He Jinbao's Bagua

[Sloppy Zhang]

So I know quite a bit about Tai Chi, and a little bit less about xingyiquan, but baguazhang is the one internal art that I haven't really been able to devote a lot of time into finding out about it. I'm a big fan of learning things from as close to the source as possible, and while all systems of bagua have a lot to offer, the Yin style piqued my interest. Unfortunately Yin style is pretty rare, but from what I can understand has TONS to offer, both martially AND in terms of chinese medicine and healing.

 

I'm aware that He Jinbao is the current lineage holder (received from Xie Peiqi), and I've also heard that he has some DVD's out on some of the systems within Yin style bagua. The only things I could turn up on youtube (to see what some of the stuff looks like) is two guys practicing some stuff they learned from the DVD's.

 

I was wondering if anyone here has seen the DVD's, or attempted learning from them, or if anyone does any Yin style as He Jinbao teaches. And if so, could you share what it's like or anything like that?

[DaoChild]

Hi Sloppy Zhang,

Funny this post came up. I haven't studied Bagua, but in the next few months will be starting - and around christmas time / spring time next year I'll be moving to Beijing to study Bagua and Taoism 24/7.

 

I can tell you what i've heard of He Jinbao, since I myself am hoping to be able to study directly under him / his students where he teaches when I go.

 

What I've heard: Some of the earlier videos i've heard aren't very useful - he sort of does the circle circle walk or doesn't show much beyond the very very basics. It takes a lot of time going into the real details. I have heard that some of the DVDs on the other animal forms are useful though (Since most practitioners don't get beyond Lion, and I think there are about 8).

 

Bagua is a very complicated art, and like most martial arts, I would not recommend you trying to learn it A) Alone and B ) Without a teacher. I'm not a beginner to Chinese martial arts so I can definitely say a teacher is pretty much necessary if you want to get anywhere - even if only at the start. It's incredibly important to have someone there pointing out your every physical flaw, but also someone there to see the look in your eyes, the emotion (or lack thereof), and the overall flow of your practice. It goes so much beyond the scope of a DVD or book.

 

 

Info on Yin Style, from He Jinbao study group:

 

http://www.yinstylebaguazhang.com/index.html

 

You can find contact information, and a bunch of articles there.

 

Comparing Bagua styles:

 

http://www.geocities.com/ycgf/bagua.htm

Edited February 13, 2009 by DaoChild

[Sloppy Zhang]

Oh yeah, I probably should have put this in the OP:

 

It pretty much goes without saying that the universal stance on the issue of you won't get very far in training without a teacher, so learning from DVD's and books is mostly useless. No offense to anyone, but if you're just going to post and say that, please don't, we've heard it all before Let's just stick to the quality of the stuff out there, thanks.

 

Okay, now moving on:

 

Funny this post came up. I haven't studied Bagua, but in the next few months will be starting - and around christmas time / spring time next year I'll be moving to Beijing to study Bagua and Taoism 24/7.

 

I can tell you what i've heard of He Jinbao, since I myself am hoping to be able to study directly under him / his students where he teaches when I go.

 

Well glad this has good timing It's also really cool that you're going to be learning bagua and taoism in such an intense way! I hope you have a good trip and you make lots of progress.

 

What I've heard: Some of the earlier videos i've heard aren't very useful - he sort of does the circle circle walk or doesn't show much beyond the very very basics. It takes a lot of time going into the real details. I have heard that some of the DVDs on the other animal forms are useful though (Since most practitioners don't get beyond Lion, and I think there are about 8).

 

Well from what I've seen there are four sets of DVD's out, one for lion, one for phoenix (I think), and two others, and a little advertisement says he plans to release the rest over the next ten years.

 

(here's the link: http://www.traditionalstudies.org/website/...20Animals.html)

 

Don't know chronologically how those DVD's fit in with what you're talking about, their level of instruction/detail. Something that I've found, at least with stuff like tai chi and xingyiquan, is there are a LOT of books out there by a LOT of different teachers (both good and bad), so even if one book says something in one way, another book may word something a little different, or explain different things with different emphasis. So even though you may learn from a lot of sources, it's all coming together and forming the big picture.

 

With Yin style of baguazhang being relatively small compared to other styles (as He Jinbao says on the website, there aren't a lot of people who practice it, and fewer who teach), you won't necessarily get that same dynamic, which is another reason why I'm asking if anyone has any experience And again why it might be harder to pick up from just one DVD set, as with some other style you'd have a number of DVD's and books from all kinds of people to draw information from.

 

But these DVD sets come in sets of 10 DVDs!!!! So I gotta wonder what all is in there. Some instructional DVD's not only teach techniques, but teach a lot of common mistakes beginners make and things to avoid, then again, maybe each technique is covered that there's so many DVD's. Supposedly each system is its own complete martial art system in its own right (so even though He Jinbao teaches people starting with Lion, the other animals can stand fine on their own).

 

But thanks for your input DaoChild, greatly appreciated

Edited February 13, 2009 by Sloppy Zhang

[WhiteTiger]

I haven't practiced or know much about Bagua... Although in a small attempt to try and help with what i do understand...

 

Bagua can go deep into Cosmology.

 

Where as many practitioners of other tai chi may be a little more known and thus their seems to be much more marketing for it.

[wenwu]

hey there Sloppy Zhang

 

yes, Yin stlye in a very rare art, and even alot of people who say they teach it don't they teach a Cheng variation.

 

The Xie Peqi style of Baguazhang is a very large system larger than most, with the 8 animals and the 8 variation of each animal it can take a long time to learn if you are planning on the while system,

 

Lion is usually taught first because it is the most yang of the animals and it's purpose apart from fighting is to strengthen bones and tendons.

 

teaching techniques in Baguazhang vary from teacher to teacher obviously, but as far as i know Mr. He's methods is fairly tradiotional which is

 

standing meditation, in the various animal forms

 

single movement practice

 

form practice

 

applications

 

I have checked out the dragon DVD and it seems to follow this pattern

 

 

i am not sure how much actual fight he has in his classes, i have heard different accounts butni know that he always has shuai jiao jackets at the ready

 

for the healing systems within Xie peqi's system, i believe that alot of them were not passed on. He Jinbao's knowledge or at least what he choooses t teach is the martial tradition of the art. i have no information as to who if anyone was the inheritor of the mediacal teachings of Dr. Xie

[Gerard]

The following article is a must read for anyone interested in Bagua or a Bagua student themselves:

 

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

 

 

It explains everything.

 

 

FORGET ABOUT LEARNING BAGUAZHANG WITHOUT THE SUPERVISION OF A INSTRUCTOR TRAINED ACCORDING TO THE TRADITIONAL WAY.

 

 

Note: Travelling to Beijing to learn/improve Bagua skill is like a pilgrimage to the Mecca. It should be done by any serious student of the art.

 

 

Edited: typo.

Edited February 14, 2009 by durkhrod chogori