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.