguazhang on the internet, and yet on the other hand, there does seem to be some extremely knowledgeable people writing and sharing their understanding and skills, too.

No matter which direction I finally settle on, I will have to do some more remedial work to better my fitness and physical potential.

Starting the Circle Walking

While looking around the internet, I found this article on circle walking and some of its benefits. Here is the url for the article, it's on another blog. I don't think and certainly hope the owners of the blog don't mind. My thanks to you for posting it.
http://boulderinternalmartialarts.blogspot.com/2011/05/circle-walk-practice-of-ba-gua-zhang-by.html

Yesterday was my class on bagua and I spent the vast majority of my class time learning to do the circle walk. I found it quite challenging actually. My balance was not always good, and I began perspiring shortly after starting the practice. The step that I learnt yesterday involved 4 steps in one direction and a turn. Initially, one of the seniors showed me how to position my hands, then the teacher taught me to practice with my hands on the hips, and then, back to the initial position taught, and then, she showed me some hand ex's to practice to cultivate chi into the fingertips, and then I was taught to do that same circle walk with the hand ex's as well.

Beginning A New Path

I've always been very curious about Baguazhang. It seems like such a mysterious art, filled with stories of skilled martial artists and exponents wielding skills with blades, and empty hands, dealing with challenges and growth. I'd had experience with Tai Chi Chuan and with a variety of martial arts. After a several month period of inactivity, I decided to pursue learning Baguazhang.

For those who are unfamiliar with Baguazhang, from what i've found out in my research, is that Baguazhang is one of the three major schools of Chinese Internal Martial Arts. The founder is credited to be Dong Hai Chuan, pictured above. The predominant characteristics of Baguazhang, are walking in circles, with varying types of hand motions or palm changes.

In this blog I'll be posting some of the things I have learned and experienced in my baguazhang journey. Hope you enjoy reading and sharing with me.