Wujidude:
I still train baji but feel 20 years behind (skill not physical). I don’t think I can catch up. However, the benefits I receive from baji greatly help my taiji and I play much better than I did 12 years ago.
In baji, I basically focus on 3 things: xiao baji, liu da kai (just learned it a month ago), and the da qiang. I keep everything very basic. Once you get passed the xiao baji stance training, it actually is pretty good. What makes it tough is the constant practice of the basics and the need to do it on your own. Although physically demanding (as is every system practiced honestly) there is also a psychological price that is seldom discussed (Liu had the luxury of being rich and having his own personal trainer for over 10 years). Martial arts training is not well supported socially (people think you are crazy and should be golfing or at a spa). I watch the young guys training and they now have at their finger tips the instruction that was so well hidden over the past 20 years. However they have so much to settle in their everday lives (finding a girlfriend, getting a job and fitting the training into the schedule) that it becomes impossible to get deeply into the system. On that note, it really is a dying art.
As far as bagua goes, the basic training actually, just feels good, in fact, very good and its also a fascinating art. Intuitively, it seems to fit very well. On days I get tired of the circle, I drop into the bagua leg routine (or any of the other quasi-linear forms) and the bagua sword and it keeps me happy. I trade them (baji and bagua) off on alternative days but there are weeks in which the schedule doesn’t always work.
About 3 weeks ago I went to a highly trained (Eastern/Western) TCM doctor (he does most of our students) and he found my overall health to be in pretty good shape (good pulse reading and no need for treatment). During the past year I have really spent time training in the bagua basics and he also seemed to think it might be related to the practice.
BTW, I don’t think there is anything inherent in baji that would prevent you from playing it into your 70s (Miller and Cartmell’s Xing Yi Nei Gong book opened my eyes to the possibilities in baji since I see its training very similar to Xing Yi). You just can’t train like you did in your 20s. Of all the systems I have studied, I probably understand baji/pi gua the best and feel most comfortable in it knowledge wise. However, I have only got a smattering of what Liu knew about bagua and its prompted my hunger: I want more. You know, Liu was very quiet on what he knew, especially regarding bagua and taiji.
Another thing is that there also is a beauty and flow to systems like taiji and bagua and I am not sure I see it in baji (its beauty lies in its structure and explosiveness). I am a bit concerned about Feng Zhiqiang’s take on martial arts training, especially the stomping. Maybe he is on to something and I will be reading him more carefully in the future.
In case you didn’t see, here is a clip from Ma Long’s website of GM Liu doing baji lian huan and I believe he is in his 60s. You also get a real tiny clip of Du Yu Ze playing lao jia.
How about yourself? Are you into Yi Quan and Chen’s taij? I bet the Yi Quan training is similar to xiao baji training.
PS: Went back to PA and got a case of the Yuengling beer and two cases of Stoney’s (pure grain beer, no preservatives, no sugar and its been that way since my grandfather drank it). If they marketed Stoney’s right, it could be the next Rolling Rock!!
Thanks for the inquiry and I hope I have not been too long winded. I am avoiding doing the household choirs today.
