Where can I find a good school of Baguazhang?

[Vuk]

Hi. I practiced Baguazhang for a few years with a local instructor but I noticed after a while the guy had no knowledge of the inner aspect or even about the combat aplications. He was just introducing me to new forms, again and again, withoun any depth, so I decided to learn more from books. After a while I stopped because it was hard to make progress without a proper guide and I had just started to work after graduation.

 

Now that my job is going well I plan to do the only logical thing which is to try to go once in a while to China, train there for a month or two, then train by myself in my country (which is Serbia by the way) during the rest of the year.

 

If anyone could tell me where to find a decent school of Baguazhang I would really appreciate that.

[Miffymog]

http://rumsoakedfist.org/

 

Has a list of instructors, maybe one of them can help.

 

[Wu Ming Jen]

I would recommend wudang mountain in Hubei provance. There are a lot of schools. I can help to pick one and you can change schools if you like. The school can invite you so you can get a Visa. The list of Bagua methods alone is staggering and you get to choose. All internal and combat applications are readily available.

 

Wudang is also a tourist and pilgrim destination so if you wish to be off the beaten path that is possible, depends on what you like. 

[CityHermit!]

I couldn't tell you who specifically to look for but I've heard better things about Yin Fu and Gao Yi Zhen lineages.

[Earl Grey]

It also depends on where you are because my teacher said the basics can be taught online, but the advanced stuff is in person, as we can't even do circle walking unless he is there. 

 

He is in Sydney, Australia if you want a contact. 

Edited August 15, 2018 by Earl Grey

[Vuk]

12 hours ago, Earl Grey said:

It also depends on where you are because my teacher said the basics can be taught online, but the advanced stuff is in person, as we can't even do circle walking unless he is there. 

 

He is in Sydney, Australia if you want a contact. 

 

On 14.8.2018. at 12:34 AM, CityHermit! said:

I couldn't tell you who specifically to look for but I've heard better things about Yin Fu and Gao Yi Zhen lineages.

 

On 7.8.2018. at 7:38 PM, Wu Ming Jen said:

I would recommend wudang mountain in Hubei provance. There are a lot of schools. I can help to pick one and you can change schools if you like. The school can invite you so you can get a Visa. The list of Bagua methods alone is staggering and you get to choose. All internal and combat applications are readily available.

 

Wudang is also a tourist and pilgrim destination so if you wish to be off the beaten path that is possible, depends on what you like. 

 

On 7.8.2018. at 7:09 PM, Miffymog said:

http://rumsoakedfist.org/

 

Has a list of instructors, maybe one of them can help.

 

Thank you everybody!

the more information I get the closer I get to finding the right school/master.

[Gerard]

He Jinghan. A whole YouTube channel solely dedicated to teach people the art to the highest level. I can vouch for this excellent teacher at a 100%. 

 

Where in the world are you right now?

 

Note: if you start worrying about combat stuff...you'll miss entirely the depth of the 'rabbit hole.' In other words, it's an endless journey.

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

[Gerard]

Sorry I did miss that you are in Serbia. Let me suggest you paying a visit to Miro (Miroslav Bakos) who lives in the Czech Republic. He is the most senior student of HJH and lived in Taiwan for 2 decades before returning to his country.

 

You could contact him through Facebook if you like.

 

Let me tell you something anyway:

 

1. 8 Mother Palms.

2. Foundation work (mabu, pubu, etc.). On a daily basis, making sure to sink the Qi down to the feet as we have become too mental and less agricultural. All this crazy technology and fast-paced modern life has caused a massive energy shift from lower body to the Head and damaging the Earth (Spleen & Stomach) at the same time. Eating too much cold & processed food, too fast,  too late and missing the family, gathering, love, communal component. Eating happy and in good company! 

Heart is the Mother of the Spleen (Fire generates Earth).

3. Practicing in the park surrounded by a bunch of trees. Early am practice (3 to 6) when the Wood energy (Liver) is most active will be very benefitial as this organ/element is in charge of moving the Qi in your entire system. 

 

This is all you need really.

 

Feel free to ask anything here if you like. More than happy to help.

 

Edited August 16, 2018 by Gerard

[Earl Grey]

I forgot to mention that as you are Serbian, my teacher from the former Yugoslavia and the successor states that now exist, John Dolic, is the one living in Sydney who can teach you Liang style Bagua, but limitations of course exist from Skype, although he does go back often to visit family and friends throughout the region. 

[Vuk]

9 hours ago, Gerard said:

Sorry I did miss that you are in Serbia. Let me suggest you paying a visit to Miro (Miroslav Bakos) who lives in the Czech Republic. He is the most senior student of HJH and lived in Taiwan for 2 decades before returning to his country.

 

You could contact him through Facebook if you like.

 

Let me tell you something anyway:

 

1. 8 Mother Palms.

2. Foundation work (mabu, pubu, etc.). On a daily basis, making sure to sink the Qi down to the feet as we have become too mental and less agricultural. All this crazy technology and fast-paced modern life has caused a massive energy shift from lower body to the Head and damaging the Earth (Spleen & Stomach) at the same time. Eating too much cold & processed food, too fast,  too late and missing the family, gathering, love, communal component. Eating happy and in good company! 

Heart is the Mother of the Spleen (Fire generates Earth).

3. Practicing in the park surrounded by a bunch of trees. Early am practice (3 to 6) when the Wood energy (Liver) is most active will be very benefitial as this organ/element is in charge of moving the Qi in your entire system. 

 

This is all you need really.

 

Feel free to ask anything here if you like. More than happy to help.

 

Hi Gerard,

thank you for all this precious information!

 

I am not into Baguazhang because of combat but above all because I have been in love with Taoism since I was in my teens, and I am really curious about Neijia, internal Alchemy and learning Taoist universal concepts through Baguazhang.

I will dedinitely check the videos by He Jinghan as you suggested. I am on holidays but I will continue my training next week once I return home. Then I will certainly have more questions for you

by the way, what do you think about the Baguazhang Mastery program by Bruce Frantzis? And what about the videos of Erle Montague and his son?

[Vuk]

2 hours ago, Earl Grey said:

I forgot to mention that as you are Serbian, my teacher from the former Yugoslavia and the successor states that now exist, John Dolic, is the one living in Sydney who can teach you Liang style Bagua, but limitations of course exist from Skype, although he does go back often to visit family and friends throughout the region. 

That sounds interesting, I’ll check him online.

thank you!

[Gerard]

Hi again,

 

Stay away from low level stuff. HJH is high level. 

 

Circle walking Magui style also delivers the goods. Warrior-like approach:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Gui_(martial_artist)

 

Rigorous training and a conservative approach to teaching. ^5!

 

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by Gerard

[Vuk]

6 minutes ago, Gerard said:

Hi again,

 

Stay away from low level stuff. HJH is high level. 

 

Circle walking Magui style also delivers the goods. Warrior-like approach:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Gui_(martial_artist)

 

Approach to training. ^5!!

 

 

Haha, ok, I will. By the way, could you tell me how can I avoid knee injuries caused by circle walking? I often hear about that.

[Gerard]

By learning how to walk correctly in the first place. My teacher, Geoff Sweeting, taught me how to walk correctly from DAY 1 and every day for the following 2 YEARS. No room for error; it's like fine tuning a musical instrument. I'm am deeply thankful to him for being strict!!

 

Walking low takes time. Bagua will tell you when. 

 

Rushing ---> not good. Catastrophe. It will destroy you.

 

Doing it like brushing your teeth every day (thanks He Jinghan for telling me this in person in Taipei), just a bit, here and there, routinely ---> very good. No injuries, you progress, you clear blockages, you open your MIND, you become very healthy and strong, a good and moral person, follows universal laws and Nature itself. 

 

It's a lifetime journey, not a race to win a trophy.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by Gerard

[Gerard]

I forgot. Please read the following:

 

https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/35465-favorite-bagua-resources-books-teachers-videos-etc/?do=findComment&comment=591127 (Bagua, Life and the Mind).

 

https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/35465-favorite-bagua-resources-books-teachers-videos-etc/?do=findComment&comment=591472 (Butcher Ding).

 

You'll have to so many times.

 

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by Gerard

[Earl Grey]

I e-mailed my teacher who goes back and forth from Sydney and around the former Yugoslavia. You can contact him at www.qigongchinesehealth.com for info on his Bagua. It's not listed on the site, but you can ask him in an e-mail there. 

[Vuk]

On 18.8.2018. at 10:41 AM, Gerard said:

I forgot. Please read the following:

 

https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/35465-favorite-bagua-resources-books-teachers-videos-etc/?do=findComment&comment=591127 (Bagua, Life and the Mind).

 

https://www.thedaobums.com/topic/35465-favorite-bagua-resources-books-teachers-videos-etc/?do=findComment&comment=591472 (Butcher Ding).

 

You'll have to so many times.

 

 

I did, with pleasure.

i also started to read the Bagua Daoyin book by He Jinghan and several interviews with him, and I like his honest, humble and experienced tone, something that most popular masters lack in their pubblications.

I also enjoyed reading those scanned pages that you linked, especially the parts where Miroslav Bakos speaks about consciousness and about internal martial arts as a tool that prepare the practitioner to obtain results from Buddhist meditation ( as a path towards the expansion of awareness). 

I am really grateful for the kind of information you’ve sent me this far because it matches what I was looking for

 

I sent a message and a friend request on FB to Miroslav a week ago but I still have no answer.

 

I will practice Bagua basics from now on on a daily basis and a bit longer on the weekends, so I have a few more questions once you have a spare minute:

-I realized the importance of unlocking the hip joints and the shoulder blades. Which are the best exercises to do so?

-Since stretching is important to aid the circulation of Qi and Blood should I aim to become extremely flexible (like being able to do a split etc.)? It looked to me for a long time that this was more relevant for flashy external styles like shaolin acrobatics, but now I am not sure.

-You’ve suggested previously that I should focus during the firs phase of my training (about ten years  ) on circle walking and on the 8 mother palms. Are there any videos of He Jinghan where these are explained? 

-If on the average my training is 1:30h on workdays and at least 2h on weekends how should I structure its segments (like, 50% circle walking, 25% stretching, 25% one of the trigrams)? I am already being hard on myself by focusing a lot on mabu walking and stance. Is that ok?

-If I decide to go to Taipei and train with master He (after a long time of working on the basics) how do I get in touch with him, what is the cost and does he even teach still? I couldn’t dig up any contact info online.

 

Thank you very much for everything you’ve sent this far. Answer whenever you have time

 

 

[Gerard]

Hip joint:

 

Basics - Foundation work:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=LDgMtLQegIY&feature=endscreen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu6-zBznDZc

 

It's going to take you a long time to reach this level but when you do progressively, your health, posture and strength will dramatically improve:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWe37lYEWZg

 

Before that watch the following:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8GT128He-g("uncaged" human, love that nick! )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGAoa3ah5jc

------------> Being able to squat deeply and coming back up effortlessly is a prerequisite for correct Taiji posture and all martial artists. This beginner's exercise if often challenging to people whose hips are tight from sitting in chairs/driving/using computers all day. -----> The main problem of modern society. Humans become 'fixated' and with very stiff bodies ----> the MIND becomes stale and stiff as a result, they argue too much and have a point of view.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3jL9Iy6tKY

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

ASIAN SQUAT ----> the bread & butter (foundation work) of squatting and a better posture!

 

Kettlebell squats are also a very good hip opening exercise but NOT with HEAVY WEIGHTS. You must focus on the inner arch of the legs (dang area) and using your hips softly slowly going down and stay in the squat position as long as you comfortably can. Work on time progressively. Slowly go up using the hip and focusing on the inner arch of your legs (tendons) making sure your back is straight.

 

Video

 

But hold the kettle ball (arms hanging down) in a low position between your legs. You may start with 16Kg and work yourself slowly down progressively ---->12Kg-10Kg-8Kg-6Kg-4Kg-2Kg-bodyweight only.

 

 

But the goal should be this:

 

HJH advice 1

HJH advice 2

 

Talk about dang

 

 

HJH has many other videos about opening the kua and hip joint. You need to browse through his entire channel starting from the very bottom.

 

Shoulders will be opened when you work on the MP walking the circle many times each direction. Work progressively. 6-10-15-25-35-40-50-60-70-80, etc. revolutions and then change direction and repeat the number of circles you did either clockwise or counterclockwise. Don't push yourself, just go with the flow but this doesn't mean you need to go soft all the time. In spring and summer do lots more revolutions than in autumn and winter (less circle walking and more basics).

 

 

You said in your opening post your learning was under a certain teacher for several years. There is no need to learn new Palms from en entirely different system like Gong Baozai's. The Palms are structured and are different nonetheless from other Bagua styles.

 

Stick to what you know already and walk, walk, walk, walk....

 

Do the basics during another time of the day but just a bit 10-15 min or so. Don't get carried away! Like brushing your teeth. It's a progressive opening of the Mind (joints, meridians, cleansing of organ blockages, softening of muscles, elongating of tendons, etc.) which will involve purifying yourself from lifetimes of conditioning plus the fetters. You need to be very patient and diligent.

 

Send a PM to HJH via his YT channel. I don't have his email address anymore, only an old one but no longer active since I visited Taipei in 2005. You need to ask him about costs, yes he still teaches but not as openly as in the past. No need to be an accomplished practitioner to be his student.

 

Hope all of this info was helpful.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2018 by Gerard

[Vuk]

On 8/22/2018 at 12:54 AM, Gerard said:

Hip joint:

 

Basics - Foundation work:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=LDgMtLQegIY&feature=endscreen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu6-zBznDZc

 

It's going to take you a long time to reach this level but when you do progressively, your health, posture and strength will dramatically improve:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWe37lYEWZg

 

Before that watch the following:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8GT128He-g("uncaged" human, love that nick! )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGAoa3ah5jc

------------> Being able to squat deeply and coming back up effortlessly is a prerequisite for correct Taiji posture and all martial artists. This beginner's exercise if often challenging to people whose hips are tight from sitting in chairs/driving/using computers all day. -----> The main problem of modern society. Humans become 'fixated' and with very stiff bodies ----> the MIND becomes stale and stiff as a result, they argue too much and have a point of view.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3jL9Iy6tKY

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

ASIAN SQUAT ----> the bread & butter (foundation work) of squatting and a better posture!

 

Kettlebell squats are also a very good hip opening exercise but NOT with HEAVY WEIGHTS. You must focus on the inner arch of the legs (dang area) and using your hips softly slowly going down and stay in the squat position as long as you comfortably can. Work on time progressively. Slowly go up using the hip and focusing on the inner arch of your legs (tendons) making sure your back is straight.

 

Video

 

But hold the kettle ball (arms hanging down) in a low position between your legs. You may start with 16Kg and work yourself slowly down progressively ---->12Kg-10Kg-8Kg-6Kg-4Kg-2Kg-bodyweight only.

 

 

But the goal should be this:

 

HJH advice 1

HJH advice 2

 

Talk about dang

 

 

HJH has many other videos about opening the kua and hip joint. You need to browse through his entire channel starting from the very bottom.

 

Shoulders will be opened when you work on the MP walking the circle many times each direction. Work progressively. 6-10-15-25-35-40-50-60-70-80, etc. revolutions and then change direction and repeat the number of circles you did either clockwise or counterclockwise. Don't push yourself, just go with the flow but this doesn't mean you need to go soft all the time. In spring and summer do lots more revolutions than in autumn and winter (less circle walking and more basics).

 

 

You said in your opening post your learning was under a certain teacher for several years. There is no need to learn new Palms from en entirely different system like Gong Baozai's. The Palms are structured and are different nonetheless from other Bagua styles.

 

Stick to what you know already and walk, walk, walk, walk....

 

Do the basics during another time of the day but just a bit 10-15 min or so. Don't get carried away! Like brushing your teeth. It's a progressive opening of the Mind (joints, meridians, cleansing of organ blockages, softening of muscles, elongating of tendons, etc.) which will involve purifying yourself from lifetimes of conditioning plus the fetters. You need to be very patient and diligent.

 

Send a PM to HJH via his YT channel. I don't have his email address anymore, only an old one but no longer active since I visited Taipei in 2005. You need to ask him about costs, yes he still teaches but not as openly as in the past. No need to be an accomplished practitioner to be his student.

 

Hope all of this info was helpful.

 

 

Undoubtedly helpful, as always

Thank you again

[Vuk]

On 8/21/2018 at 4:42 AM, Earl Grey said:

I e-mailed my teacher who goes back and forth from Sydney and around the former Yugoslavia. You can contact him at www.qigongchinesehealth.com for info on his Bagua. It's not listed on the site, but you can ask him in an e-mail there. 

Thank you. I am on holidays now, I'll probably get in touch with him once I return home.