Hello Bill,   I am not familiar with "8 Compartment Qigong". No, "Eight Sections Combined" or Eight Sections of Energy Combined is a rare and extensive internal martial art that I learned from GM Doo Wai that he learned from a senior monk at a Buddhist Temple in Macao. The GM said that he "wheeled and dealed" his way into acquiring this art by exchanging some of his BFP knowledge for it, and by "other" means which I won't elaborate. In Cantonese, the GM pronounced the art "Bot Dim Gum". He said that Cantonese term also refers to what has been long published as "8 Pieces of Brocades", which he spoke very lowly of, saying that it was some kind wierd "marching drill". The 8 Brocades that I've seen in several books and which I tried and tested long, long ago is very, very basic standing qigong calisthenics with nothing close to the effects of any of GM Doo Wai's internal arts. I say this based on my experience and with all due respect to 8 Brocades or 8 Pieces of Brocade tradition because what has been published that I've seen has no breathing method taught with it. There may be more advanced versions with an empowering yogic breathing method attached, but I have not seen such a version. I'm sure there's more to the art; but what's been written in books is very, very rudimentary qigong.   The 8 Sections Combined ("BDG") art consists of eight very different and quite complex kung-fu forms , each with a different breathing method, each cultivating a different kind of energy. And the 8 Sections are supported by a half-dozen or so Qigong-like moving meditations that cultivate the BDG energy. When all 8 forms have been long-practiced, they created a blended internal energy that is unique, to say the least. I use the term "martial qigong" to describe this art in that the qi that it cultivates is very "heavy" form that is easily tangible and is so intense that it feels "mechanical", and can be transmitted through natural fibers such as wood, cloth, and even thin metal. (It is a totally different type of energy than that developed by Tai Chi Chuan (jing), that is released through the sinews.) Back in the early 90's when I had just completed the Third Section with GMDW, when I picked up my straight sword one day to practice the Yang sword form, without even doing the first movement but just by lightly gripping the handle, the sword vibrated from handle to the tip, with the tip displacing more than 2" at a visibly blurred rate. I was dumbfounded, elated, and have been quite amazed with this art ever since. When I have have demonstrated this art to other instructors, I usually did it through a large wooden table-top; the witnesses each time reported that not only did they feel the wood vibrate mechanically, but the distinctive energy infused their bodily tissues, going into their hand on the table and up their arm to the shoulder. (In each case, I made sure that I took the energy off the person). GMDW's mastery of this art is of course more complete, for when he demonstrated the energy on a couple of occasions--several times on a wooden table top and once through my straight sword (GM holding handle, me lightly holding end of sword with my hand), the vibrational frequency and amplitude of the energy that I felt each time was like what one feels when holding the handle of an electric razor on "High" setting. No exaggeration. I am pretty certain that each indoor student of the GM has experienced this demonstration at some point.   Thanks, Bill. Your question about 8 Sections caused me to recall the early days of training in this system and to come out once more to attest to the fact of GM Doo Wai's authentic and formidable internal energy capabilities. There are very, very few old-school grandmasters like him still alive.   Best,   Sifu Terry Dunn