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| The art of change | ||
| 8 trigrams palm | ||
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Baguazhang
Baguazhang
(8 trigrams palm)
is a
very challenging style of martial art.
It
addresses the experience of combat
in a different way to taijiquan with
multiple opponents in mind at all
times.
The student avoids
direct confrontation by circling around the opponent or by
encouraging the attacker to circle
around them.
Change
Baguazhang uses insights from the
I Ching and is based on the principle of
change.
Our class practices
the Jiang style of baguazhang.
The founder of baguazhang (Dong Haichuan) was a bodyguard in
the Imperial court.
Advanced martial art
Baguazhang was designed to be an advanced
martial art method.
The art contains many of the same
fighting skills as
taijiquan, and a whole lot more
besides...
It is a highly unusual art
famous for its fast, evasive footwork and effectiveness against
multiple
opponents.
Your body emulates animal movements and changes continually.
A 2nd method
Baguazhang is offered to students who have attained competence with
taijiquan
(supreme ultimate fist) and can show competence with chin na (seizing)
and shuai jiao (take downs).
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most
intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
(Charles Darwin)
Application
Momentum and flow are used to overcome strength. The aim is to draw the
attacker out of their centre and off-balance.
8 trigrams palm trains the student to adapt, change and improvise.
There are no fixed techniques, with the exponent preferring to respond to
the demands of the moment rather than force an outcome.
Baguazhang is particularly effective for applying
chin na,
shuai jiao and
jing.
Students must be competent in all areas of
martial art skill.
Spontaneity
Baguazhang is all about responding spontaneously and favourably to stimuli.
This cannot be achieved if you are standing in your
own way.
Fluidity, flow, softness and harmony are not possible when you are
self-conscious.
Baguazhang teaches a student how to
choose-without-choosing; to let the subconscious mind make decisions.
This will produce more powerful responses.
The application feels to have simply occurred, without force or
effort.
Hard work
Baguazhang is not an easy martial art to learn.
The student must be prepared to endure long hours of difficult training for
the duration of their baguazhang study.
The initial training is concerned with circle walking and palm changes;
gaining strength, coordination, rhythm and balance.
Only later is the martial aspect addressed.
Why discover 8 trigrams palm?
Baguazhang training encourages nimbleness and agility; it enlivens your martial art.
It makes your footwork smoother
It is sneaky and deceptive
It encourages spontaneity and improvisation
It's fun
It improves your spatial awareness
It works well against multiple opponents
It's hard
It challenges you physically and cognitively
Feedback
Some feedback concerning
Sifu Waller's
baguazhang
lessons:
It’s certainly sobering
when after all those years of training, facing Sifu Waller I feel about as
effective as an old lady throwing marshmallows.
I feel very grateful to
Sifu Waller for an introduction to a form of
martial arts that as I understand it is not that widely available to western
students in its authentic form. I feel he has generously presented us with a
wonderful opportunity.
For those of us who’ve been involved in martial arts for some time, and have
some experience of Chinese arts and teachers, I feel we can be confident
that with
Sifu Waller we have stumbled upon a treasure trove of authentic
Chinese martial arts. It’s tremendously exciting as the
lineage and history
is abundantly clear in his approach. It struck me, the first time I saw
Sifu Waller demonstrate it, that 5000 years of Chinese culture and history
is somehow woven into the lethal beauty of baguazhang.
(Graham)
I find the
syllabus is well-structured and offers carefully designed and
enjoyable exercises which aid application of the palm changes. Learning the
purpose of each of the movements gives a real insight into overall strategy
of baguazhang.
In addition to creating an accessible website containing information
relevant to learning baguazhang,
Sifu Waller also takes the time to
explain concepts in detail in class with the added benefit of being able to
demonstrate how these principles can be applied martially.
The emphasis on evasive movements in baguazhang has been particularly
helpful in overcoming my tendency to freeze-up during self-defence scenarios
and instead I'm learning to relax and respond.
Although the underlying principles are similar to taijiquan, baguazhang
feels very different. Adapting your mindset to take into account multiple
opponents is difficult but very rewarding from a martial perspective.
Baguazhang is proving to be a great opportunity to escape from the trappings of
individual techniques and instead concentrate on realistic improvisation of
self-defence applications in high-pressure situations. I particularly
appreciate the focus on deception and evasion.
(Dominic Hine)
Page created 31 July 1994
Last updated
02 November 2018