State of play

These days, I am actually managing to practice every day. Albeit in a very limited fashion. Teacher has given us an exercise to practice. Diligence, apparently, will be rewarded with enlightenment - just repeating this simple exercise every day will not only improve physique in the expected way, but also teach "the mind" something.

I'm already getting a small glimpse into changes that may be occurring. Teacher assures me just to keep practicing and all will be revealed.

I am managing to practice this exercise every day. If I am wise, I will try to tag some more traditional bagua practice onto it and soon be the kind of dedicated bagua player that I always hoped I'd be.

Luo DeXiu London seminar 2013

Taken from:  http://www.palmchange.com

Book & Pay NOW for Luo DeXiu London seminar 28/6/13 - 1/7/13

Very excited to announce that Luo DeXiu will be joining us from Fri 28th June to Monday the 1st July for a weekend seminar of Gao style Bagua Zhang. Luo Laoshr's mastery of the internal arts and his generous approach to teaching have made his seminars a must for internal martial arts practioners. Limited to the first 30 paying students to register as per below instruction.  

Evening of Friday 28th June -  3 hours of Fighting methods
All day Saturday 29th June - 6 hours of Houtian (Post-Heaven) Line 1 - Guiding principles
Morning of Sunday 30th June - 3 hours of Chi kung
Afternoon of Sunday 30th - Bagua wrestling/throwing
Evening of Monday 1st July - 3 hours of Xiantian (Pre-heaven) circle palm changes

For full Description of content and material depth please see the facebook event here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/358953124221667

You must follow the following two steps please in advance to attend this seminar:

1. Pay first by clicking the paypal button on the left and selecting the payment for you. You need to pay 100% in advance.

2 Send an email to  chris@palmchange.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it stating your name,  the seminars that you are attending and when you paid and any other details needed to track your payment - for example if paying through a company or different name - supply details.

 If you have any specific questions please contact chris@palmchange.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Strictly limited to first 30 practitioners - So don't miss out :)
For more info, see:  http://www.palmchange.com

Internal MA 'Epiphanies'.

One thing my Bagua instructor warned me about, almost immediately upon my resuming my MA training, was regarding the progress curve.  External martial arts, he said, has a pretty slow but steady rate of improvement during which you get steadily better and better over time.

Internal martial arts, he said, are different.  You train for ages without really feeling you get anywhere.  Then, all of a sudden, WHAM!  There's a big(-gish) leap in your understanding and ability.  I had one of those epiphanies, I think, during Friday's class.

All of a sudden, something he said (I forget precisely what just now) just resonated with me and I found it much easier to give my stance structure - more strength and structure than I'd had before, to be honest.

I did, however, find that a day out walking around in the cold on the Saturday made me feel like I'd injured myself.  Really, I think a combination of an overworked muscle group and the cold weather made me feel a few aches and pains for some days aferward.

That said, I am better now - so back to full training again tonight.

Daily devotions or going through the motions?

I am currently managing, despite a family to look after and a lazy streak a mile wide, to train at home every night. Okay, so I'm not exactly running through all eight big palm changes or completing all the houtien lines in sequence, but I am managing to do a little.

I am concerned that my less than impressive physique is letting me down in class, so I've mostly been working on strengthening.  Once I am happy with that, though, I assume the nightly training will have become a habit and then I will simply substitute the strength training for something with a little more emphasis on technique.

Considering I know how adept I am at avoiding committing to anything, disliking exertion as I do, I am quite proud of myself.

Building muscle

[See link to right of the screen, under "Build your Physique!"]

Here's a (kindle) book on the Sandow method of body building which is not only a good guide to building muscle and developing mind-muscle connections/awareness but also an interesting read about how older training methods in body-building and boxing have been unfairly dismissed and discredited.

It is a very good read, informative and could help you develop your physique with just 20-30 minutes training per day.  Already, it has amassed a few, very positive reviews.  For the cost of a kindle book and the time in which you'd normally watch 'How I Met Your Mother', you could have the statuesque body you've always wanted.