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Peeling back..

February 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment

This past Thursdays class was more review of the basics, but at a different layer. By taking a basic level concept for example being “song” and bring it into shifting, walking etc it brings a new level, a new experience to ones training. So we started with shifting from side to side, attempting to remain as “song” as possible while doing this our partner would firmly grab our arm and provide a little resistance. At this point examined what occurs both physically and psychologically when we tense up and try to muscel it and remain song and just flow with it. This examination was very interesting with some surprising results. We then moved this examination to a point where it was repeated be walking linearly and have our parter once again grab our arm. Once again we were surprised with the outcome of this.

We will continue on with this exploration and other simialiar explorations over the up coming months. I will also work with other material for example palm (Yi and Xin) energy, weapons, YiXinGong etc. As well as other skills that I’ve learned in my time in the art.

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Finding the key.

October 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I know it’s been a bit since the last posting, there has been a lot going on. Most of the summer we reviewed the basics and  focused on refining our structure, both static postures as well in motion.

At the being of the class we worked on refining the circling the circle stepping pattern. I have found that this particular stepping helps in developing your ability to have nimble feet, as well keeping well balanced while moving and changing directions.

In a previous week I had been working on the Big Dragon Turns around stepping pattern and how it can be applied as a means of counterning a hammer lock. So on Thursday myself and Charles took some time to play with what I had been thinking. We then started playing with a few other locks and how to escape them by utilizing core Jiulong Baguazhang principles and specific attitudes. This was very interesting and we had a lot of fun playing with these and we look forward to playing with more of then. With any lock there is a key to unlock it, I’m just paraphrasing something Shifu John Painter has said.

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Back from The Gathering…

June 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Last week I was at The Gathering of the Circle, a 5 day Jiulong Baguazhang intensive, so I had Troy work with anyone who showed up.  One of the newer students showed up and Troy worked with him being more sung when working with the wedge and they made a fair bit of progess with it.

For an update of the Gathering see my personal blog http://hamiltonbagua.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/back-from-the-gathering-of-the-circle-fire-palm/ .

Last Thursday, Troy and I spent some time discussing some of the concepts and worked with countering a grappling styled take downs from a static position  and head locks. This was very interesting, in that timing is paramount, especially if you’re stationary.

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Kicks 1,2,3…

May 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

This past Thursday there was just a couple of us who have been training in the art for a while. So we took some time and discussed hand positioning with in rolling the pearl posture in relation to dealing with multiple opponents. This was a very interesting discussion as we touched on a number of principals in the art.

After our discussion we decided to look at how to deal with a variety of kicks while circling. This was a really informative learning lesson, as we found that similiar themes occurred among each of the different kicks. For the most part how we handled a front kick, side or back spin kick with very similiarly. By using basic footwork to get us slightly away from the kick, while moving closer “attacker”. While other variations of kicks we only needed to make minor adjustments to how we handled the other kicks.

The more I experiment with this art I find the less I need to learn in the way of techniques. I just need to get really good with the basic concepts and principles and make them natural and fluid.

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Wedge this….

May 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

For the last couple of weeks, since Shifu Painter’s workshop on the Wedge. We’ve been playing with it against various types of punches and kicks. On top of practicing it’s basic training exercises.

The Thursday following the workshop it started with some discusion about the wedge and then moved into some basic exercises.These are exercises that help you get an idea of how the wedge should feel, getting the angles, footwork and structure correct.

After this, we then started to play with the wedge vs. a straight punch, and wedge vs. an upper cut to the body. We kept it simple, just keeping to a single step. The interesting thing that we found is that there is very little difference between the two. This makes it a veritile tool in self defense. Remembering and internalizing a single concept is easier than 5 or 6 different techniques.

Last Thursday, we started off with some discussion on the Ba Step and then spent some time working on it. There was also some time spent playing with a game to work our night swallow stepping. Before we did another exploration of the wedge. This time we took some time to look at it vs round house kicks to the upper and lower torso. This was also kept to a single step, but we also acknowledged what would happen next if we were to keep moving.

I look forward to more playing with the wedge in it’s different layers. Here are a couple links to blog posts with video clips from the workshop recently presented about the wedge, http://bagua.ca/secrets-of-the-secrets-of-the-wedge and http://bagua.ca/secrets-of-the-secrets-part-2 and http://bagua.ca/secrets-part-3-disciplined-freedom .

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A little review…

April 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

This past Thursday there were fewer of us than normal. This gave us a chance to work on some of the exercises that were taught during the Sunday class in Mississauga. For more information see http://bagua.ca/mississauga/feeding-the-feet/. We also played with a couple other variations that slowly led towards a martial application. This was quite interesting, since if you missed a principle then you could notice a decrease in the effectiveness of the application. Now with that being said we don’t focus the application. The application is just a tool to learn the principles.

We also took some time to review the 5 circles, looking at some of the finer points on how some of these circles worked. After this, we looked at how these work with in the context of a martial application. During this, we took some time to look at the principles that were at work or not during the different applications. This was very informative as it helps to reinforce you’re understanding of the principles.

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Wedges

April 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

This past week, we covered a few topics. We started off discussing the 4 virtues, the corner stone of the Jiulong Baguazhang Qi Gong system. This was more of a Q&A to get everyone thinking about them a little more.

This Q&A also went into the 5 circles and different ways to help remember them when you’re first learning them. Although these movements are simplistic in nature, people who are first learning them have challanges remembering them at first.

We then covered some play time working with the wedge vs. various punches. This was a very interesting concept to play with, and discuss. Some of the punches we examined were stiff arm jabs, straigh punches, hooks and upper cuts to the body. By playing with these it also brought up the reminder of other more basic principles that we always want to work with. Experimenting with these is always very interesting and usually brings out a few laughs.

looking forward to next week.

 

 

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Balance….

April 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment

During our sessions I like to have a balance between things we need to work on and something fun. So last Thursday we worked on one of the skills that we use to create and expand full body power. Learning to be able to generate full body power without having to think it through every time is vital to being able to use real internal power in a self defence situation.

When then continued on with shifting exercises, which lead us to generate full body power into walking. There are many interesting lessons that come out of these exercises and are great for fine tuning our bio mechanics and coordinating our movements.

The last thing we worked on is a very simple wedge exercise, this we use as a means of countering an incoming attack. The interesting thing for me about this is that it (the wedge) starts off very basic. It then unveils itself over time  to be more then just a basic tactic. As it becomes internalized in you, it fades from view from others.

Finally we ended with some questions & answers, comments & observations.

 

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