Does anyone here practice Baguazhang?

[innerspace_cadet]

I am thinking of practicing Bagua. Has anyone here had good experiences with it? Any advice or pointers for someone just starting out? Thanks.

[Nanashi]

I've been practicing Bagua for a while, but only by relying on the manuals of Robert W. Smith from the 60s. I find it to balance external and internal systems, with combining Taoist philosophy and mysticism. The style is fluid, almost a faster taichi, so it makes for good exercise and serves as a useful boxing science.

 

I wouldn't know where to find any practicing masters, but Taiwan would be your best bet.

Edited August 18, 2009 by Nanashi

[h.uriahr]

I am thinking of practicing Bagua. Has anyone here had good experiences with it? Any advice or pointers for someone just starting out? Thanks.

 

http://www.chinafrominside.com/ma/bagua/machuanxu.html

[Pranaman]

I tried to learn bagau from video once.... It didn't take long for me to give up. Now i'm learning taiji, hsing-i, and just recently bagua from a good teacher, so the best advice I can give is to find a teacher.

[Guest C Yu C He Taiji]

I practice Wudang Baguazhang. I cannot think how to learn bagua from a book. I already encountered my problems while training with my teacher.

 

Chrisn

[Baguakid]

Yes,

 

Here's my teacher and I in Shanghai:

 

Here's Zhang DuGan in Italy:

 

 

Bagua is not easy. It's very demanding if done correctly. Even with videos there are fine details which would not come out on video. Must learn with a teacher.

 

Also, I find there are large differences between styles. From our style I have found none who practice the same principles though there could be some out there. We are from Gong BaoTian lineage.

[Qlites]

I know two great Sifu, Sifu Ben Hill from NY or Sifu Matsuo from Honolulu, Hawaii. Which area are you in??

[innerspace_cadet]

I know two great Sifu, Sifu Ben Hill from NY or Sifu Matsuo from Honolulu, Hawaii. Which area are you in??

 

I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I am already looking at a couple of places for Bagua instruction. There aren't many here in town.

[h.uriahr]

As long as you have the time, patience and dedication then you can learn by video. I'm not sure why there's so much negativity around dvd instruction. As a side note, I dont practice Bagua. If I were going to start, I'd start by getting the basics from chinafrominside.com

[Old Man Contradiction]

one tip is to practice zhan zhuang. This way when you begin practicing bagua form from video, your body will be trained to correct many common postural mistakes.

 

take your standing practice into the form.

Edited August 18, 2009 by Old Man Contradiction

[minkus]

Baguazhang is a transformative, highly effective (as in powerfull) and nourishing internal art. It stands fearlessly next to its brother and sisterarts of taijiquan and xingyiquan. Its one of the most esoteric martial arts.

 

Its a very deep daoist fighting system. If you can, find a teacher. You will grow quickly

 

Good luck, enjoy walking the circle !

[Gerard]

As long as you have the time, patience and dedication then you can learn by video. I'm not sure why there's so much negativity around dvd instruction. As a side note, I dont practice Bagua. If I were going to start, I'd start by getting the basics from chinafrominside.com

 

You can't. Too many details and subtleties that videos cannot possibly cover and if you make a mistake, how could you possibly know you are doing the right thing without having a teacher to correct you?

 

I also practice Bagua and let me tell you, not an easy art to learn even with a teacher. Many give up before they start to benefit from the art: It takes about 3 years living like a monk before you start to reap the benefits of Ding Shi Ba Zhang (circle walking). The guy I am learning it from has seen hundreds of people since he started teaching back in 2002. From that year only 2 remain. Today, only 7 people including me are his regular students.

 

Therefore, how long will a person without a teacher last?

 

If you decide to learn the Bagua styles taught in Beijing area, walking the circle is a must. It will change your entire body structure plus Neigong benefits.

 

 

In that video he is performing the second palm: upholding heaven.

Edited August 19, 2009 by durkhrod chogori

[minkus]

About video or teacher ... Durkhrod is right on the spot here. You cannot gain the real internal power of bagua without a teacher. To many subtle details, to many neigong.

 

If you practice from a video, you will practice it external, only the outer form.

 

A video can help you remember or visualise certain parts of your form or exercises. It wont learn you the internal work wich provides the power bagua is renowed for.

Edited August 26, 2009 by minkus

[Mal]

IMHO as a absolute barest minimum you need another person to touch hands with.

 

Sifu taught us a new jong recently. He showed the 4 of us once before the end of class and would not show it again. Next class he asked us to show him what we remembered. We got close but all of us used a more linear technique from the previous belt and missed the circles that were the key to the technique. We have all been practicing for over 5 years. He said "That is why we don't like video, the hand too fast to even see the subtlety"

 

3 months of weekly correction later we are still attempting to learn that technique

 

But if you have no teacher, what else can you do but try whatever is available to you.

[joeblast]

haha indeed, Mal.

 

I occasionally practice circle walking with single palm changes, mostly because it is an awesome exercise that helps issues I have, like my really bad back. I'm probably doing a few things wrong but I havent spent a ton of time correcting, as I've felt a lot of benefit from the simple circle walk. Wish I had time to delve deeper into the art

[Baguakid]

Yes, I agree with what's mostly been said here. A very top level Master in our system told me once.. In the internal arts there are few who practice Bagua, within Bagua there are few who practice well. My teacher can only have a few students, maybe 10 at the most at any one time and most of them come and go with only 1 or 2 who stay with it.

 

The old Chinese saying, must eat bitter to taste sweet certainly applies with Bagua.

[Sloppy Zhang]

On the teacher vs. vid debate:

 

Depends on your martial training history, your amount of dedication, ability to read between the lines (a product of experience in the martial arts), and another helping of dedication.

 

Sure, having a master instructor who's trained like a monk for 40 years is great. But not everyone has that luxury. Study what you can, and as long as you do it with a passion (I mean, seriously passionate, I mean like, you think about it every moment day and night) you'll be fine.

Edited August 19, 2009 by Sloppy Zhang

[idquest]

If you decide to learn the Bagua styles taught in Beijing area, walking the circle is a must. It will change your entire body structure plus Neigong benefits.

Would you be able to elaborate?

 

I'm currently studying some qigong form that incorporates very basic walking. I would say it has a very noticable effect. This is why my interest in Bagua.

[h.uriahr]

If you follow the common piece of advice "Dont train without a teacher", and it just so happens that a Bagua teacher isnt within reach, then you're going to sit and sulk and not do a damn thing but have regrets.

 

First and foremost, a GOOD teacher is better than any book but all a GOOD teacher does is help you to learn and develop. They dont bestow you with some magical pixie dust, they show you what they know. (Unless of course you can find a teacher that gives impowerments, real ones that is) What's even better is if you follow the advice and find a teacher but cant tell if he's any good and he turns out to be full of shit and then you spend the next 10 years playing with shit and end up becoming a master of shit...then what?

 

Find a teacher you can drive to every couple of months and train but by all means, read and watch all the books and dvds you can. You may find something that "touches" you. Circle walking was used as an example. Find a good video that really explains what's going on and if you really want to learn, you'll start playing with your body, tweaking here and there, shifting here and there until you "feel" it and then start walking. From my limited understanding, circle walking is the single most important exercise.

 

Everyone's a critic.

[doc benway]

I'd strongly advocate working with a teacher, even if only infrequently.

The key is to spend a very long time walking the circle and practicing standing meditation.

The most basic palm changes are the most important.

Find someone who can teach you the basic applications and then drill those with a partner until you can really make them work.

[DaoChild]

Biggest tip?

 

Learn Bagua from a teacher.

 

I guarantee you can't learn it properly from a book or video.

[JessOBrien]

I've trained with Lee Burkins in Montrose.

 

http://www.coloradointernalarts.com/

 

He's got a lot of gung fu skill, and is an amazing human being.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jess O'Brien

[h.uriahr]

Biggest tip?

 

Learn Bagua from a teacher.

 

I guarantee you can't learn it properly from a book or video.

 

Guarantees are overrated and completely misunderstood.

[Gerard]

Would you be able to elaborate?

 

I'm currently studying some qigong form that incorporates very basic walking. I would say it has a very noticable effect. This is why my interest in Bagua.

 

Certainly:

 

1. Each movement in the Bagua form causes "qi" to be routed along a particular organ and thus

healing that organ associated with that movement.

 

2. Every acupuncture meridian is gently twisted as is every joint, muscle and tendon. The whole body has a thorough work out with no real stress being placed upon the system. Being a little more rigorous than the

modern forms of Tai Chi Chuan, the whole body is given an aerobic work out.

 

You can read more info here about the changing power of this art:

 

http://pakuachangjournal.com/circleWalk.php?page=4

[KoHsuan]

The only DVD that explains internal energy work on every external move is that one:

 

http://www.alquimiashop.ru/catalogue/video/?obj_id=1626

 

but it is only available in russian as far as i know