different kinds of mud stepping

[spiraltao]

I learned awhile back that there's eight types of mud stepping

Each serve a peculiar purpose ie vibration healing fighting

I am familiar with the pole star stepping. I was interested in imput from practitioners of any of the other types.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

step with your mind. can do it from where you are now. :q

[spiraltao]

I was meaning actually using the physical body. Eight different ways to step and they are called mud step.

 

 

The pole star step is a transformational step. Heel of foot is jing, sole is qi and ball of foot is shen. Done correctly I learned the pole star step should be like walking on a mirror or lake, glossy and calm with pure mind and heart. The idea is to "tune in" to the opponents heart energy only.

 

 

Is about something magical. Locking on to a center of your circle and staying connect the whole time, thru the changes, everything we always stay connected with this magical space in the center of the circle. I hope this made some sense, this is the first time I have tried describing this.

 

This is the type of information I would be interested in exchanging.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

I was meaning actually using the physical body. Eight different ways to step and they are called mud step.

 

 

The pole star step is a transformational step. Heel of foot is jing, sole is qi and ball of foot is shen. Done correctly I learned the pole star step should be like walking on a mirror or lake, glossy and calm with pure mind and heart. The idea is to "tune in" to the opponents heart energy only.

 

 

Is about something magical. Locking on to a center of your circle and staying connect the whole time, thru the changes, everything we always stay connected with this magical space in the center of the circle. I hope this made some sense, this is the first time I have tried describing this.

 

This is the type of information I would be interested in exchanging.

 

I was meaning actual premeditation.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Northern Avid Judo Ant

[spiraltao]

ok.

 

 

not sure what your post meant at first, but that is a crucial part of mudstepping though, is the visualization of one's self. The visualizing where your back has been as opposed to where the front is going is much easier for me, anyway.

 

 

I was hoping to learn more about the crane step, grinding step, through the water step, lion step.

 

Well how about this.

 

 

 

Can anyone list all eight kinds of mud steps? I can only come up with six or this is a big "DUH" moment being in the AM. lol

 

This knowledge should be far more common.

[BaguaKicksAss]

You mentioned 8 types of mud stepping, then talked about the lion, crane and other sorts of stepping. So do you mean 8 types of mud stepping PLUS 7 other types of stepping (crane, lion, etc.) on top of that?

 

Is pole star stepping diff than star stepping (foot slide thing)?

 

Crane step = leg torture (I mean even more than snake/mud stepping) lol.

[i am]

I'd be interested to hear more, too. I learned one kind through my "teacher", another through a master I trained very briefly with. But the second kind I learned, it's hard to say if the way he was teaching me was just a beginning thing to get me started, or the real way of stepping...there was a language barrier, and too much teaching all at once to be able to ask all the questions that have since come up...

 

My teacher teaches driving forward, each step can be a sweep etc.

 

The second kind was more sliding. Empty and full. All the weight in the back foot until the front was fully extended, then all the weight to the front as it plants. Never a fraction between the two feet...always all the weight on one or the other. Empty and full. But still a drive, obviously. What helped me to start getting this was to imagine sneaking my front leg out. But if someone were to kick it out from under me, it would make no difference because all my weight was still in my back foot, until I fully committed to that front foot.

 

The full-on driving forward my teacher teaches seems to not work like this...ie you're already fairly committed once you stick out that front foot; really driving forward into it.

 

But so much of this is my interpretation....and I'm way too green still to really understand.

Edited May 16, 2013 by i am

[spiraltao]

You mentioned 8 types of mud stepping, then talked about the lion, crane and other sorts of stepping. So do you mean 8 types of mud stepping PLUS 7 other types of stepping (crane, lion, etc.) on top of that?

 

Is pole star stepping diff than star stepping (foot slide thing)?

 

Crane step = leg torture (I mean even more than snake/mud stepping) lol.

 

 

 

I meant that alll stepping in baguazhang is really mudstepping and there are 8 different types. in all. ...and I would imagine the foot slide thing you are talking about is the pole star stepping.

 

I asked my sifu to elaborate on my lunch break yesterday, but lost him when i got to the oil lease. Pulling steel will give you iron hand. I think the big stuff weighs 68 lbs a foot. hehe

 

 

Around the rig, I really have to use my stepping, and that is what brought up this question was walking in different types of mud and ground.

 

My root was strong enough to lift a man off the ground while I was pushing a nipple into the flow line. LOL

 

He was cool though, could not believe i called him sir. Said he hadn't heard that in years. lol. Wow that was off topic. Apologies.

Edited May 17, 2013 by spiraltao

[BaguaKicksAss]

I'd be interested to hear more, too. I learned one kind through my "teacher", another through a master I trained very briefly with. But the second kind I learned, it's hard to say if the way he was teaching me was just a beginning thing to get me started, or the real way of stepping...there was a language barrier, and too much teaching all at once to be able to ask all the questions that have since come up...

 

My teacher teaches driving forward, each step can be a sweep etc.

 

The second kind was more sliding. Empty and full. All the weight in the back foot until the front was fully extended, then all the weight to the front as it plants. Never a fraction between the two feet...always all the weight on one or the other. Empty and full. But still a drive, obviously. What helped me to start getting this was to imagine sneaking my front leg out. But if someone were to kick it out from under me, it would make no difference because all my weight was still in my back foot, until I fully committed to that front foot.

 

The full-on driving forward my teacher teaches seems to not work like this...ie you're already fairly committed once you stick out that front foot; really driving forward into it.

 

But so much of this is my interpretation....and I'm way too green still to really understand.

I've learned both sorts you describe here. The weight transfer thing is something you start with, but which you keep doing forever more, it just becomes less obvious as you are doing it naturally after a time without thinking about it. Just different schools/styles, or at least that is my understanding at this point in time .

[i am]

Thank you

[JustBHappy]

This thread hasn't made much sense to me. Mud stepping is well.....mud stepping, otherwise known as tang ni bu.

The others mentioned, are completely different stepping styles, and definitely aren't mud stepping. As far as tang ni bu, each and every teacher, even within the same system will teach it a little differently. The one thing they will all have in common, if they are actually tang ni bu, is some sort of slide as if you are stepping in mud, thus the name.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

i dont need to know much about a style or system to tell you that meditation and premeditated "stepping" is valuable

[spiraltao]

This thread hasn't made much sense to me. Mud stepping is well.....mud stepping, otherwise known as tang ni bu.

 

The others mentioned, are completely different stepping styles, and definitely aren't mud stepping. As far as tang ni bu, each and every teacher, even within the same system will teach it a little differently. The one thing they will all have in common, if they are actually tang ni bu, is some sort of slide as if you are stepping in mud, thus the name.

 

 

Well the grandmaster said there were eight different kinds of baguazhang stepping. ALL as a group are called mud stepping. Each variation of stepping has it's particular usage. I suppose it could be unique to the system, i didn't mean to confuse.

 

I understand your argument, but you must realize the grandmaster has yet to be wrong.

 

 

Here is his direct quote and I won't use his name as I have not asked permission

 

"Each type of the 8 footwork is for different reasons, all called mud stepping. People do forget that there are 8 types of stepping with variations for each, for vibration healing fighting, etc"-Direct quote from the lineage holder.

 

Maybe its a system thing?

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2013 by spiraltao

[BaguaKicksAss]

Yeah a bit confusing since crane stepping and rolling stepping don't really have sliding (though with crane stepping there can be a little bit of slide at the end depending on system).

 

Ask the lineage holder what the other 5 types are will ya? My teacher mentioned it once, but in the context of "and in many years from now you will learn" so I didn't pay nearly enough attention to it, and didn't have my notebook handy lol. I'm going to hazard a guess that it relates to the 8 animals somehow. The mud step being the snake step pretty much, lion step, crane step...

[JustBHappy]

Yeah I'm curious about it myself. I know I practice different methods for different purposes. So many ways one can express and cultivate within Bagua.


What lineage has these 8 different types of mud stepping? I've never heard of it in Gao, Cheng, or Liang so I'm guessing it's Yin, or one of the lesser known systems. I would be interested in learning what they look like/involve and what the purposes of each one is.

[spiraltao]

Ok, looks like this is an area of not such well known info.

 

Kunlun is where this originated. Wudang/Wu Family.

 

 

This guy knows whats up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BKA: I DID ASK! LOL Still waiting for an answer.

Edited May 19, 2013 by spiraltao

[i am]

Wudang is where I learned the "empty/full" sliding the foot forward stepping...

[spiraltao]

That is the pole star step. Like gliding across a very thin layer of mud, or visualize glass, still lake, ice... etc.

 

The best I can figure is that it is about transformation more than anything. Empty/full, open/close. What brought all this up was BKF's three and four part stepping in which I heard him say that it was a monastic tradition. I knew he was Cheng but the step was highly different than the grinding step as I see Liu Jingru do, the moving foot stays only a few cm off the ground in BKF's three and four part stepping.

 

Mast Liu Jingru's grinding step is just that, the foot drags as opposed to glide.

 

Then we can examine Erle Montagu's step! All are correct according to the old master . All are also mudstepping. Still waiting on to learn the name and function of each of the eight.