Favorite Bagua resources? (books, teachers, videos, etc)

[Trunk]

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!

[Andrei]

Ba gua ji ben gong is basic technique:

 

http://youtu.be/AR5tL-N1jfY

 

And here basic zhuang, line stepping and circle stepping:

 

[GreytoWhite]

While the Pa Kua Chang Journal is no longer in publication it has just about as much information as you could want on the art.

 

http://pakuachangjournal.com/

[soaring crane]

I find Tom Bisio's books to be a relaible source of solid, basic information (in easy-to-read format haha)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Gua-Circle-Walking-Nei-Gong/dp/1432796895/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404634404&sr=8-1&keywords=tom+bisio+bagua

 

And I like Kent Howard's atmosphere:

 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kent+howard+bagua

Edited July 6, 2014 by soaring crane

[spiraltao]

Baguazhang Theory and App by Dr. Yang Jwing Ming and Master Liang Shou Yu. It has lineage information in it.

I agree with both of the books above as good ones. As far as an old book, I got Franklin Fik's translation of Sun Lutang's Bagua Quan. While it is a thin book the information is vast. Many say its not easy to understand and at first look it does appear that way, but it only takes a bit of thinking to realize what Master Lutang was getting at.

Kent Howard's Wang Shujin books are translations of books originally authored by Master Wang. These are also brief reads with a lot of knowledge.

As far as the DVD world goes I have found no baguazhang instructional DVDs like DGS. Period.

[GrandmasterP]

Tom Bisio's Bagua Concepts DVDs are excellent IMO.

 

Ad here.....

Edited July 6, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[GrandmasterP]

Just as an aside.

Anyone who thinks that MoPai is a tad contentious has yet to discover the inter-school fractiousness around commercial Bagua.

Here's a nice article from the BlackTaoist site and that quote in the last paragraph, to me; is 'statesmanlike'.

http://blacktaoist.com/cao.asp

Edited July 6, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Trunk]

... quote in the last paragraph, to me; is 'statesmanlike'.

http://blacktaoist.com/cao.asp

 

It's an interview with He Puren.

He Puren is a nationally-famous acupuncturist who has been praised as ‘tian xia di yi zhen‘ (’the first needle under heaven’). He is also a third-generation master of Yin style baguazhang, who was appointed honorary head of the Beijing Bagua Research Assocation for two successive terms.

... an excellent interview, resonating authenticity in every section.

 

here's the last paragraph quoted,

At the end of the interview, He Puren said earnestly “The various branches of bagua ought to pull together to overcome the forces of factionalism and commercialism. We shouldn’t waste time bickering over who’s the most ‘authentic’, who has ‘the true transmission’. Even the students of the same teacher practice differently; in some cases, it is a problem of the student, in others the student has developed his own understanding. In terms of gongfu, modern people cannot compare with the previous generations. Back then, mastering bagua was about survival, about honour. Nowadays, everything’s different. Besides, no-one is invincible, there’s always someone better, we should be humble and cautious, and learn from others’ good points, instead of living in our own little ‘bubbles’.”

Edited July 6, 2014 by Trunk

[GreytoWhite]

The Dong Haichuan > Yin Fu > Men Baozhen > Xie Peiqi lineage has some great video material up on YouTube.

 

Introduction to Daoyin

 

 

Penetrating Palms is the basis of their system. It is the external to internal to which one adds character by learning the animals.

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSH26xa5a3YOmTQUSf5lNGCA_qFh4z5fY

 

The Lion system is the first animal taught in this lineage because it is the quickest route to muscle and tendon changing within their curriculum.

 

 

This lineage claims that the majority of Cheng Tinghua's training with Dong Haichuan came out of the Dragon system.

 

 

The Bear system is said to be based on the same material as taijiquan - the Shisan Taibao.

 

 

The Phoenix is said to be great for people with long limbs but Xie Peiqi himself was only 5'6". I've never seen any of this particular system demonstrated in person, don't know as much about it as I'd like.

 

[GreytoWhite]

In the Gao bagua and xingyi syllabus the Tien Gan exercises are key to developing power.

 

[GreytoWhite]

He Jinghan is from an alternate Yin Fu lineage of bagua. His lineage is Dong Haichuan > Yin Fu > Gong Bao Tian > Gong Baozhai. It is said by the folks from Xie Peiqi's lineage that Gong Bao Tian was taught their Monkey style and received the fullness of Dong Haichuan's qing gong. Others speculate he may have already had qing gong skills from prior practice. Any way you look at it there is definitely more of a Lohan influence in the Gong Bao Tian lineage.

 

http://www.baguaquanlessons.com/

[GreytoWhite]

Su Dong Chen is a Gao bagua and xingyi practitioner who also has extensive training Japanese arts as well as many years of Feldenkrais work under his belt.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClAfu67Ol8OfUWRdkzTAK7A

[GreytoWhite]

Allen Pittman has been practicing bagua longer than I've been alive.

 

http://apittman.com/blog/east/ba-gua/articles

[zerostao]

Just as an aside.

Anyone who thinks that MoPai is a tad contentious has yet to discover the inter-school fractiousness around commercial Bagua.

Here's a nice article from the BlackTaoist site and that quote in the last paragraph, to me; is 'statesmanlike'.

http://blacktaoist.com/cao.asp

idk, it could, but here on ttb bagua threads have never gone the way so many tai chi threads have gone, certainly no bagua thread has ever appeared to be a mo pai type thread. and offline, in the 'real' world in my neck of the woods we have exchanged many thoughts and experiences with maybe every single open source bagua school with nothing but mutual benefit. we have had meet ups and even --in state fierce rival kung fu schools --that butted heads on everything else found the exchanging of bagua related materials very friendly.

gmp, which style of baguazhang do you have experience with? and some in my neck of the woods have ongoing dialogue with black taoist even.

 

edit> plum pub gets mentioned on ttb from time to time and they do have a nice selection of material in a wide range of styles not just with the bagua, but this is the bagua thread, so

 

http://www.plumpub.com/sales/bagua/collbk_bagua.htm

http://www.plumpub.com/sales/bagua/coll_crandallBG.htm

http://www.plumpub.com/sales/dvd_title.htm#bagua

 

it is well known that i am part of DGS (i am a very very small part lol) and that i appreciate all bagua styles (that abide by the 36 and 48 songs) and i have an open mind towards all bagua thought.

 

i have wanted to check these 2 out for sometime, if anyone has these and would like to comment?

 

Edited July 11, 2014 by zerostao

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Gem of a video on some fundamentals:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzmimfhO3Fk

[GreytoWhite]

Ted Mancuso has some wonderful information on the blog for his company. While it is not restricted to Baguazhang the information that he gives is great. Although he seems to have something against He Jinghan for some reason.

 

http://www.plumpub.com/kaimen/

[Michael Sternbach]

In my opinion, the videos by Joanna Zorya mentioned above by Zerostao (as well as her others that relate to Taiji and Xingyiquan) are very recommendable for their in-depth explanations of principles.

 

Ted Mancuso's Bagua videos are well produced and excellent in content as well - and the man is certainly most dynamic!

 

I also enjoyed the 2012 DVD Ba Gua Zhang (Pa Kua Chang) - Fighting Secrets of the Internal Arts by Richard E Clear JR. I would suggest this as well as Clear's other videos if you are looking for ideas how internal martial arts might be used in a context of realistic self-defence.

 

In this regard, don't overlook Erle Montaigue who made dozens of interesting videos on Bagua and many more on related topics.

[Gerard]

My personal advice on this:

 

1. Learn from a teacher who has inherited the knowledge traditionally (personal instruction) since you will be acquiring the knowledge of generations of BGZ masters (kind of an osmosis). This is invaluable and no books and DVDs can ever provide this sort of information.

 

2. Focus on the fundamentals: stepping, circle walking, mindfulness/concentration and dedication/hard work (effort). The teacher will be your guide but don't expect to attain a high level by doing little...it is hard to find a good teacher but even harder to find a good student.

 

3. DVDs and books are useful as a supplementary tool. I can vouch for Liu Jingru's (Cheng style) DVDs as he is an excellent teacher and very easy to follow. His videos have English subtitles and can be purchased on eBay. Here's a link to the 8 Changing Palms form in Chinese language (no English subs) to give you an idea about what you'd expect.

Edited November 23, 2017 by Gerard

[rex]

The Association of Traditional Studies videos on YouTube:

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/traditionalstudies/videos

 

Yup, Andrew will be putting everything he has up on youtube, including all the old stuff with Dr Xie!

 

If you like it please subscribe to his youtube channel, and click on the ads the proceeds generated go back to his teachers families.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/traditionalstudies/videos

Edited July 26, 2014 by rex

[soaring crane]

In this regard, don't overlook Erle Montaigue who made dozens of interesting videos on Bagua and many more on related topics.

 

and who has many students in Austria and Switzerland (for some reason)

[Gerard]

An excellent and very insightful interview with Michael Guen (Yin Fu>Gong Baotian>Gong Baozhai lineage) every Bagua practitioner should read.

 

Baguazhang a gift from Heaven.

[Gerard]

Full Bagua videos with teacher Sun Zhijun (Cheng Tinghua style via Cheng Dianhua>Cheng Yousheng>Sun Zhijun lineage):

 

1.

 

2.

(fixed palms neigong)

 

3.

 

4.

 

Enjoy!

Edited August 2, 2014 by Gerard

[Andrei]

Gerard, very good videos but the "eight mother palms" link does not work.

 

I know this set of "eight mother palms":

 

Edited August 2, 2014 by Andrei

[Gerard]

Fixed, thanks.

[Gerard]

Here's an excellent article discussing the Taoist shamanic roots of this incredible art:

 

As Above so Below

 

The Dances of Yu (禹步) and the Sigil of Saturn

 

Since the mythological Xia Dynasty (which many theorists have speculated a Middle Eastern origin) that predated Chinese Shang Dynasty, the word 舞 (Wu, Dance) is viewed in the same context as that of 巫 (Wu, Sorcery) on the oracle carvings, notwithstanding the fact that both having similar phonetics. 禹步 (Dance of Yu; origins as that of the dances performed by Ta Yu to control the flood) are one of the most important ritualistic dances engaged by mediums and shamans for a variety of situations ranging from controlling of weather to the subduing of demons.

 

 

In this article, we are interested in powerful binding nature of the dance utilized in many powerful Taoist rituals like 雷法 (Thunder Magic). From here, we will also see the similarity to the Sigil of Saturn that has the same movement that activates the Seal of Solomon to bind spirits. There are many variations of the 禹步 (Dances of Yu) and the most popular are known as 踩八卦 (Stepping on Ba Gua, and the dance variety is known as 八卦舞) and 踏七星 (Stepping on the 7 stars of Big Dipper). We will emphasize on the 八卦舞 (Ba Gua Dance) aspect.

 

 

八 卦舞 (Ba Gua Dance) is an interpretive ritual of the Ba Gua through directions of its trigrams and itself clocks The Big Dipper with movement of the Elemental Flow of Trigram in the 洛書 (Luo Shu) Magic Square configuration template. The laws of the Ba Gua Dance is based on Yin Yang, two nature of the Cosmos, and its interchangeability. The dancer is an embodiment of the dynamic Chi, with every breathing, elevation and fall, rhythm and tempo, strength and weakness, the duality is emphasized.

 

 

In the Nine Stars Ritual, all the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper inclusive of two auxillary stars are 左辅 and 右弼, known as 游魂 (Wandering Soul) and 归魂 (Returning Soul) are utilized. The Spells (咒语) guide the different hand gestures, and Incantations (巫词) guide the path and rhythm of the dance. The following are the incantation (巫词) of 八卦舞 for the Nine Star Gods:

 

 

一黑贪狠坎水金二白巨门坤士临。三青禄存震木是四绿巽上文曲星。五黄廉中属中土六玄武曲乾上巡。七白破中金是兑八白左辅艮土中。九紫右弼离火红玄中妙诀胜黄金。

 

The above follows the course of all the Nine Stars of the Big Dipper, the invocation of the Nine Star Gods. The incantations will also include details about the 5 Colours, 5 Elements, the Earthly Branches (Di Zhi), 28 Mansions and the Trigrams. The dances follow 6 unions, 3 inner unions in (精, 气, 神) and 3 in outer unions in (根, 干, 枝). The body is an embodiment of the universe, the head the Heaven, the body Man and legs the Earth. The formation of the dance can utilize the 先天八卦 (Early Heaven Ba Gua) of He Tu or the 后天八卦 (Post Heaven Ba Gua) of Luo Shu. Although the formations may be different however there are constant regions in five directions, mainly Metal (West), Wood (East), Water (North), Fire (South) and Earth (Middle). When the dance moves (movement from 1 to 9 on Luo Shu for example) are laid out, it becomes the Sigil of Saturn that is very prominent in Kabbalistic Esoteric concepts (diagram below right).

 

 

八 卦舞 (Ba Gua Dance) is a form of 巫步 (Magical Steps) that can be used to bind demons and counter evil. There is a saying in Chinese: 鹤能巫步禁蛇故食蛇 which translates to The Crane utilise magical steps to subdue the Snake, to eat it.. That reminds me of an interesting article that Dr Ong Hean Tatt put out in his book The Chinese Pakua An Expose. He mentioned that the 茅山 (Mao Shan) sect practices black magic in terms of Serpent magic that utilized horizontal array of the eight trigrams with a moving changeable and highly flexible powerful serpent head (in the trigram Chen), a manifestation of the Dark Watery Serpent of the North. To counter the black magic, 雷法 (Thunder Magic) utilizes the Ba Gua Dance as part of the ritual (movement from 1 to 9 on Luo Shu), it invokes the powerful symbol of Fiery Southern Phoenix at 9 to battle the serpent.

 

The Ba Gua Dance in the Trigram is symbolic of the dynamics of the Nine Star Gods and it resembles that of the Kabbalistic Sigil of Saturn. The Sigil of Saturn is an integral part of the Hexagramic Seal of Solomon (Star of David), which is perfect constant in the cosmos, whereas the Sigil of Saturn marks Space and Time. The dynamics of time in opposition trapped in the perfect constant will subdue and imprison demons and their activities. The Saturnian power of the Black Sun is the hallmark of the esoteric movement. The close similarity of the two Chinese and Middle Eastern symbols suggest that there were connections between the two cultures in antediluvian times.

 

 

Source.

 

 

The benefits delivered by Bagua are immense. A real treasure of the ancient world.

 

 

Photo of Li Ziming sweeping Dong Haichuan's tomb.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Gerard