[QUOTE=3DeeMonk;975148] Get some one to properly teach you and provide ideas to expand the use of walking around a tree. Then try it with weapons…try it holding an empty gun (I like to change it up and use modern weapons with traditional combat techniques…I use shot gun), familiarize and challenge the art, yourself, the weapon and your elements. Get comfortable with whatever is thrown at you. Dont take my word for it…get up and put that remote down and push yourself to the limit to find that you have no limits…[/QUOTE]
Dee,
Ever done “move, draw to retention, index-point-shoot, change direction, extend to aimed fire” all while keeping the bagua body?
Try it.. it’s a blast. Quite literally it’s a blast if you forget to clear your weapon
[QUOTE=3DeeMonk;975142]There is so much in the Bagua curriculum that youll quickly grasp that the learning never stops, no matter how much effort or moments of practicing. There are always enlightenment of biomechanics, energy, speed, power, mind, balance, and the attempts to be a coherent unit of distributing all these characteristics throughout the body. The art itself changes on how the art is challenged by the practitioner. The aspiring seeker would make additive changes whether its with the environment setting(fighting the elements), more weight added when performing the forms, and provide muscle and mental confusion to keep building up your chi, exterior and interior bodily foundations.
Good example is the prominent student who practices Bagua through various drills to emphasize and isolate their weakness is to challenge your body like a tool to only make discoveries to prolong, build up and overcome the difficult aspects of your training. Pretty much what doesnt kill you only makes you stronger. The student who truly tests and gets creative on top of what is RIGHTFULLY taught only surpasses and reconcile the frequent changes of Baguazhang. You cant have a student walk around circles and practice vaguely to be a champion. The one who goes the extra mile are those who doctor and expand Baguazhang, thus adding on the historical foundation and creating your own avenue of kundalini with Baguazhang. [/QUOTE]
This describes very much of what I “aspire to” in taijiquan… While mostly not circling - but sometimes circling - every movement from day one has multiple opponent “steps”.
I have maybe 20 good years left to me, and there is not enough time for me to learn it all… a future Master must start as a younger person in order to have enough time to learn mastery… and even younger still to have enough time to (learn enough to) become the Grandmaster. Some Masters go so far as to learn other internal systems as well… and be able to integrate the best of them together.
I have maybe 20 good years left to me, and there is not enough time for me to learn it all… a future Master must start as a younger person in order to have enough time to learn mastery… and even younger still to have enough time to (learn enough to) become the Grandmaster. Some Masters go so far as to learn other internal systems as well… and be able to integrate the best of them together.[/QUOTE]
This is one reason why it is super important to get the best quality teacher one possibly can. Since few westerners come from “wushu families” by birth, and usually don’t train seriously until at least their 20s.. and can’t spend as much time on it as the old days.. it would behoove the bottom-feeders (among whom I count myself) to get the best quality instruction possible.
No time to waste on less than the best one can find. The skills are high but the years of life are short!
[QUOTE=dimethylsea;975292]This is one reason why it is super important to get the best quality teacher one possibly can. Since few westerners come from “wushu families” by birth, and usually don’t train seriously until at least their 20s.. and can’t spend as much time on it as the old days.. it would behoove the bottom-feeders (among whom I count myself) to get the best quality instruction possible.
No time to waste on less than the best one can find. The skills are high but the years of life are short![/QUOTE]
Yesssss… I was 56 when I started, and I’m 61 now, and my Dad lived to be 78; so the math is that time is running out… not that I let that bother me any… but I am very picky about what I spend my own time on…
On the other hand, my instructor would teach me as fast as I can learn - but I do have a limit as to how much I can learn at a time. Therein lies the “time limitation” factor… Most folks start taiji at an older age than me, so I have no complaints. I take every workshop our Master gives, consequently, “my cup runneth over” so to speak… I compete once per year, and may do more than that in the future.
[QUOTE=Skip J.;975313]Yesssss… I was 56 when I started, and I’m 61 now, and my Dad lived to be 78; so the math is that time is running out… not that I let that bother me any… but I am very picky about what I spend my own time on…
[/QUOTE]
You make me feel very lucky. I got started with bagua as my first art and first real athletic interest at 24. But at 35 I’m starting to get a sense of where I am versus where I should be.. and there is not, as you say, nearly enough time.
[QUOTE=dimethylsea;975292]This is one reason why it is super important to get the best quality teacher one possibly can. Since few westerners come from “wushu families” by birth, and usually don’t train seriously until at least their 20s.. and can’t spend as much time on it as the old days.. it would behoove the bottom-feeders (among whom I count myself) to get the best quality instruction possible.[/QUOTE]
The “wushu family” tradition is a recent phenomenon and it meant little if one did not want to follow tradition or did not want to practice. ‘Eating bitter’ was essential whether you were a family memeber or a stranger so to be associated with one family or the next, by itself, is not a guarantee of expertise or skill.
You know we have all seen the “hangers on” who state they were in the presence of famous master zed but when you ask them to explain this or that, they are as mystified as their audience!
Better said, it MAY be the depth of instruction and actual showing/explaining of such that is the mark of excellence.
[QUOTE=mawali;975470]The “wushu family” tradition is a recent phenomenon and it meant little if one did not want to follow tradition or did not want to practice. .[/QUOTE]
If this is a “recent phenomena” in your opinion then we must be talking about different things. When I say “wushu family” I am simply talking about people who come from a family or clan with a strong martial history and/or a “family style”.
In this sense the Chen clan is a “wushu family”. There are “families with a martial arts tradition” in other cultures also. The Filipino culture is an excellent example.
[QUOTE=dimethylsea;975175]Dee,
Ever done “move, draw to retention, index-point-shoot, change direction, extend to aimed fire” all while keeping the bagua body?
Try it.. it’s a blast. Quite literally it’s a blast if you forget to clear your weapon :D[/QUOTE]
Excuse my late response…seems like I am not the only one that has fun with circle walking with guns!
My recent fun moments is phoenix posture with a crooked bar,shotgun or Naginata/Chinese Guan Dao. It really helps build your shoulders and level your waist to see the science in posture for less strain while walking.
Everything I do, I find myself doing 7 core footwork patterns of the first 4 animal systems in Yin. From washing dishes, to cutting the grass…Bagua is in the blood.
It is so great to share ideas here and expand with other kungfu brothers. I SERIOUSLY THINK EVERYONE should practice some type of internal martial arts…it just makes you a better person, creative and have longevity.
Qing Qing Liang Yi Understand Yin and Yang
Ming Ming san Jie Clear the 3 sections
Qi Qi Si Shao Work the 4 ends together
[/QUOTE]
Let’s talk about these above ones. Does your bagua style or school train these principals?
For instance.. the first bagua style I studied had a version of the Qing principal (knowing Yin and Yang), as well as an interest in the idea of a “trinity principal”.
The four ends principal is something that wasn’t part of that style.
Qing Liang Yi means understand Yin and Yang. The Yin and the Yang, they oppose each other, they fight each other, and as they struggle and contend their power increases and grows.
Ming San Jie means lots of things have three sections, a root section where power comes from, a middle section to transmit the power, and an end section where the power is expressed.
Anyone else have a “Four” or “Four Ends” principal in their bagua?
