JustBHappy

Not really sure to tell the truth, but if you put all the lead in them it's difficult to even get up and walk, Could've been around 55 lbs. This was in Colorado.

I always used about 3/4 full on my vest. They were made by a couple of the black belts, but a few students had fancy commercial ones that had a lot less lead. The lead on the store bought ones was much easier to deal with, I think they used lead bb's in "tubes" as I recall. My vests have big solid rectangle blocks of lead that tend to hurt when you fall.

Brings back memories for sure. Even just lifting your hands up into Tui Mo zhang (the basic millstone posture) was not easy with all the weight pulling down on the shoulders. I've fallen forward more than a few times doing squats and can remember barely being able to get back up after struggling through situps. Roll over on your side, bring your knees in and swing over the legs and do a quick push with the legs. Then struggle to gain your balance before you fall over. Hehe, good times!

If your balance is off and your body isn't vertical, even a tiny bit, you will know it. A great way to force correct posture when rotating and walking. Sadistic, but a great training tool.

20+ years ago when I learned my first Bagua, the teacher exclusively taught crane stepping, but required all students to wear a weight vest. Absolutely brutal training, but when we took that weight vest off and were free to walk normally we felt like we could fly. It was almost like a bit of Ching Gong training done externally.

We wore the weight vest through the whole class. From the warm ups - pushups, situps, frog jumps, external hard style forms, etc... and of course the Bagua. For all you hard core's out there I highly recommend it. Just make sure the vest fits tightly and is equally balanced with lead on the front and the back. You should also take it easy for the first few weeks with any quick waist turning, as the weights will add some momentum and can twist your spine a little farther than it may be ready to go.

After a few months, your level of conditioning, your balance, and your stepping will be greatly improved.

I have no real experience with baguazhang, but just for balancing the discussion, the mudstepping technique does seems a bit limited in way of drastic direction changes. With the feet so close to the ground and far away from the body, it sort of commits you to the direction your facing, whereas when doing something more like tai chi stepping (crane stepping?), where the back foot comes up to the other leg, there are more options for shooting in any direction with full attack. Also having the foot come down with each step allows for a stomping fa jin, or alternatively a low kick rather than a step.

 

For example, if I'm mud stepping and suddenly someone comes from an unexpected angle, I can only root myself, whereas if my foot is not committed to the ground I can quickly choose another direction or attack the legs.

 

How does one apply mud-stepping in a way that the weight of the body can change direction at all times?

 

 

thanks

Ko bu

and

Bai bu

Instantly changing to any direction is one of Bagua footworks' greatest strengths and what makes it so suitable for dealing multiple attackers.

If you do no practice at all, funky thoughts and emotions will arise, stay awhile, and fade away.

If you practice diligently, funky thoughts and emotions will also arise.

Most important thing in my opinion, is to keep practicing. The content of the thoughts and emotions is essentially meaningless. In the end, they are simply thoughts and emotions. Be aware, be mindful. Watch them come, stay for a while and fade away. Try not to get caught up in the content, the story line. You're just a casual observer. Don't believe everything you think.

The ego comes up with all kinds of silliness to knock us off our path.

Don't elevate the knees. Keep your rear above your knees, there should be a slight downward angle. If you can get both knees flat on the ground with the rear sitting up on a cushion, this is best.

Also, don't sit too high on the cushion this will put pressure on the knees. Use a low cushion, just enough to get off the ground.

Once this is done, experiment with forward and backward. If you lean too far forward, you will put pressure on the knees, they will fall asleep and hurt and it is possible to do damage if you sit for many many hours. A tiny miniscule change can make a huge difference.

The main point is relaxation, but this needs to be balanced. For most westerners the main problem is lack of relaxation. I've seen very few westerners who fall asleep often in seated meditation. It's entirely ok to let the concentration and focus wane, let go of the idea of 100% concentration. "I must focus, I must concentrate!"

Meditation is about finding that dynamic balance between concentration and relaxation. Ironically the perfect focus only happens with perfect relaxation, but until you get there, I would error more on the side of relaxation and drop the tension involved with intense concentration. If you find yourself falling asleep often, then slowly add more concentration. It's the old Buddhist analogy with the stringed instrument. Wind it too tight, or too loose, and you lose the sweet spot where it makes beautiful music.

 

 

today i am fearless in life, which doesn't mean that i don't feel fear, but that i am not afraid to feel fear or anything else. i don't avoid. i dive in, with reckless abandon.

 

 

 

This in my opinion is the key. Not avoid, not repress, not fight against, but simply to feel and be.

This is not just about fear, this applies to anger, jealousy, sorrow, pride, and the myriad of thoughts and feelings that come out of these. This is true spiritual courage, to be able to "be" with whatever arises without judging, resisting, or running away from the experience. It takes true courage to simply "be" with our experience. Bonus points if you can jump in with reckless abandon!

Yes, I said never.

When is allowing someone or something to destroy our peace of mind ever a good thing?

I just wish I could take this understanding from the mind to the heart. One of my main teachers always says that the longest journey is from the head to the heart. We can often understand these things mentally and logically, but they don't always reflect in our thoughts, speech and actions. It's a moment by moment, day by day process, but it all starts with awareness and seeing the problem. If we fool ourselves into thinking we are justified, then the growth stops right there. We will continue to go through life with buttons all over us, just waiting for the next person or situation to push a button.

Being offended is NEVER a good thing. The ego may try and fool itself into believing that it is, but its simply not true.

If something offends us, it owns us. We have then become puppets on a string, helplessly reacting to our perceptions. We are the ones who suffer, not the other person or situation. It's like taking poison and hoping the other person or situation will die. It never works.

This is just another example of attachment, of how we are owned each and every day by our impulsive and habitual tendency to cling to and desire some perceptions and dislike and push away others. Puppets on a string, and very very few people even notice this happening, or they 'see it' on some level and it challenges the ego so they fool themselves into believing such nonsense like "being offended is a good thing."

Awareness is a magical thing. Being offended or full of desire is to be caught by the objects of our awareness and is a prison. With awareness we can make changes personally and socially, the offense/desire is not required and actually creates obstacles to these positive changes.

I got all six dvd's a few weeks ago and am excited about the practice. We are lucky to have this opportunity with such clear instruction. I've never heard of any qi gong using breath control sequences similar to FP.

My routine is 2-4 standing meditations in the morning, and 3-4 sitting meditations at night. Doing good with the movements, but still have to keep checking my notes to get the correct breathing sequences. The upcoming Chinese New year will be a great opportunity to firmly establish myself in this new practice and commit the first couple of DVD's to memory.

So far, so good. Clearly no need to wait 108 days to start experiencing positive results from this system.

Some people report good results with sleeping while sitting up. It sounds impossible, but you get used to it. My mother in law has slept for years with the upper body vertical. She threw out the cpap machine years ago.

Good suggestions.

I would recommend not focusing so much on what you do when you get up, but rather what you do and don't do before sleeping.

I have found that adding a second meditation session at night before I go to bed helps my sleep, my dream lucidity, and how I feel upon waking up. Even if you can just rest the mind while in a decent meditation posture for a mere 10 minutes I bet it will help. If you can do 30-40 minutes, then all the better but start small and slowly get into it.

I would avoid tv, passionate discussions, and news a few hours before sleeping and be mindful of what you expose yourself to on the internet at night.

In the morning try some of the "hold a posture for many minutes and breath yoga" such as iyengar, not the modern crank up the heart rate style yoga, then have your meditation session at night right before you go to sleep.

For me, it's basically a vow to continue the practice of developing Boddhichitta. It comes with a few more precepts than taking refuge and the precepts are much deeper.

It's actually the opposite, taking this vow and striving diligently to develop limitless Boddhichitta is actually a cause for enlightenment, not something that will postpone or delay it. Funny how that works!

Even Liu Jingru which you appear to regard as legit, teaches this. It's even stated on that same site you linked to.

"feet should not move higher than about one inch above the ground and should stay parallel to the ground; "

http://www.chinafrominside.com/ma/bagua/liujingrubook.html

He clearly states that the foot should remain parallel to the ground. That means not lifting the heel. Liang Zen pu's lineage - Li z ming same thing. Every single Chinese Bagua master I trained with and even one Chen Tai chi master I met in Shanghai stress these same fundamentals. It's not something that just one or two Chinese masters randomly say. It's something I heard again and again from many masters. I was floored when the Tai chi master in Shanghai asked me to show him my Bagua and as I got going shouted out that I needed to keep my heels down! I wish I could have trained more with him, but the job/housing scene just didn't work out in Shanghai for me.

Not lifting the heel is just ONE of the important key points that may seem small and inconsequential but are in fact the very essence and key to the art. Like I said, a master can demonstrate, or even teach a student for many years and by an untrained observer it may appear like the student has gained a high skill level, yet without the master divulging these key points its mere flowery arms and embroidered legs.

I too have seen my masters giving demonstrations while lifting the heel and this doesn't bother me one bit since I know from daily practice how important they believe these key points to be. There is a tradition of family or indoor students and public students that many traditional masters still live by. Internal arts have a lot more going on than most can see from a few videos. Small points ARE the big points and are rarely shown or taught openly.

I like to see it similar to a ship sailing across the ocean. A few degrees may seem like no big deal, but over the course of many miles it will make a big difference, between arriving in Asia or Australia.

The crane step is an entirely different technique, not the same as mud walking so can't really expect them to be executed or taught in the same manner. I was taught that the mud step is absolutely what you use in combat, that's why it's correct training is so important. What you don't use in combat is the mud step with the "slide" at the end of it. Many teachers don't want students to practice the slide until they have many many years and can display effortless technique in the normal tang ne bu.

The girl in that last video had perfect stepping technique, her heels remained flat. If you would try it, you would quickly find that it is not so easy. It takes great flexibility especially in lower stances. Much easier for younger folks! The very same people that you see in that video that are lifting their heels, I can guarantee you that if we were to go train with them that they would teach keeping the heels down to their family students.

The goal in Bagua walking is to remain 100% grounded at all times. A Bagua master can literally "walk through" anyone even without using hand/arm techniques just from expressing the ground. If he/she meets force at any point in the step, it will not interrupt his ground. It is simply not possible to do this with incorrect form.

One of the quickest ways to find out is to sloooooow it way way down. You will quickly find out if incorrect form leads to stability and rooting and will then have a real interest in learning correct form. I use to hate training with my main teacher because he always made us go extremely slow, painfully slow. But now I understand the method to his madness. Only correct form and technique will work at this speed. Most students these days just want to learn the cool changes, they have no desire to walk around a tree slowly for hours every day while holding static postures, but I can say without a doubt that this is where the magic happens.

I don't mean to offend you or anyone else. I am very passionate about things that I have discovered through my direct experience to be true. The position of the heel in Bagua stepping is one of these jewels, and I am extremely thankful to have been taught correctly and have it beaten into me again and again until it got through my thick head. I have yet to see or hear of anyone in the states teaching in this manner. The stepping in Bagua is the main thing. You can learn an infinite number of changes, but it's all built upon the foundation of the circle walking. If this is unstable, no matter what you put on top of it will be of little consequence.

It's like the "telephone game," the message completely gets garbled and changes as it is passed down. This is not just a western phenomena there is a lot of crap being taught in Asia as well. The arts are getting watered down and passed onto new generations. Most masters only pass the lineage on to a few disciples, but so many people are claiming they are "masters" even though they may only have a tiny piece of the real teachings and no real skill or internal power.

It's sad to me, and something I am passionate about. I have met so many so called and self proclaimed "masters" that are clearly missing key points and decades of experience required to truly master an art. My teachers don't consider themselves masters, nor do any authentic students that have gazed into the abyss. These great arts like Bagua cannot be mastered in one lifetime, in fact the deeper we go, the more we realize the work that needs to be done to perfect such an art. There is always room for improvement and that's one of the beautiful things about it.

Once again, I have no wish to offend, but it's something I am truly passionate about. Correctly performed, circle walking is an absolute gift from the gods.

100% Agree with Walker.

Every single teacher I have had in Asia has emphasized these two points like they were more important than anything else.

The first one, keeping the heel down has a very key martial/structural reason behind it also. If one has a teacher from an authentic lineage, you will be told hundreds of times to keep the heel down until you finally take it seriously and start to discover the brilliance behind it.

When done correctly like this, the qua is forced into the right position with every step, no shifting no adjustment, just exactly in the right place immediately as the weight is transferred. In fact, it's impossible not to have the qua in the correct alignment if your heel is correct. This makes the entire step strong and powerful. There is no loss of balance or strength at any point in the stepping process. A bagua master is rooted at all times.

Another key is that your issuance of power is solid. The energy from the ground is delivered to the target in the most efficient manner using LARGE bone/muscle/tendons. When you allow the heel to rise, the forward push is done through the ball of the foot. The connection between the ball of the foot and the leg is not structurally solid and it uses small muscles/bones/tendons. The connection straight from the heel to the leg requires no muscles or small bones/tendons. It is a straight shot from the heel ---> up the rear leg. The power is uninterrupted. It's basic bio-mechanics or structural engineering. Remember, in bagua the power doesn't come from the arms, or even the muscles of the body or leg. It comes from the ground. Our goal is to be a vertical representation of the ground that moves in all directions. The body structural needs to be correct while moving in order to facilitate this transference of power.

Moreover, I am entirely convinced that there is an energetic reason. I practiced Bagua for many years in the States before moving to Asia and none of my teachers had a clue about these key points. Walking was a chore, a fun chore, but the legs would tire after some time. I fully believe from my experience that walking in the correct manner opens up the channels at some point and the feeling in the legs is indescribable, pure bliss. One can walk for insane lengths of time even in a lower basin without becoming tired. In fact you don't want to stop walking. No fancy changes, just simple walking in a circle with a stationary posture.

It doesn't matter what style of Bagua. Anyone who practices this correct method of stepping for even just a few years will NEVER GO BACK to the incorrect technique, no matter what anyone says. The truth has to be felt and experienced to be truly understood. In real internal arts, the difference between authentic lineages and real mastery is entirely in these tiny, usually imperceptible keys. A master can teach a student for 40 years, show him all the material, yet that student will have no real skill unless these details are divulged.

One point to understand: this doesn't happen easily or quickly. In order to walk correctly in Bagua requires great flexibility in the feet/ankle and torso. It takes a couple of years to gain the range of motion required to walk correctly. Walk extremely slow in a high stance until your form is correct, then slowly drop over time while holding onto the key points. The great speed, power and lightness comes from adherence to the principles.

The second point is equally important. Without the torque in the body toward the center of the circle, there is no Bagua. Don't want to make this post a book, so I won't go into detail on this one, but once again there is a reason why this point is hammered into students and well documented in the lineage songs.

Serious Bagua students really should make an effort to get to Asia and seek out authentic teachers. Each time incorrect technique is taught and passed on, the art gets watered down. Get it straight from the source and learn and transmit it to the next generation in it's purest form. Not for any personal ego, but for the longevity of the art. Real Bagua is a gift from the gods, it's not only a martial art but a powerful qi gong, meditation, and ultimately path to enlightenment. Best to keep it pure for future generations to enjoy.

Congratulations for seeing/feeling the repressed anger. The truth is, a large part of our culture and society creates and encourages this to the point where most people are completely unaware of this dynamic hidden in plain sight. Everyone, and I mean everyone has seeds of anger that can be watered at any time, few notice it, and even fewer admit it.

Don't try to not be angry or hide any anger. This is dishonest and ineffective.

In my experience, and from what I learned from my teachers, the wisest thing to do is simply become aware. See anger when it arises instead of getting caught up in the story line and believing it. Smile at it, and make it your friend. Resisting and fighting it will only make it stronger. Instead of being an angry person and believing the story, be awareness that sees anger.

Sounds silly, but this is a huge and powerful shift. Anger is only a problem if you get caught by it, if you believe it instead of seeing it directly. The shift to being the awareness removes the identification, the "I am angry." Feel the body, feel the breath, relax into the experience of anger without identifying with it. Smile at it, make it your friend. What you resist, will persist. See it as an object of your awareness, a fascinating ripening of karma.

On the practical level there are things you can do to make this easier.

The first one is to simply hold your middle finger with your other hand. The same finger you use to flip someone off, just grab it with the other hand and hold it for a few minutes. If your at all sensitive to energy flow in your body, you will feel a quite substantial change take place. After a few minutes you will likely start to feel a pulse in the middle finger, a few more breaths and you should be back to normal.

The other technique is to further refine your awareness. So not only are you awake enough to see anger arising and view it as an observer, but you start to notice triggers. We all have our triggers. Pavlovian dogs walking on two legs. Our perceptions trigger a variety of feelings and emotions and thoughts. Once we start to be aware of the triggers that lead to anger, we have a valuable tool in which to examine and go beyond being controlled like puppets on a string. We slowly start to move from unconsciousness into awareness.

To those who are students, it would be wise to observe the character of the person you wish to study under.

 

 

In conclusion, the term Shifu is just a word in the Chinese language. What is more important is the personal character of the one using the title. Choose your teachers wisely, and develop yourself with humaneness, virtue and conduct first. Because it doesn’t matter how well you fight, what does matter is how good of a person you really are.

Excellent post. I tried, and failed to help others to understand this simple yet important point in another thread. It's clear that many students today don't care about seeking and following quality teachers with authentic lineages. They happily latch on to extremely egotistical and heartless "teachers" with no, or very questionable lineages. I will never understand why anyone would ever spend time with, much less pay to study with "teachers" with such huge egos and small hearts.

To carry on the priceless teachings requires an unbroken lineage of true masters. The absolute quickest way to destroy an art is to have a bunch of frauds out there teaching small fragmented pieces. It's like the old "telephone game" the message gets garbled and completely lost by the time it gets to the last person. This doesn't happen when an authentic lineage master passes on his/her wisdom to sincere students.

As a side not, from my experience living in China and Taiwan all students address the teacher as "Lao tze." This is the same for all kinds of teachers from the greatest martial arts or meditation masters to math teachers in elementary schools. I understand that sifu is used in Canton/southern China and Honkers but my training has mainly been from the north so I never hear it used. Lao tzu is a general term that simply means teacher.

Most people are not ready for real solitude and instead of growing and prospering from it, end up worse off than before. I've seen plenty of people crack in silent long term retreats. Most are not ready to see their own mind.

If one is prepared, solitude is extremely powerful. Even just going a mere week without speaking and unplugging from the constant noise and garbage can be very helpful in ones practice. In long term retreat the mind and body slowly unwind and start to relax. The awareness expands and gets more and more subtle. Solitude is a valuable tool.

It's no mistake that the greatest meditation masters have all lived in quiet solitude.

Thanks.

No, I can't afford to practice full time, at least not in the formal sense. I do my best to practice as a way of life though.

I'm looking forward to Chinese new year, we get nine days off this year. It's too crazy and expensive to travel with the masses so I will just stay home and have a mini-retreat.

An accomplished fighter would never charge and telegraph like that from 3-4 steps away and fully commit while bridging the gap. Any street fighter, boxer, judo player, karate man, kung fu man, or old lady with a hand bag would have owned this Sam fellow.

Another great example of Kumar's exceptionally huge ego and flare for exaggeration. He is nothing but a good salesman, and clearly many are fooled by his pitch. It's an interesting study in sociology how and why so many are so easily fooled. Just tell everyone how good you are and that you are a master, and viola!... a large number will just blindly believe you. Just keep telling them that your a great master and making up stories. Very interesting indeed.

I also find it interesting how he has "treated 10,000 people in China" yet for some reason couldn't be bothered to help out one of his own students with a treatment, nor give him any specific qi gong, herbs, or acupuncture/moxi.

There are still some amazing true masters in this world quietly doing their thing, why anyone would waste their precious time and money "learning" from egomaniacs like this is beyond me.

Great stuff, thanks for sharing.

It's sad that people have no access to real teachers and get conned by such arrogant ego maniacs. If after years of internal arts and meditation practice this is the result, then something clearly went wrong. or more likely there was very little actual practice. True practice softens the ego, and opens up the heart making great masters extremely humble. They will not talk about their achievements or tell others what great masters they are. He who speaks doesn't know, he who knows doesn't speak. I was expecting the guy to tell the interviewer he was also an Apollo astronaut and walked on the moon, but I guess they didn't get to that part of his "story."

I've seen some of his Bagua videos. They are very very sad. The guy can't even walk, much less walk like a bagua/tai chi master. He literally waddles and I kid you not has a cane to help him get up out of his chair with all his excess weight. This crazy idea of his that he is "beyond" and doesn't need to practice now is utter bs. Every single bagua/tai chi master I know trains diligently every single day, rain or shine, cold or heat. They are not getting their ego's more and more inflated but rather humbled by each days practice. I get inspired almost to the point of tears just watching a real Bagua master effortlessly walk to the park to practice. When I see BKF walk, all I see is an overweight, unbalanced man, waddling and struggling to make it back to his chair.

If this is the direction you want to go, then by all means follow along. Meanwhile, there are true masters out there quietly doing their thing. It clearly takes more time and effort to find them, and they may not teach you, but a day spent with a true master is better than a lifetime spent with a charlatan.

Howdy folks.

I've enjoyed some of the threads on thetaobums and thought it was time I registered and got involved myself.

I've been practicing meditation-qi gong-MA- and related arts for 25+ years. I moved to Asia 6 1/2 years ago to do long term retreat and continue the journey. I started in foothills of the himalayas with a one year closed retreat and now live in Taiwan where I continue to learn and practice.