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Hello Dao Bums, I got a chance to sit down with Harry Minogue this last Saturday and chat about Baguazhang. I hope you enjoy. https://youtu.be/0hvCighYqyM

Are there any Bagua teachers in Toronto, particularly for children? I'm trying to get my niece and nephew to learn self defense while building their qi

Hello! I have a question regarding the Dragon and the Tiger. The Azure-Wood-Dragon of the East and the White-Metal-Tiger of the West are associated with the LEFT and the RIGHT of the body, respectively. However, In the same way that Li/Fire is on the "left side" of the Preheaven Bagua and Kan/Water is on the "right", I wonder is there is intentional hermetic sealing of the information encoded in these diagrams.* *Grimoires and occult literature is notoriously loaded with purposeful misinformation. NOTE the intentional switching of the Swords and Wands elemental association of the Tarot by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the early 20th century. This was to test initiates to see if they know the true association, rather than just taking it for granted. If you think about it - Swords would obviously correspond to Fire and Wands obviously to Air, rather than the other way around. Unfortunately, through the remainder of the 20th and into the 21st centuries we have fallen for the HOTGD's trick. It has occurred to me that the mirror is a recurrent motif in Daoist alchemy (The "Mirror for Compounding the Medicine", etc.). Could it be - as I believe - that we are not to read the Bagua as "facing" away from us, but "facing" towards us? Putting Li on our RIGHT sides and Kan on our LEFT? Yes, the Dragon constellation is in the East and the Tiger in the West. But what does this explicitly have to do with the body? The East (Dragon) is on your LEFT only if you are FACING SOUTH. If you are facing NORTH then the Dragon is on your RIGHT. The Dragon being Yang, I feel, should correspond with the RIGHT and not with the LEFT. We are used to North/South and Heaven/Earth being flipped in our alchemical cosmology... why not Left and Right? All this was spurred on by trying to find a banishing ritual that roughly matches the HOTGD's Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. In my searching I came across this: https://freakassesoterica.wordpress.com/2017/04/08/taoist-banishing-ritual/ While I found this compelling, I also can't help but think for myself. I looked in Benebell Wen's Tao of Craft for an answer and it seems to lack left/right correspondences. Looking forward to your thoughts!! (P.S. This is my first post here. Go easy on me. )

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Update 9/2023 Andrew Nugent-Head removed the playlists previously provided at no cost from his YouTube. Now the different playlists can be purchased from his Teachable. I hope this helps you with your practice as this is the foundation to start this style of baguazhang. One should ignore the other animals until one has put a good amount of time into Lion (two years at least). https://association-for-traditional-studies.teachable.com/p/ysb-lion Lion Opens Mouth - Representative Posture Bold & Powerful Qian trigram Lion system focuses on the top of the body and is particularly beneficial for the lungs. Interlocking Yang Palm keeps chaining direct attacks until one lands - the waist powers everything Firm, Strong, Tough, Hard, Long, Fast Lion’s Playful Side - Loves Balls Holding Rolling Playing Floating Pushing Drawing In Lion Attack Methods Sweeping/Slicing - Cuts like a paring knife below the surface Smashing/Cutting - Tight fist, hammers; Like cutting with a piece of glass, small circular motions Chopping - Cut like an ax Hooking - To hook or hang on a hook Shocking - Shake or shock/quick jolt Blocking - Keep or ward off Seizing - Capture and catch Grasping - Hold or take Attack Forms Moving with the Force - Snake Turning the Back - Bear Lifting and Holding - Dragon Windmill - Phoenix Lying Step - Rooster Reversing the Body - Unicorn Enfolding/Squatting - Monkey 56 practices at three Levels Middle Level - Lion Opens Mouth (opens/closes sides of ribs alternatingly) High Level - Holding the Urn (open/hang ribs from elbows) Low Level - Hate Heaven for Not Having a Bar, Hate Earth for Not Having a Ring (Inside Hates Earth, Outside Hates Heaven - unifies rib cage with cross body tension) Lion System Stepping Wheel Stepping - Like a big rolling wheel in movement, when taking an opponents’ legs it is like a scythe or scimitar, used to control both legs of the opponent. Kicks - Stomp Upon Meeting Three Stomps at each level, 9 kicks per system Upper Stomp - Head/Chest Middle Stomp - Heart/Abdomen Low Stomp - Crotch/Leg Video Order and Subject Matter Martial Arts Lion System 01 - History and Overview of Baguazhang Martial Arts Lion System 02 - Overview of the Lion System Martial Arts Lion System 03 - Lion Representative, Lion Opens Mouth Posture Martial Arts Lion System 04 - Sweeping Strike Posture Martial Arts Lion System 05 - Smashing Strike Posture Martial Arts Lion System 06 - Chopping Strike Posture Martial Arts Lion System 07 - Hooking Strike Posture Martial Arts Lion System 08 - Shocking Strike Posture Martial Arts Lion System 09 - Blocking Strike Posture Martial Arts Lion System 10 - Seizing Strike Posture Martial Arts Lion System 11 - Grasping Strike Posture Martial Arts Lion System 11.5 - Basic Lion Circle Walking Method Martial Arts Lion System 12 - Dr. Xie discussing Lion Basic Strikes Martial Arts Lion System 13 - Sweeping Strike Basic Methods Martial Arts Lions System 14 - Smashing Strike Basic Methods Martial Arts Lions System 15 - Chopping Strike Basic Methods Martial Arts Lions System 16 - Hooking Strike Basic Methods Martial Arts Lions System 17 - Shocking Strike Basic Methods Martial Arts Lions System 18 - Blocking Strike Basic Methods Martial Arts Lions System 19 - Seizing Strike Basic Methods Martial Arts Lions System 20 - CHECK DVD! (XPQ demo Lion Plays with Ball?) Martial Arts Lions System 21 - Dr. Xie discussing Lion Sweeping Strike Martial Arts Lions System 22 - Sweeping Strike Moving With the Force Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 23 - Sweeping Strike Turning the Back Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 24 - CHECK DVD! Martial Arts Lions System 25 - Sweeping Strike Windmill Palm Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 26 - Sweeping Strike Lying Step Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 27 - Sweeping Strike Reversing the Body Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 28 - Sweeping Strike Enfolding Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 29 - Dr. Xie discussing Lion Smashing Strike Martial Arts Lions System 30 - Smashing Strike Moving With the Force Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 31 - Smashing Strike Turning the Back Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 32 - Smashing Strike Holding and Lifting Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 33 - Smashing Strike Windmill Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 34 - Smashing Strike Lying Step Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 35 - Smashing Strike Reversing the Body Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 36 - Smashing Strike Enfolding Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 37 - Dr. Xie discussing Lion Chopping Strike Martial Arts Lions System 38 - Chopping Strike Moving With the Force Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 39 - Chopping Strike Turning the Back Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 40 - Chopping Strike Holding and Lifting Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 41 - Chopping Strike Windmill Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 42 - Chopping Strike Lying Step Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 43 - Chopping Strike Reversing the Body Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 44 - Chopping Strike Enfolding Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 45 - Dr. Xie discussing Lion Hooking Strike Martial Arts Lions System 46 - Hooking Strike Moving With the Force Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 47 - Hooking Strike Turning the Back Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 48 - Hooking Strike Holding and Lifting Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 49 - Hooking Strike Windmill Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 50 - Hooking Strike Lying Step Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 51 - Hooking Strike Reversing the Body Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 52 - Hooking Strike Enfolding Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 53 - Dr. Xie discussing Lion Shocking Strike Martial Arts Lions System 54 - Shocking Strike Moving With the Force Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 55 - Shocking Strike Turning the Back Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 56 - Shocking Strike Holding and Lifting Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 57 - Shocking Strike Windmill Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 58 - Shocking Strike Lying Step Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 59 - Shocking Strike Reversing the Body Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 60 - Shocking Strike Enfolding Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 61 - Dr. Xie discussing Lion Blocking Strike Martial Arts Lions System 62 - Blocking Strike Moving With the Force Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 63 - Blocking Strike Turning the Back Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 64 - Blocking Strike Holding and Lifting Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 65 - Blocking Strike Windmill Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 66 - Blocking Strike Lying Step Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 67 - Blocking Strike Reversing the Body Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 68 - Blocking Strike Enfolding Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 69 - CHECK DVD! (Dr. Xie discussing Seizing?) Martial Arts Lions System 70 - Seizing Strike Moving with the Force Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 71 - Seizing Strike Turning the Back Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 72 - Seizing Strike Holding and Lifting Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 73 - Seizing Strike Windmill Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 74 - Seizing Strike Lying Step Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 75 - Seizing Strike Reversing the Body Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 76 - Seizing Strike Enfolding Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 77 - Dr. Xie discussing Lion Grasping Strike Martial Arts Lions System 78 - Grasping Strike Moving with the Force Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 79 - Grasping Strike Turning the Back Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 80 - Grasping Strike Holding and Lifting Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 81 - Grasping Strike Windmill Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 82 - Grasping Strike Lying Step Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 83 - Grasping Strike Reversing the Body Form and Applications Martial Arts Lions System 84 - Grasping Strike Enfolding Form and Applications

John here. I've been training a while now in various styles but my main focus is Shing Yi Chuan. My Shing Yi teacher lineage is Tom Morrissey via the late, great Kenny Gong of Canton China and NYC . Cheers

Hi all I'm from Ireland, i'm an acupuncturist and work with tuina tai chi and qigong. been deep diving the i ching in relation to a style of acupuncture recently and would like to know a bit more. not even sure which questions to ask yet! This seem to be the place to big wave from Ireland

Hello Everyone, I am Sifu Eric Randolph I'm so overjoyed to be here. I am a Master of TaijiQuan, I've studied over 33 years the mystic and practical traditions of qigong, martial arts and meditation. I've studied Yangstyle Taijiquan for combat over 27yrs now. My specialty is helping others to obtain the practical high level proficiency needed to use taijiqian in any way shape or form they need it to manifest within their lifestyles. Being an avid and very strict practitioner of one style of internal martial arts has given me a very eclectic and versatile way of looking at every technique within my given style and I really hope to share everything Ive learned with everyone. love and peace Sifu

Hello everyone, Here are the alpha/beta versions of our xingyibaguazhang distance learning course. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHln6ZUknDQCXFAUP0doxuABlIA-Ym4Ep I hope you enjoy the videos. Matthew Parsons, Water and Will Blog - Xingyi Bagua Online

Hello Dao Bums, My sifu and I are starting a distance learning program for Kenny Gong's xingyibagua. We have in-person practice here in the Southwest USA but would like this art to be available to the world. For some reason most of the senior practitioners in our style have little interest in perpetuating the art and spreading it to a wider audience. Expect in the next month some significant additions to our site and YouTube channel. For now I would like some information from my fellow Bums about your feelings on distance learning.

I like very much what teach Bruce Kumar Frantzis (EnergyArts.com). I have some his books and old videos. Also last year I bought the Tai Chi Mastery Program. It is excellent!!! In this year I plan to buy his Hsing-I Mastery Program. Also seems his Bagua Mastery Program and his Old Yang Tai Chi Training Circle are very good. Any experience?

Hi, What are the difference in physical objectives and energies cultivated by these traditional internal forms. Taichi Hsing I Bagua zhang Liu He Ba Fa I chuan

Hey guys my xingyibagua sifu is wanting to do some seminars in the near future. What focus would you like to see? What kind of venue would you prefer? I'm probably going to have to organize all of this so I'd like input from you guys to see how we should proceed.

The Internal Styles of kung fu of china. Also known as the subtle styles. Understand that with internal stylists that what you see is what you are suppose to see and it is the unseen that destroys the enemy. Tension is the illusion. Relaxation is the power yin and when done right is invisible to the enemy. All the enemy sees is your tension. Relaxed fluid movement is hard to stop, predict, evade or counter. Because it has no wasted motion. Use tension and relaxation as tools and use them interchangeably. All your enemy sees is your tension which is an illusion that you project on to the enemy so they can lock on to you. When you relax and move with relaxed movement you disappear to them and all they know is the hit. When you relax the blood flows better the mind is clear and your chi field expands. When this chi field expands it bounces off negative energies. So when you do attack all your enemy knows is that got hit with some invisible unstoppable force. Your boxing is to reflect this. In internal martial arts what you see is what you are suppose to see it is the hit that is unseen.

I'm taking beginner's mind approach here, I'm going to start asking really, really stupidly simple questions to the community. Sometimes my phrasing will be stupid, too. Please be gentle! #1: Ba Gua circle walking. What is it? What is it supposed to do? What does it actually do?

I'm pretty new to the bagua world, not broad exposure. Thought I'd post this thread so that people could concisely list / link quality bagua resources. I've no idea who the historical figures are, who are the major lineage holders out there currently (except for 2 that are commonly named online), which bagua books (especially classics), etc etc. So I'm thinking this thread could be a concise "introduction to world of bagua resources" thread. p.s. Thanks! to Dawei for creating a bagua section!

His blog: http://www.baguaquanlessons.com/index.html ... more later. p.s. I know nothing about him, I just saw his work referenced in another thread (quotes below). Hopefully others with more experience will contribute to this thread. Interesting... So, what is the Chinese character (襠?) for this "dang" arch that allows one to ? And what are the 12 tendon channels? Where is the chart for this and how exactly do you train tendons?

Hi all. I watched this last night and thought it was very good. I've been practicing for three and a half years and over the curse, have identified how Taoist the martial art's philosophy is. This documentary explains it all... I see that there are a lot of Bagua and Tai Chi practitioners on here but not many talk about Wing Chun. I'm quite interested in learning more from the Bagua and Tai Chi philosophies too to draw on similarities more than anything. So anyone with anything to say on any Taoist martial arts, please go ahead

Today I am happy to let you know that I have just finished a translation of Sun Lutang's Bagua Quan Xue- The Study of Bagua Quan To celebrate- it is on special discount for the first week! After that it is regular price. click here: The Study of Bagua Quan by Sun Lutang In about a week or so it should be available through amazon in the US and in Europe as well as through Amazon's Kindle I am sure most people have heard of Sun Lutang- but for those that have not- here is a bit from the back cover: Again- To celebrate- it is on special discount for the first week! After that it is regular price. click here: The Study of Bagua Quan by Sun Lutang when its available through amazon and kindle i will post the links cheers Franklin

This is the first modell I make of after thinking about the 5 Elemental Phases I used pictures from http://donlehmanjr.com. to create this Model. While thinking about using the direction force of the 5 Elemental Phases I recognize Phases which are there opposite which have to balance out. Metall + Fire = Contraction +Expansion , Wood +Water = Rising + Sinking. I thought about Earth is circulating or producing,centering stabilizing. Then the thought came to place it in a cross. I thought about Yin and Yang For example:Expansion can be example from inside when one use inner force to push Qi out or it expands because the enviroment is sucking the body, vaccumizing. Next thought came that fromm the 1 "Tai Chi" 2 "Yin and Yang" has 4 different Combination known as "Sixiang" with 8 "Triagram". First my thought was on the Sixiang. The four desribe for me 4 Phases Fire, Water Wood, Metal as a picture This I found here http://www.fengshuimestari.fi/Feng_Shui.html Fire = TaiYang = South Water = TaiYin = North Metal = ShaoYin = West Wood = ShaoYang = East The problem where is earth and Symbol? I was then had the thought of Yin and Yang. So I placed Yang above and Yin below. The reason was all things earth must be center as it is in Feng Shui are Yin and Yang as in "Heavenly Streams" I read the character of earth is producing. So things are Yin Yang and in greater Heaven and Earth. Accidental I place it above the Bigrams Diagramm. And so I produced the first Triagramm : Heaven and Earth. My mind shifted and I saw by adding a line above the Biagram I could produce a Triagram. For some kind of reason I had the logical to place the yang from above and when I look below I saw that by adding a line below and removing the upper line i produce the next Trigram from the 6 Triagrams. So above are now 6 Red line representing Yang and below 6 Yin. But different than the seasonal diagram I resulted in Kan and Li instead of Zhen and Dun. Logic is Zhen and Dun because of the extreme Yin is slowly changing to Yang resulting in less Yin Lines. But as well from the build the Kan and Li is technical logical from the order of Yin and Yang. Thinking about that "life" is pretty complicated thing. I then had a shifting and saw that from the four lines the first above and the 4th from above are exchanged Red line becomes Green Line. They are for me the two spots of the Ying Yang Symbol. Also the black lines are moving lines by remembering about Divination has such thing. So I resulted in this Diagramm. I made circles so one can try to imagine and see the triagram which are in the passed down charts around. So I make a digram which has from Tai Chi down to Bagua all involved. There are some thought by looking at this diagram: The spring time is for me a strange time having the exchange of the Lines at the beginning and the end between Winter and Summer. I think that there are two different clear circles and one not so clear. A clear run of Kan and Li a clear run of Zhen and Dui and the diffent changes and combination of Kan, Li, Zhen Dui. I have only a guess but "Zhen Dui Cicle" is to produce. Because Yang is rising The "KanLi ZhenDui Circle" is growth. As in life the is up and down of Yin an Yang. The "KanLi Circle" is seemingly when it comes to decay. Water and Fire oppose each other if one has not a cultivation method to change the clashing and destruction. The thing I have as last thought in this post is: "When one change on still live. Things which are not changing a dying as quote somewhere" Next would be I Ching the combination of the Triagrams to Hexagrams having 64 Hexagram+ 8 Triagrams. Which if count in for each 6 line can change one can have a hell of work to analyze the the possible changes. Since there is 1 to 6 line that can be change and everthing below 6 has also different combimation.But mathematical there is a limit. A foreplay would be starting with Trigrams with moving lines first. But that for another time.

Many people who speak/write about the art of Bagua Zhang and its principle exercise, circle walking, express how these practices are excellent for longevity. Walking the circle, it is often said, is all one needs to do for health and long life. However, where is the evidence for this? Certainly, bagua zhang practioners are quite supple and strong, and notably so even into old age. There is a lot to be said for the twisting and squeezing aspects of the art and the constant focus on circular patterns. It would make sense to see this connected to longevity. But, when we look at the history of bagua zhang masters, we don't see a lot of long-lived people. With very few exceptions, the great masters of bagua zhang consistently seem to live 50, 60, or 70 years. That is, not much more than the average population. Even Dong Hai Chuan, the modern founder of the art, only lived around 85 years. Any thoughts as to why this is the case? How about contemporary bagua zhang masters? Are they living to 100 or more? 8) Dong Hai Chuan

A little while back I asked Laoxie what book/s he'd recommend on bagua zhang. He recommended this one and I've just started reading it. Really like it. If any of you crazy circle-walkers wanna book club it, well... here we go.

Blacktaoist training in China

I'm drawn into Baguazhang, but just for meditation purposes (or more exactly: meditation, qigong, aerobic exercise) at this point. On my shortlist to learn from is Bruce Frantzis (Bagua mastery online program, re-opening soon. Expensive.), Ted Mancuso (owner of plumpub, 2 DVDs, nice price and modular approach) Christopher Matsuo - Heart of Bagua (or is it with Ray Carbullido) Yang Yusen's gaobagua.net program seemed almost perfect too (especially as you are required to submit practice video for a check and feedback), but contemplating on whether it would be too disrespectful of me entering with intention to drop out at some point. Also Bingkun Hu has a bagua walking form out as part of Wild Goose Qigong series. Will appreciate any comments regarding the "Frantzis vs. Mancuso vs. Matsuo" choice, or even whether it's possible to learn the very basics from video. I have read here numerous times that it's not possible, my subjective understanding of those comments so far is that it's not possible to learn the art of baguazhang that way to which I concur. Yet what if we talk about very basics - circle walking, single palm change? If people like Frantzis, Matsuo, Mancuso, Bisio, Yang Yusen, and maybe others, don't just sell "demo DVDs" but actual "DVD courses", and sure they all say you should come for live training one day but none says you have to right from the start? (And yes I'll go learn with live teacher but that might take a year or two. But I need aerobic exercise right now and thought to kill two flies in one shot.)

I have read the first thirty six songs quite well and I see no mention of song. Softness is stressed by my sifu, sensitivity would be a more apt description. Does the mud stepping produce a state of song or is it like the so many of the songs say, the hard and soft mutually correspond to create a different kind of enenergy unique to baguazhang. This is one of my favorite songs. TWENTY EIGHTH SONG When the opponent is hard and I am soft, this is the RIGHT WAY. However, if I am soft and the opponent is hard, the mthod is also good. The hard and the soft mutually coordinate and win (control) from the WAIST. The conflict (battle) is decided on whose stepping is better.