All Bagua is good. (even when it’s not so good.)

Here’s the thing:

Any art is a pyramid of skill.

Bagua, Yoga, knitting. It’s all the same.

At the bottom you have a large group of hobbyists with low skill. In the middle there’s a smaller group of people who are decent.

…and you have a small group at the top who are world class.

As an art grows, the number of hobbyists grows faster and larger than those who are highly skilled.

This is essential to increasing the amount of quality stuff at the high end.

To help Bagua flourish we need to do 2 things:

1. Support & encourage the low level hobbyists. Even if they never try to expand their own skill, they are excellent training partners and can help others begin training the art.

2. Provide a clear path to intermediate and advanced skill. All too often this can get clouded in petty politics between systems and all that bickering damages that base of hobbyists who will quit and go somewhere more pleasant.

Fortunately, in the internet age it’s easier than ever before to provide information and find information. We just need to make good info available.

Finding training partners and connecting with other practitioners is easier than ever as well.

The free Fighting Fundamentals Course is designed to do just this.

It provides an education in how to use the core Bagua principles and it includes a forum to discuss Bagua and find other folks to train with.

The goal is to create as many Bagua enthusiasts as possible. Whether folks dabble with the program or go on to pursue the highest levels of the art (with us or anyone else) they will be a valuable asset to the art and community of Bagua as a whole.

Of course, we hope you’ll like it so much that you’ll join the Bagua Intensive where we go into much more depth on how Bagua fights, body methods, energies and advanced Yi training.

Enrollment in the intensive closes July 31st.

https://www.clearmartialarts.com/bagua-online/

Today I just had to get out my soapbox.

There are any number of things that could be slightly off with a Bagua video. Most aren’t worth commenting on but this one is a particular pet peeve.

That is folks trying to pass off kickboxing as Bagua.

There are growing number of Bagua videos out there where the Bagua player squares off against an opponent and proceeds to kickbox with them.

…and this is supposed to somehow show their Bagua skill.

Thing is, Kickboxing ain’t Bagua.

Especially when it’s bad kickboxing with poor movement.

…but even good kickboxing is not Bagua.

You know all that that circle walking practice Bagua does?

…you’re supposed to fight with that.

When Baguazhang fights it’s either walking or running a circle. Often more than one.

This is essential against multiple opponents. As soon as you square off against one opponent you become a sitting duck for all the others.

Of course there are many different ways to do Bagua but they all walk circles and deal with multiple attackers.

Why Kickboxing?

I don’t know why Bagua folks feel the need to switch to kickboxing when they spar.

Especially after they put in all that time walking in circles.

You can find the error in different Bagua systems from different lineages. So there’s no single source to point to.

My best guess is that because boxing & kickboxing methods are so common they’re much easier for people to understand. Because good Bagua info is much harder to find, and Bagua is so weird and complex, it’s much easier for folks to fall back on what they’re comfortable with instead of pushing themselves to advance their skills.

I’m all for people using good things to make their personal methods better.

…but using a few Bagua techniques to make your kickboxing better doesn’t make it Bagua.

This wouldn’t be a problem except that Bagua is not very well known. So when people go look it up on Youtube and see a bunch of mislabeled Kickboxing videos Bagua becomes known as Kickboxing with a few weird training methods.

We created the Free Fundamentals of Baguazhang course to help combat this by providing a solid introduction to how Bagua fights.

The goal is to put out enough quality information that anyone digging around online for 10 minutes can get a rough idea of what Bagua is really about.

But we can’t do it alone. There are 3 things you can do to help:

1. Study the program. Practice and build the skills taught in the program so that you can become an example of what Bagua can do.
2. Share it with others. Bagua needs people. You can’t fully train the proper spatial understandings without several people to practice with. The more people training Bagua (of any kind) the more training partners we have and the better we all get.
3. The Fighting Fundamentals is a good start but it only scratches the surface. If you find you really enjoy the art of Bagua take it to the next level.

Sign up for the Baguazhang Intensive while it’s still open and get an in depth education in Bagua.

This course is packed with step by step instruction. For long list of what you’ll learn in this course go here:

https://www.clearmartialarts.com/bagua-online/

Enrollment closes on July 31st and won’t re-open for another year. So don’t miss it.

In Baguazhang it’s common to see folks walk a circle that’s been drawn on the floor.

This is a mistake.

Don’t get me wrong, it can be a great teaching aid to help students visualize a circle and if you can’t walk around a drawn circle you need to spend a few hours building that skill.

…then it’s time to graduate from that practice or your skill will stagnate in several important areas.

There are 3 basic reasons training on a fixed circle is a problem:

1. Circle size is relative to your body.

When working with a group it’s very common for folks to share circles and work from the circle size of whoever is leading. This means for everyone with slightly shorter or longer legs the circle is not correct. (unless you fully understand points 2 & 3)

2. A circle drawn on the floor can’t move.

For a day 1 beginner it is useful to walk a fixed circle for a short period of time.

However, if you want to make your Bagua functional the circle needs to come with you wherever you go.

3. The Circle must change size.

In addition to following you around, the Bagua circle also must change size to according to your needs at any given moment.

There are 3 basic circle sizes you should acquaint yourself with right away and a couple others that are quite useful.

Tomorrow, we’ll get into exactly what those sizes are and how to measure them.

In the Bagua Intensive course Sigung Clear goes in depth into how these different circle sizes are used against multiple attackers.

Enrollment in the Bagua Intensive Closes next week.

You can also get start with our free course The Fighting Fundamentals of Baguazhang