Class tonight. First lesson back after the xmas break. Gonna be a hard one.
My teacher is going to be starting up a second class on a Tuesday. Before the holidays, the plan was for the Tuesday class to be more self defence/sparring and hotien oriented and the Fridays to be more circle walking, tian gan and palm changes.
Sounds good, and if it can be combined with getting some more students into class, that would be cool.
Update tomorrow as to how the class went.
http://www.manchester-bagua.org/
Friday, 6 January 2012
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Nappies before Neigong
I appear to be stretching the bounds of this '100 days of bagua' already as the only training possible last night was some chicken-step while I attempted to sing my daughter to sleep.
This just reiterates what I have said in previous posts about training that I can do in concert with my daily chores being better for me as things stand.
Hopefully, some Tian Gan wil be in effect tonight. Added to my usual leg strengthening (I started bagua just over a year ago with really weedy legs for a guy of 6'3"!)
This just reiterates what I have said in previous posts about training that I can do in concert with my daily chores being better for me as things stand.
Hopefully, some Tian Gan wil be in effect tonight. Added to my usual leg strengthening (I started bagua just over a year ago with really weedy legs for a guy of 6'3"!)
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Living on a razor's edge...
No bagua so far today. A restless six-month old will do wonders to raise the priorty of a lie in at six in the morning, trust me.
The chinese have a phrase 'heavenly stem' (tian gan), which sounds really wonderful and pleasant. However, if you train in bagua, then the phrase calls to mind only pain. It refers to a series of strengthening exercises that put the body through its paces.
These were what I was intending to train today. Perhaps they are better to complete this evening. That way, if I am knackered then I can go straight to bed. Or the sofa. Whichever is closer.
The chinese have a phrase 'heavenly stem' (tian gan), which sounds really wonderful and pleasant. However, if you train in bagua, then the phrase calls to mind only pain. It refers to a series of strengthening exercises that put the body through its paces.
These were what I was intending to train today. Perhaps they are better to complete this evening. That way, if I am knackered then I can go straight to bed. Or the sofa. Whichever is closer.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Back to normal(-ish)
Got up at 06:30 this morning to do some bagua. Not actually that much of a feat when you have a six month old.
Jiben shou fa were the focus again. The basic hand movements are most convenient for a flat with limited space like ours. At the weekends and/or when the weather improves, trips to the park will be possible to enable me to practice the more space-intensive stuff like the palm changes and houtien lines.
Then, of course, I also have my friend and bagua classmate, Jim, living down the road. We may manage some two-man drills and throwing practice - if the whim takes us.
Jiben shou fa were the focus again. The basic hand movements are most convenient for a flat with limited space like ours. At the weekends and/or when the weather improves, trips to the park will be possible to enable me to practice the more space-intensive stuff like the palm changes and houtien lines.
Then, of course, I also have my friend and bagua classmate, Jim, living down the road. We may manage some two-man drills and throwing practice - if the whim takes us.
Monday, 2 January 2012
100 Days of Bagua - The early days
My 100 days of Bagua kicked off yesterday while I was still at my parents' place in Lincolnshire, celebrating the new year. My training was pretty minimal, but I did some jiben shou fa. Piercing palm, chopping palm and crashing palm were performed in front of a large mirror - which I found to be a great help. This may be worth noting for the future - if I can do some of my practice in front of a similar large mirror, maybe this can help me with my forms?
Tonight, I will probably do some more jiben shou fa and maybe some leg-strengthening exercises. Don't want to do too much as I have overdone the festitivities a little of late, we only got back to the flat a few hours ago and I am back at work tomorrow morning.
Tonight, I will probably do some more jiben shou fa and maybe some leg-strengthening exercises. Don't want to do too much as I have overdone the festitivities a little of late, we only got back to the flat a few hours ago and I am back at work tomorrow morning.
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
About Bagua
Stolen from the website of my baguazhang class in Chorlton, Greater Manchester
(see http://www.manchester-bagua.org/)
(see http://www.manchester-bagua.org/)
Baguazhang is an "Internal" Chinese martial art that has constant change as it's defining principle. It is one of the 3 main styles of internal martial art along with Xingyiquan and Taijiquan. Bagua involves training various types of stepping on a circle with changes of direction called "palm changes" that involve twisting, turning and spiraling the body in order to challenge the practitioner in different ways. Emphasis is placed on developing fluid connected movement, mental calmness within that movement and on building structure and "whole body power".
There is much more to a complete system of Bagua than this classic circle walking practice however, and more "external" body strengthening exercises, single movement drills, angular stepping, fast mobile footwork, standing grappling, throwing and striking must all be trained and properly developed.
Indeed, the particular style of Bagua we study is called Gao style and comes to us fom Gao Yisheng - a Bagua practitioner who explicitly separated his training into Xiantian or "Pre-heaven" practices (the circle walking, palm changes, swimming body practices etc) and Houtian or "Post-heaven" practices (short linear "forms" similar in approach to Xingyiquan which more obviously address combat application and are concerned with developing solid structure and whole body strength) it is through training both the Xiantian and Houtian approaches that we develop both a strong , supple and healthy body and also develop usable combat ability.
This material was learned from Gao Yisheng by Zhang Junfeng to whom he gave the generation name Yizong. This was also the name of the school where he taught many students on Taiwan including the Hong brothers - Hong Yixiang, Hong Yimian and Hong Yiwen. It was in Hong Yixiang's Tang Shou Tao school that Luo De Xiu was introduced to the Internal martial arts and he became one of Hong's top fighters in full contact fighting competitions. Later he studied with the other Hong brothers as well as seeking out as many of Zhang Junfeng's original students as possible. Luo Laoshi also studied with Lui Qian a direct student of Sun Xikun in his investigation into baguazhang and is now regarded as one of the foremost practitioners of internal martial arts in the world.
Luo Laoshi continues to teach the Yizong material of Gao Baguazhang, Hebei Xingyiquan and Chen Pan Ling TaijiQuan in Taipei Taiwan and travels to England regularly to teach seminars.
For general information and links regarding more styles of Baguazhang, its history and practitioners please refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baguazhang
There is much more to a complete system of Bagua than this classic circle walking practice however, and more "external" body strengthening exercises, single movement drills, angular stepping, fast mobile footwork, standing grappling, throwing and striking must all be trained and properly developed.
Indeed, the particular style of Bagua we study is called Gao style and comes to us fom Gao Yisheng - a Bagua practitioner who explicitly separated his training into Xiantian or "Pre-heaven" practices (the circle walking, palm changes, swimming body practices etc) and Houtian or "Post-heaven" practices (short linear "forms" similar in approach to Xingyiquan which more obviously address combat application and are concerned with developing solid structure and whole body strength) it is through training both the Xiantian and Houtian approaches that we develop both a strong , supple and healthy body and also develop usable combat ability.
This material was learned from Gao Yisheng by Zhang Junfeng to whom he gave the generation name Yizong. This was also the name of the school where he taught many students on Taiwan including the Hong brothers - Hong Yixiang, Hong Yimian and Hong Yiwen. It was in Hong Yixiang's Tang Shou Tao school that Luo De Xiu was introduced to the Internal martial arts and he became one of Hong's top fighters in full contact fighting competitions. Later he studied with the other Hong brothers as well as seeking out as many of Zhang Junfeng's original students as possible. Luo Laoshi also studied with Lui Qian a direct student of Sun Xikun in his investigation into baguazhang and is now regarded as one of the foremost practitioners of internal martial arts in the world.
Luo Laoshi continues to teach the Yizong material of Gao Baguazhang, Hebei Xingyiquan and Chen Pan Ling TaijiQuan in Taipei Taiwan and travels to England regularly to teach seminars.
For general information and links regarding more styles of Baguazhang, its history and practitioners please refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baguazhang
On the first day of Yuletide, my true love gave to me...
PRODUCT REVIEW
A 250Hz (Blue) Power Ball exercise device
You’ve probably seen these before or heard about them somewhere. The gyroscopic balls that you hold in your hand/keep rotating and they strengthen your grip/hand/forearm et cetera.
Well, I got my hands on one (if you’ll pardon the expression) and have had a few days to see what’s what with the thing.
There is something of a knack in getting the gyroscope going and keeping it up to speed. Once the rhythm is found, though, it provides good, low impact exercise for the lower arms. I got the sensation that the device was working my whole forearm, not just targeted muscle groups, so this should compliment my Baguazhang training very well indeed.
The device comes with instructions on a CD-ROM, no hard copy was included in the box, though that was not too much of a problem. Once I had the hang of it I managed to keep it going without even referring to the reference material. The box claims the device is useful for a wide range of sports and activites and that it is also valuable to aid recuperation from carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis and other ailments.
Different grades of powerball are available, this review is for the 250Hz version, but stronger devices are available. I would recommend starting with this level at first, though, as I imagine this is probably best to aid in learning the knack required to get the most from the device.
Fifteen pounds (£15.00) is an acceptable pricetag when compared to prices for other sports training equipment, especially considering the comprehensive workout your forearms will go through if this is incorporated into your regular training regimen.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
It's a rollercoaster ride, once it starts, it never gets going...
Still having a bit of a random training regimen for my bagua. The odd bit of formal practice here and there, but mostly I am finding ways to strengthen my legs, for example, as part of my daily chores.
I hope to instill a more formal and useful training habit when I complete the '100 days of Bagua' challenge this year. Essentially, the challenge is to train bagua (for me, at least one hour) every day for 100 days, starting on New Year's day.
I've essentially stolen the idea from something I saw online, but the long term effect will be, I hope, a routine of daily bagua practice that I can continue once the challenge has been concluded.
I will also blog about the training here - so stay tuned.
I hope to instill a more formal and useful training habit when I complete the '100 days of Bagua' challenge this year. Essentially, the challenge is to train bagua (for me, at least one hour) every day for 100 days, starting on New Year's day.
I've essentially stolen the idea from something I saw online, but the long term effect will be, I hope, a routine of daily bagua practice that I can continue once the challenge has been concluded.
I will also blog about the training here - so stay tuned.
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