July 12, 2009 by george.

Here’s some great video of Laoshi teaching at this year’s seminars in Paris, France.

Thanks to Ed Hines for putting this together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vt6hldEFR4&feature=channel

Posted in Baguazhang, General Info | 1 Comment »

May 3, 2009 by george.

In its most simple sense, baguazhang likes to take things and play with them. The art is based on the attitude of play. You can play with forms, you can play with opponents and training partners, and you need to play with the tools of your training.

A simple example of playing with a “tool” in training is taking one basic form or fighting principle and varying it in a number of different senses. Doing this as a deliberate process allows you to get to the essence of that form or principles jin. You must take it apart so that you can see what it is, inside and out, and so that you can learn to put it back together in any form you want. Take our first houtian straight line form of kaizhang, or opening palm, for example. From the basic template, you can learn to practice it long for the training of power, or short for the expression of power. You can apply it with either hand, on either the inside or outside of your opponent. You can apply it driving forward or while retreating. You can use it to overwhelm or to flow around the strengths of your opponent. You can use it to enter high or low, or to force your opponent’s center high or low. You can step straight in or at angles around the opponent. You can strike with a palm, as in the basic form, or with a slapping hand, a fist, your knee, your elbow, etc.

Another example of a practice in baguazhang that used to be common, but that I don’t see often anymore, is that of free-flowing creative circle walking. Using the circle as a template and letting the jin flow out of your body, your mind and your consciousness was a common method of play in baguazhang when the art was first being disseminated. Beyond our own Yizong group, I have seen it practiced before in a couple Beijing bagua schools - I’ve seen Ma Chuanxu and Yang Kun do this personally, but it unfortunately does not seem to be as common anymore. And when it is done, especially in the West, it is often painfully obvious that it is being done too soon, without the foundation work in place. When the jin are not part of your body/mind, what comes out is just sloppy arm waving, not part of the art of Baguazhang.

Taking the basic essence of a thing and changing it big and small, forward and back, right and left, up and down, and more… this is the base of how we play in bagua. In a sense, the core jin of the moves we are trying to express is what is sacred, everything else is in flux, in change, in a state of play.

More later.

Posted in Baguazhang, Training, General Info | 4 Comments »

May 3, 2009 by george.

All martial arts are abstract from the real thing. There is no perfect imitation of what is chaos - a violent encounter. At best we try to imitate, to take aspects of the whole and train these.

Many martial arts take a single aspect of the whole and specialize in that. Brazilian jujitsu is reknowned for its ground grappling expertise. Judo, sambo, wrestling, shuai jiao for their skill in standing grappling and throwing. Boxing for its fists. Baguazhang is an attempt to take a look at the whole and what binds the pieces together. At its essence, it provides not only technique and methods of building skill, but an overarching paradigm with which to understand the chaos.

Like I say often in class, there are many aspects wherein Baguazhang tries to take the big look at things, and train not just a part, but the whole. Not just ABC or XYZ, but A through Z. You can see this in the forms wherein the body and mind are taken through a full range of motion and led to open the joints, the tendons, to make strong the bones and muscles, and to make clear, focussed and fully aware the mind/intent.

To train the whole still requires one to take it in pieces. Baguazhang will take different aspects of the whole pie and train them separately as well as together. Furthermore, this is often done to balance the training as well. Sometimes we will train in one direction, only to switch gears at some point and train in the other. There are times when we train for speed, others for power. There are times to train for light, others for heavy. Etc.

Again, these are all things that we hear in class everyday. Is it understood intuitively? Do you emphasize it in your training?

More later.

Posted in Baguazhang, Training, General Info | 4 Comments »

April 21, 2009 by george.

Martial arts training is by its very definition an abstract of what real violence, a real fight condition is like. What we are attempting to do in training is attempt to take the chaotic whole of combat and dissect it into smaller, more edible pieces of that greater pie. This is where an art such as Baguazhang shines.

One aspect of the art of baguazhang is its cohesive look at the training process itself - the act of modelling parts of the whole. The book from which baguazhang gets its namesake, the Yijing - the book of changes, is also an attempt to look at the chaotic whole of all aspects of the universe and then its distillation into understandable aspects. Baguazhang, the martial art, continues this process. Baguazhang was known since the days of is founder, Dong Haichuan, as an art based primarily in principle. There are principles to training and there are principles to fighting and there are principles of movement. Dong’s early students were taught this look at the essence, or over-arching principles of the art. Since his students all had experience in martial arts and fighting, he didn’t have to have as much of a beginner’s centric set curriculum. He instead could concentrate on the bigger concepts and how they break down. He could see the whole and understand it, therefore he could teach it well in all forms, he could fit it into any vase and expand from there.

If the Dao is the whole and the Yijing is the basis from which to understand its nature, then you could also use the analogy that struggle is alike the Dao and the art of baguazhang is alike the yijing, a basis from which to understand its nature. Yet the nature itself of struggle, the mind, training and movement lends itself as a very unique starting point from which to understand the Dao itself.

More later.

Posted in Baguazhang, Training | 5 Comments »

August 16, 2008 by george.

Here’s a link to a news program done on Luo Dexiu and his students, as well as the Yizong association in Taiwan. The Yizong association is a group of students from the early lineage of Zhang Zhunfeng, primarily through the Hong brothers. Luo Dexiu’s official “title” with the group is something like chief martial arts advisor or something along those lines… i.e. the guy who knows the most about these arts. A number of the older practitioners from the video were older students of Hong Yixiang, Hong Yiwen and/or Hong Yimian. In a way, this might be the only video some may ever see of these martial arts brothers of Luo Laoshi. Some of them also teach, and many have been practicing for 2, 3, 4 or 5 decades!

But still, one of the best parts about this video is that you also get to see Lin Guozheng performing and doing sanshou with Luo Laoshi. He also leads some of Luo Laoshi’s students through some Xingyi five elements practice. Lin Guozheng has been practicing martial arts since the early 70s, starting in wingchun due to the Bruce Lee craze. He eventually found Su Dongchen and studied under him for a number of years in Japan, and then for the last 20 years or so has been a disciple of Luo Dexiu Laoshi. He’s one of the early students under Luo Laoshi and his first Taiwanese student. I learned a lot from him while I was in Taiwan and owe A LOT of my skill and understanding to his ever patient and painful explanations. Its not much footage, but alas, here’s some!

 http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=fz4zF3oBg38

Posted in Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, General Info | 2 Comments »

March 9, 2008 by george.

Check these out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH89qHE68as

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r–Y9sMVhbY

Posted in Baguazhang | 1 Comment »

February 21, 2008 by george.

Here’s a video of a Yizong uncle of mine named Su Dongchen. He was a student under Hong Yixiang, along with my teacher, Luo Dexiu. Although I know that many of you have already seen this video, I thought I should put it up for show on this blog just in case others might not have seen it.

It shows Su Dongchen demonstrating fighting tactics against 3 opponents. You’ll notice the baguazhang coming out in this video as he defends, attacks, lines up and breaks down his “attackers.” It is an unscripted demo, but these are his students, so no one is getting killed or maimed.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=v1sK5zBRbec

As far as I’ve seen, it’s probably the best video I’ve seen on the Internet of fighting against multiple attackers. Check it out!

Posted in Baguazhang | 8 Comments »

January 16, 2008 by george.

Josh Coutts forwarded this to me. He was reading an article on cardio machines and exercise.

“She also notes that exercising in a hunched-over position can keep you from breathing deeply, and that the improper alignment of your spine can make the workout more jarring to your shoulders and elbows.

Use a natural gait, says Danberg. And “Don’t hold the handrails because it breaks the natural biomechanics of the body. We don’t go through life holding on to something.”

If you need more stability, he says, hold with one hand and move the other arm, alternating periodically.

Saremi also discourages reading while using the cardio machines: “You’re not concentrating and getting a good workout. You’re not monitoring your progress. Exercise has to engage your head. Form is so important.”"

And then Josh C. asked: “Bagua anyone?”

Do you ever think that at some point all the Jane Fonda types, and Billy Blanks types, and Krav Maga types, and yoga types will get together and take up Baguazhang?

Posted in Baguazhang, Training | 1 Comment »

January 15, 2008 by george.

Georges St. Pierre’s snake throw at the last UFC.

Sorry Shawn, this gif file didn’t have the set up or the follow up to the throw.

Posted in Baguazhang | 1 Comment »

January 14, 2008 by george.

Just thought I would throw this out there hoping for some comments. I’ve been thinking about this a lot the last few years - how to explain Baguazhang to those with no background knowledge in martial arts.

I remember Nima came up with some composite explanation shortly before he left for med school. It was something like saying Bagua was sort of like a combination of yoga, taiji, wrestling, kickboxing, etc. Maybe he could chime in when he gets a chance between dissections or tests or whatnot.

Before I chime in, what are your thoughts?

Posted in Baguazhang, General Info | 8 Comments »

January 8, 2008 by george.

Being Present.

One must be able to fully concentrate, fully focus, be fully aware and have the ability to be fully in the moment. This is both a both a trained skill, and a prerequisite to long term success in the arts.

All of us have had the experience growing up through grade school while sitting in one’s English class, and just zoning out. Or you might spend that class time doodling, writing notes, or staring out the window. Many people continue to go through life like that.

Examples:

Coming to class and not really paying attention to what you are doing or what you should be doing. I have often seen students come to class and then proceed to “play around.” The teacher might demonstrate one technique and explain how everyone should practice it, then a student might do that once or twice, maybe not even try, then proceed to just dawdle around or do whatever it is he/she might want to practice at the time instead of what the teacher is trying to get across. Not only is this disrespectful to the teacher, it is disrespectful and causes other students to not be able to pay attention. It is also hurting the student themselves. One thing that I have noticed that often separates the experts from the masses is attention to detail, repetition, and willing mastery of the basics. Its not the ability to do “advanced” or flowery, cool techniques that defines one as having become expert, it is their mastery of the basics. There can never be too much attention and focus paid to what one is doing at that moment.

When practicing, one’s mind should be fully present on what one is doing. One should not be daydreaming of the past or future. One should not be distracted by what happened at work or on the way to class. One should concentrate. Awareness. Focus.

One should not bring baggage to class or to practice…

I refer to this in two ways, one is personal, emotional, and psychological baggage. This is one of the most difficult things to accurately access and deal with in practice. It is often a long term project. It is also often never even considered by most teachers and practitioners. It is my belief that the Internal Martial Arts should be beneficial to one’s entire being and life. The mind does not get free escape from this attention. It is often that one’s own “issues” have a deep effect on the way they train, the way they deal with their classmates, the way they carry themselves in life, the way they approach fighting and naturally the way they approach their life.

The second is one’s past experience. Although previous training and athletic ability can be a great boon to one’s success in martial arts, it can also be an impediment. Although many people treat the old maxim as cliche’, there is great wisdom in the need to recognize how one should “empty one’s cup so that it may be filled” in approach to every class and every lesson. It is often seen that a student will bring their ego to the school and approach every lesson with something akin to “Oh yeah, that’s just like this from xyz martial art” or “I like to do it this way instead.” While some people make use of a learning mechanism wherein they need to connect everything they do new, with something they have done. This can only get you so far. There will inevitably be differences, its best to take off those blinders and see the whole picture, clearly, as its presented to you.

I’m sure everyone has also had the experience of sitting in that lecture in college and then walking out of the lecture hall having taken in nothing. Your mind was somewhere else or you just couldn’t concentrate long enough to absorb what was being presented. In a college lecture you might be able to ask your friend for the class notes. In the traditional internal martial arts, as my teacher would often remind me, there are many times where you might see something or hear something just once. If you are not present, if you are not aware and focused enough to pick it up, then that is just something you might never get.

Why limit yourself by not being there, in class or in life?

Posted in Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, Training, General Info | 6 Comments »

December 27, 2007 by george.

Here’s a video from a school nephew of mine, Hanan. He has trained extensively with a senior of mine under Luo Dexiu Laoshi, Zeev Foux, in Israel. Hanan also spent time training in Tianjin, China under Han Fengrui.

It was posted up for comments at Emptyflower.net and I thought I should post it here as well so some of my students can see how they do Yizong in Israel!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3NWcKZApYQ

Posted in Baguazhang | 3 Comments »

December 7, 2007 by george.

Be Present.

One must come to class.

Its often that simple. There are always distractions; whether its work, traffic, significant others, sleep, TV, video games or whatnot, there is always something beckoning one away from what one wants to do or sometimes just should do. If you want to do it, if you want to get better at it, you have to do it. Its that simple.

I remember noticing this in my teacher’s classes in Taiwan. There were people who came through who were physically more gifted, perhaps mentally more the fighter type, had more free time, were independently wealthy, had a lot of previous martial arts experience or whatever other potential benefits a certain person might have. Greater potential does not always mean greater success and greater skills. I often saw people who came to class consistently, who did their work earnestly, eventually develop great skill sets in the martial arts above and beyond those who might have had more potential. This was often simply a matter of consistent practice.

A sparring partner and friend of mine in Taiwan who was also had a great interest in yoga told me a funny story about a thought he had one time while training yoga in India. He was in India training yoga full time for about a year and a half. He mentioned how he was doing yoga for 8 - 10 hours each day and how he was improving by leaps and bounds. Then one of his letters to me had a great line that said “damn - if only I trained Baguazhang this much I’d be awesome!”

These arts and their training process are also not constructed on a logical, linear progression of development like many systems in the western world. There is sequential training involved, some things are better learned before others. Much of the learning process is also non-linear; different parts of the whole will feed back in on each other leading to greater comprehension and understanding. One needs to be there to see the wide and the narrow, the non-linear expanse and the linear progressions of material. One needs to review old material and learn new. One needs to be available to constant correction and themselves ready constant questions. One needs training and sparring partners. These are all things that a class is an absolute necessity for.

I recall something that struck me as funny at some point. When I first started studying with my teacher, I was getting information left and right. I was elated. I listened as I could and tried to understand the principles to the best of my ability. I took notes. After a year of seeing the same stuff and hearing the same things, I thought I could understand some of it. Then after year two I thought “now I’m really getting better at this stuff.” Then in year three you finally realize you were a dipshit in year one and two and think “now I’ve got it!” It took me a while to just get to the point where I’m not thinking “I’ve got it” all the time, but come slowly to the place where I would accept that I’m continually getting it, deeper. Throughout the whole process I eventually found out that what my teacher was showing and saying were the same. He was not coming up with new information or new moves, though he might couch it in different terms or methods. The teaching was the same in year one as it was in year three, as it was in year six… The difference in understanding came from me. Being there, doing it, hearing and seeing the principles repeated in different manners over time, all of this led to improvement.

Can you learn alone without visiting a teacher? I highly doubt it. There is too much to these arts that can’t be put into words or video.

Can you learn while occasionally visiting a teacher? Theoretically yes. Will it take longer? Yes.

Do you remember while in school how teachers’ would take attendance? Do you remember how that would be part of your grade? There is a lesson in that. Sometimes just being there and following along, soaking things in, even if only passively, does have an effect. Think of it as the minimum necessary requirement.

Its funny that it even needs to be said.

Luo Dexiu Laoshi knocking me on my butt with the houtian technique Duo.

Posted in Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, Training, General Info | 6 Comments »

December 3, 2007 by george.

My years of teaching students the arts of Baguazhang and Xingyiquan, as well as the years I spent observing and assisting my teacher Luo Dexiu in teaching these arts, have given me a certain perspective about their training process. Although I, myself, am still undergoing this training process (still growing and learning the arts, and finding joy in doing so), I have come to the opinion that certain ways of training and attitudes towards training will help one along in the process. Although I try as often as possible to get these ideas across to my students in classes; nonetheless, I believe I should try to write some of it down and provide a more thorough treatment of the subject. As this is a big topic, I will have to tackle it in pieces.

Today we will start on How to Succeed in the Internal Martial Arts with part one of a series.

Now, before I begin, I must say a few words of caution. By writing this I am not trying to scare anyone off my school or trying to come down as a “Mr. Bad-Ass we all have to train 8 hours a day” Cobra-kai “sweep the leg” type of teacher.

A funny and very strange thing once happened to me as a teacher. I was trying to give a sort of pep talk to some students. I was trying to spur them on to train better, to train harder. I mentioned some of the examples that led me to train as hard as I did. I mentioned how one of my seniors would practice tiangan all day. Whenever he had some free time, whether between classes or at a bus stop or at many other periods during the day, he would bust out 20 good reps of a tiangan. Many often referred to him as one of the most powerful students. Another senior mentioned to a friend of mine how if you wanted to be serious as a martial artist, you needed to train full time, that means 40 hours a week. Like others have jobs that they put their time into to be masters of their craft, you need to be just as serious with your training. One senior of mine who was very influential to my development told me of a period in his training where he would get up at dawn to train for two hours, have breakfast and then train for another two to three hours, he would then train for at least an hour before and after class. Bagua class usually lasted for 2-3 hours. This would go on for six to seven days a week for nearly two years straight. And I haven’t even mentioned the incredible dedication in training that my teacher underwent. I was talking about some of this to my students, in the hope that some of the work ethic and desire of those who came before us would rub off. Before one can stand on the shoulders of giants, one must begin the climb up there.

Now, I later heard from one of my students who up until that time was training pretty seriously. He told me that he was quitting. He said that he does not feel like he can live up to my ideals of what a good student should be. This “pep talk” did not turn out how I envisioned it. I tried to talk to this student and get him to start training again, but his decision was already apparently made. I have tried to be more careful with how I talk with my students and in public, but at the same time I try not to hold back because someone might misunderstand me.

Its my feeling that students should try their hardest in training. They should put their all in to it. But each person’s all will be different. Different periods of life also might require pouring your time and dedication into other areas of life. Modern life is not always so amenable to our desire to train. But just like anything that is truly worth it, you must find the time to do it. I view these arts as life arts. If one can not make their art fit within their life in a positive way, then maybe one is going about something wrong. There is great value in practice. Although we are training the martial arts, some of the greatest benefits to me have come in the form of health, healing, balance, and mental training. For the long term, I think it is valuable to have something like this in one’s life, to provide a constant source of exercise, a constant source of balance to your mind and body, a constant source of diligence and a constant source of fun. I also find that in my life, it has sometimes been hard to forsake the demands of the moment for something that will give back to you in the long run. But then, I’ve also always found it worth it.

But please do not take this and say he expects too much. I think that any level of training these arts can bring benefit to one’s life. Whether you train once a week, or hours per day, you can get something out of the arts. Do not get discouraged because you can not do as much as another or as much as you want. Do not get discouraged for any reason really. These are wonderful arts to be enjoyed, if something gets in the way of that joy - well, you’ve got a problem and are approaching it wrong. Change your approach. There is fun in it, and there is a healthy diligence as well.

To sum up my preamble: Would I like for my students to train hard, train well, train smart and have success with their training? OF COURSE! But I don’t expect all my students to be Xingyi tanks or Bagua badasses. Everyone can get something out of these arts at every level of training. That is one of their strengths. Just have fun with it and do what you can.

Some of the most important lessons I have ever received from my teacher have to do with how to train. I hope to get some of these ideas across to people and to provide my experiences along this path as well. Please take this advice in the spirit it is given.

Since this is already becoming long, I will start with my thoughts and experiences on how to succeed in training in part two.

Be well, enjoy and circle on,

George

Two Zong Wu Men students sweating it out while training their throwing techniques in uncooperative grappling practice.

Posted in Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, Training, General Info | 5 Comments »

November 28, 2007 by george.

As I’ve started to try to write some of my thoughts down on this topic, I realize that although I have a good intuitive understanding of what I’m trying to get at in my own training, I am having a hard time conveying this understanding in writing. So as opposed to taking a concrete throw down the laws type approach to my first post on this topic, I will just try to get some general outlines, general ideas and general principles down first. I think opening it up to comment and criticism will help me to more fully form my thoughts on the matter.

I know that I’ve talked about much of this before in class. There are a few basic goals that I personally look to accomplish when I approach a conditioning type program to complement my Baguazhang practice, such as:

• Reinforce good body methods (I have a preference for exercise that will help to reinforce the body method I train)
• Accentuate strength along common and relevant paths of motion (jin training - tiangan for example – I want to become stronger and more aware within my common paths of motion)
• Reinforce weak points in the body and prevent potential injury (strengthen the joints and pre-hab – I’ve had some major injuries in my days and this is now one of the most important aspects of my supplemental training)
• Heal existing injuries and balance the body (I need to address said injuries and the effects thereof)
• Cardio (does a body good)
• Explosiveness / Plyo (I’ve never been a strong guy, but am always looking to improve)

I am hoping that’s a good list at what I’m personally trying to accomplish and what I believe I should help my students with. Naturally, my own interests in the arts do impact my training goals. And as I consider the Internal Martial Arts to be fighting arts, I’m looking to not only improve my abilities, but still look to be able to scrap progressively better into my 40’s, 50’s and beyond.

On a parallel track, here are some general areas of Baguazhang that I try to carry over into my conditioning:

• Whole body movement
• Expanding one’s range of movement, power and mind
• Carrying one’s power and mind throughout the full range of movement
• Spiral power (or twisting I guess, I hate that term for martial arts, I’ll have to explain why later…)
• Balance in motion
• Balance in one’s body and mind
• Reinforcing good habits of motion while making attempts to not introduce bad habits of motion

Alright, enough for now on this, this is an OK outline for me.

Posted in Baguazhang, Training, General Info | 4 Comments »