I typically prefer teaching specifc and peculiar details about form or about partner drills or about proper anatomical movements. I can tell when people get it and understand it. I cannot tell what you dream. Dreams defy specific teachings. And teaching people to unite with their dreams, in their own, personal way is beyond the scope (so far) of being me. So the latest workshop was a challenge.

I set up opportunities. I gently directed attention. I kept lessons brief and made space for inner exploration. The deep secret: put pressure on normal living expectations, in this case pressure was on sleeping.

The Starry Night

We contorted sleep while moving in a Baguazhang way around real, live blazing fires in the middle of the starry night. And I wondered often: how is it working for him, for her, for him, for her, for him?

In the First Dreaming Circles Workshop, practitioners got a mellow taste of proper Baguazhang and drank deeply of Earth Palms in the starry night. We started right at 10pm and rode a wave of sleepiness through 7am. In five teaching episodes, spaced by 45 minutes of sleep, people practiced:

• Circular Writing, heart-beat oriented, stream-of-consciousness writing
• Earth Palm Changes
• Single Palm Change
• Mountain Palm Changes
• Partner training drills that fit the night
• Qigong connecting the Palms to the Earth and Stars
• 8 layers of relaxtion for standing
• 8 layers of relaxation for dropping into dreams

Overall, everyone soaked in the night; each soaked in the freshness of the night, and all experienced some personal deepening of dreams. Not metaphorical dreams: real dreams became just a bit more tangible, memorable, or real.

Thanks again and I appreciate what you shared about your experiences.

At the next cross-quarter day: we add some training and feasting before the night, that we may go deeper still. Stay tuned for news about the weekend before the next cross-quarter day: the beginning of Summer. It’s a potent time to explore Water and Wind.

Explore inner realms and celebrate transformation using Baguazhang palm changing, poetry, and dream cycling. This Baguazhang Dreaming Circles Workshop coincides closely with several holidays worldwide—Imbloc, Brigid’s Day, Candlemas, American Ground-Hog Day, Setsubun, and Lichun—suggesting that this poetic time of year means

Brigid's Cross

• returning of warmth and wisdom
• increasing light
• inner growth
• new beginnings

Using a fusion of Baguazhang circle walking, Baguazhang partner-training drills, circular-free writing, and brief wake-sleep periods, participants explore inner realms and personal development, while enhancing dream visions and dream states.

Participants are welcome to spend a longer time at the camp. The intensive Baguazhang Dreaming Circles Workshop encompasses one entire evening. By switching, in 45 minute intervals, between artistic activities and sleep-dreaming, we provoke profound states that deepen our consciousness of being-awake and dreaming-awake. Situated in Goblin Valley Area, magestic mountains, chilly nighttime temperatures, and dreamy starry skies accompany practitioners on their inward journey. Please bring these things…

• a sleeping bag rated for at least -20° Fahrenheit
• an 8×10 tarpaulin
• writing tools and an artist’s sketch-pad or notepad
• some healthy snacks
• one gallon of water
• one open mind

In Baguazhang Dreaming-Circles Workshops, participants envision and embrace deeper dreams, learn, connect, and create in an atmosphere of concentration, participation, creative expression, and community. Dreaming-Circles Workshops embrace physical and emotional safety in a profound atmosphere while actively encouraging palm changes, positive growth, and personal transformations.

Photo by Malene Thyssen

Baguazhang, solemn sister of Tai Chi Chuan, is well known among internal artists. While she’s whispered about by Tai Chi practitioners and envied by Xingyi-ists, the diversity of her changing palms wraps a serious face around practitioners.

We take our practice seriously, almost religiously, certainly ceremoniously, circling deliberately the center of something. We walk around trees. We slip circles in mud. We step around and around posts and poles, bushes and barrels, and we saunter ‘round and ‘round on circles we find or circles we make on the floor, on the ground, or in the Earth.

We try to act humbly. But we’re so self-centered. Who else stares at themselves so much, so often, with such intensity? We gaze at our palms. We stare at our hands. We look right into those metacarpals, our eyes wisting and wondering right into our center(s). It’s so serious, self-centered circling.

She’s so deadly—Baguazhang with her rising, writhing, falling, coiling, drilling, screwing, turning, twisting—she’s very hot. Consistent play with power and passion turns Qi over into Jing! We learn Dim-Mak and Fa-Jing and we slip past, around, and behind opponents while attacking with multiple deadly blows. Our deadly practice with deadly seriousness provokes grace and beauty. The freedom of grace and power of beauty emboldens passionate practice: quaking Qigong sessions and round after round of form work, circle walking, and palm changing.

It is serious—sometimes too serious.

If you cannot beat him with one hand, you’re not doing Baguazhang!

—Erle Montaigue

Remember, though, relax. Your power comes from relaxation. And relaxation is embedded in the deep belly roll of big laughter.

Stop acting so serious.

The King of 8

Bagua Training

At Real Taiji we gaze at one hand during circular Bagua forms.  There are exceptions, but generally the hand is our focus.  This seems like a fitting place for our gaze and intent, seeing as how Baguazhang translates to Eight Trigram Palms.  Our palms are our weapons as well as an extension of our center.

Focusing our intent and gaze on our hands we direct our Qi to our palms. Our intent is realized through the palms.  The relationship is somewhat indirect.  Physically, our intent moves our waist which moves our palms.  In the same way, our intent moves the qi from the dan tien to the palms.  Why move the qi to the hands?  Moving qi to the hands along with the way we hold the palms will help us develop Iron Palm.  Iron palm is beyond the scope of this article, but the basic concept is that the hands have the appearance of cotton while on the inside they are like iron.

We only look at the palm in the circular form and any time we’re walking the circle. This is to bring energy to the palm…[for] Iron Palm…but we do not smash our palms into bricks etc. to make our hand hard and senseless like most do. It’s also an eagle vision training method, by looking at the palm we can’t look at what we’re meant to be hitting. —Eli Montaigue

In walking the circle, I hold the leading palm in the circle’s center so that I end up walking around it while it turns on the center point.  This leads to moments of exhilaration and laughter in midst of a spinning world.  While the world outside is seemingly spinning out of control, I maintain my center and focus.  I reside in the peaceful eye of the storm.

Spinning Around Palms and Revolutionary Changes

During partner work, a funny thing happens. When the world starts spinning for both partners—there is simultaneous laughter and attacking.  Sometimes it sucks when my partner attacks while the world is spinning, because I was enjoying the ride.  Once the attack comes, I change, and it takes some work to get the world spinning again.  Another option is to attack my partner and deliberately disrupt the equilibrium.

One way that focusing on the hands is helpful in practice is that it acts as a beacon when things inevitably change (initiated externally or internally) or go awry.  Change can come in the form of an attack, as in partner work, or simply losing your balance for a split second while doing the form.  I change and find my leading hand in the center, then it’s business as usual until the next change.  It becomes easier and easier to return there.

This is a powerful metaphor.  Sometimes external situations change (an attack) causing complication in our lives (the world stops spinning).  We are called to change and reestablish new order (start the world spinning again) based on new circumstances.  Better yet, maybe we don’t like the way the world is spinning, we can initiate change ourselves, on our own terms.

Hah—our lives are in our hands!

Many Baguazhang Styles Avoid Mud-stepping—It’s Difficult

Mud-stepping is a peculiar method of gaining….[doh! the why and what-for of mud-stepping is for a different article].

How-To-Mud-Step seems simple—

• Slide your weightless front-foot forward,
• Quickly step onto it,
• Swishing the old back-foot past the new back foot,
• Never pick up your back-heel before your back-toes.

It’s not a sequential order because it all happens so fast!

It’s tough at first. There’s a nnnrrghhing sense of lifting the foot without lifting the heel first. How do I do it? You’ll wonder. Doesn’t it seem natural to push from the toes?! Then you’ll fake it, pretending to not-lift the heel before the toes, gently pressing from the toes.

Many (I bet most) Baguazhang styles and even more Baguazhang instructors never bother with mud-stepping. That’s fine; many versions of Dong Hai-Chuan’s Baguazhang exist, thrive, and produce martial artists. Tension, difficulty, and lack of understanding drive folks to avoid mud-stepping.

Others cheat. They’ll get the overt muddy-sliding sensations of the front foot, but they’ll pry themselves forward with their little back-foot lever: heel then toes pressing forward. The following video, while exciting and dramatic (it’s cool!) offers us a vision of mud-stepping errors. (I’ve been advised by advisors, for political purposes, to not post the following video in relationship to mistakes, errors, and bad-baguazhang; it’s Jet Li afterall! Who am I to criticize? I’m not one to pull punches palm-strikes, and again, take it as an element of stylistic differences, if you must. Just notice how the back heel lifts up on every mud-step.)

Average Avatar Mud-Step Mistakes

You Can Mud-Step Better

From a Baguazhang back-weighted stance, standing on your circle,

• Slide the front foot just a bit along the circle
• (Don’t lift the back heel; lift the whole back foot as a unit)
• Quickly step forward

Sounds simple and it is, in time. Start with the basic: coil your foot and pick up that coiled foot as one whole unit, and you engage your core (oh, no, is that a what-for?). Mud-stepping become quick and delightful (oh, shit shucks is that a why?)

Find a good mud-stepping teacher. (Like me.)

Various histories claim Dong Hai-Chuan as the inventor or creator; others report that he inherited it. Most histories weave a plot of an adventurous man wrapping Gung-fu of his local villages into the magic of shaman rituals to create the whole, the circular: Baguazhang!

Whatever happened, each bit of his story lurks in shadow

.

Dong Ming Kui—Origins of Dong Hai-Chuan

Born in 1797 (or 1813), he begins with the name Dong Ming Kui, the second son of Dong Bo Xuan. His family relied on farming for a living, and Dong Han-Chuan reputedly despised working in the fields, seeking instead Kung-fu lessons. He trained extensively with teachers of the martial arts in and around the local Zhu village, in Ju Jia Wu Township, Wen An County, Hebei Province, China. In 1853, Dong Ming Kui leaves home, for some reason…

• family financial hardship
• drought and resultant difficulties
• strained relations with his parents
• the quest for fame and fortune from Gung-fu

Whatever the reasons, Dong Ming Kui leaves his home around 1853, seeking fame as a martial artist in Beijing. Despite years of previous training, Dong Ming Kui is easily defeated and, to avoid defaming his family (or to try again), Dong Ming Kui changed his name to Dong Hai-Chuan, a name suggesting an image of a hundred rivers.

And indeed, if you choose to stick to Baguazhang’s main principle—Change!—then a changed name is simply a step around the circle.

Forming Baguazhang

Accounts vary about Dong Hai-Chuan’s years of wandering in the mountains of He Bei, Jiang Su, Zhe Jiang, An Hui, and Jiang Xi Provinces. Some of my favorites include….

• Wandering the mountains near Beijing, he encountered a dwarf who led Dong Hai-Chuan to a monk named Deng Xia Bi—Man Without Shadow Under Lamp.
• Dong Hai-Chuan traveled to Beijing where he became a servant in the Emperor’s kitchen; as a waiter he balanced great dishes on each hand and created evasive, dish-saving maneuvers that influenced Baguazhang.
• By the time he was fifty, he formulated his basic style, called Circling Palms. Some suggest he had developed special, Shamanistic powers (more stories below).

Most accounts seem to agree that Dong Hai-Chuan searched for and practiced varieties of Gung-fu, wandered the mountains in many provinces, and studied Daoism and its related, ancient Shamanistic practices. Most sources agree that he wove his village Gung-fu arts, travel and competition experiences, and Daoist Shaman practices together to create Baguazhang.

One source, Emei Baguazhang claims that

There are a few documents available to us which describe that Master Dong Hai-Chuan actually learned his Baguazhang arts from a Daoist named Dong Meng-Lin in Jiu Hua Mounatain, An Hui Province. Dong Men-Lin was called Huang Guan Dao Ren (The Yellow Cape Daoist) in the Daoist society and called Bi Deng Xia (Blue Lamp Chivalry) or Bi Cheng Xia (Blue Clear Chivalry) in the Chinese martial arts society. He taught Baguazhang to three disciples: Dong Hai-Chuan, Li Zhen-Qing, and Bi Yue-Xia. Among these three, Dong Hai-Chuan has been the most well known and has passed down most of the students. Therefore, we have a more complete historical documentation of Dong Hai-Chuan.

Wherever, from whomever, Dong Hai-Chuan takes his instructions, if you practice Baguazhang in the outdoors, particularly around a fire, it is clear that Baguazhang’s circle walking practice draws from some kind deeper, primal rituals.

Bagua — Fame and Fortune

Vague accounts vary in their suggestions, and detailed accounts vary their specifics. The following is my favorite story of the moment that…

Dong Hai-Chuan Bursts Into Fame

In 1855 Dong Chuan Hai returned to Beijing where he took an official post in the Emperor’s court. He never advertised his Kung Fu ability; he kept it a secret. But suspicious eyes noticed something special about Dong Chuan Hai. Dong Chuan Hai practiced late at night when no one was around, but he was discovered by a Chief Officer of the Court, Quan Kai Ting.

One time, there was a Kung Fu performance organized at the court, and Dong Hai-Chuan was in charge of serving the tea for Prince Su. The large number of people at the event meant that the source of water for making the tea was surrounded and impossible to get to. When Prince Su wanted some tea, Dong Hai Chuan leapt over the heads of spectators to get through with tea. This sent a wave of awe through the crowd, and, following the orders of Prince Su, Dong Chuan Hai demonstrated his style of Kung Fu: The Circling Palms.

The other Kung Fu Masters had never seen anything like it. The Head Kung Fu Coach of Prince Su’s Court, Sha Hui Hui, stepped forward to challenge Dong Chuan Hai, who took little effort in defeating him. Prince Su immediately promoted Dong Chuan Hai to Head Coach and Head of Security. A shockwave that ran through the Kung Fu World of Beijing, and streams of challengers came to test Dong Hai-Chuan’s skills. None of them won.

Yang Lu Chan, nicknamed No Worthy Enemies Yang and creator of Yang Style Tai Ji Quan, said of fighting with Dong Hai Chuan “I can not beat Dong Chuan Hai. The best I can do is draw level with him. Beating him is very difficult.” The two became good friends.

Dong Hai Chuan’s name spread quickly, and soon Cheng Ting Hua, Shi Ji Dong, Quan Kai Ting, Liang Zhen Pu, Liu De Kuan and other high ranking officials were kneeling at his door requesting him to teach them. So the teachings of Ba Gua Zhang started.

[Emphasis, grammatical, and semantical adjustments are mine.]

Other bits about his history point back into the shadows and mists. Dong Hai-Chuan consistently hid the origins of this art. He refused to describe his teachers or his associates in the martial arts. He apparently was illiterate and incapable of reading the I-Ching, the manual studied by his contemporary Daoists, from which the Bagua part of Bagua-Zhang takes its name. And he claimed, at some point, to be a eunuch. Perhaps, it was simply a necessary ruse to gain a position working for Royalty, but it seems unlikely: he’d have been over twenty for the surgical procedure!

Dong Hai-Chuan: Legacies of Baguazhang

His position solidified as a teacher, he selected students from among aristocracy and from competent, capable martial artists. He taught three standard Palm Changes, sculpting the other five (or more) Palm Changes to suit individual students’ unique talents, skills, and experiences.

Dong Hai-Chuan’s tomb, in etchings, reveals 57 students. Among some famous disciples are: Cheng Ting-Hua, Liang Zhen-Pu, Liu Feng-Chun, Ma Wei-Qi, Liu Dekuan, Shi Li-Qing, Song Chang-Rong, Yin Fu, and Zhang Zhao-Dong. Because Dong Hai-Chuan’s teaching methods cultivated different aspects of Baguazhang in each student, he leaves a legacy of changes: various interpretations and numerous styles of Baguazhang.

I liked the idea that he was illiterate, and that, therefore, Baguazhang can not really be the result of I-Ching studies. While true, the ties to the I-Ching are not direct, the feelings of a link may exist. Dong Hai-Chuan clearly learned from Daoists; they knew the I-Ching. And, many Baguazhang-ists, Sun-Luc Tang among others, brings Baguazhang full circle, back to the tapestry of the I-Ching.

Modern styles include, but are not limited to:

• Cheng: Cheng Ting-Hua
• Emei Style
• Fu Style
• Gao Style
• Jiang: Jiang Rong Qiao
• Liang: Liang Zheng-Pu
• Liu: Liu Bao-Zhen
• Shi Style
• Sun from Sun Lu-Tang
• Yin: Yin Fu
• Yin Yang: Tian Style
• Wudang

Not an exhaustive list (even if you’re exhausted from reading it)—there are more.

The articles at UBagua.com will inevitably focus on Jiang Rong Qiao Classical Circular Form, Yen Te-Hwa Fighting Linear Form, and the many training drills and methods associated with Baguazhang.

Whatever Do I Do With The Histories of Baguazhang?

Change! The Big Lesson embedded in Daoism and in the life and adventures of Dong Hai-Chuan is: change. When things don’t feel right: change. When things don’t go right: change. When things don’t look right: change. When attacked: change. Even when things are smoothe and soft, comfort sinks into your shoes: change!

The time is ripe in this World. Never sit on your laurels. The economy, our environment, your community and friends are all in dire need of—change.

So change.

Fight For It: Examine BAH! Fighting Methods

The Bagua and Baguazhang

Bagua refers to eight trigrams representing basic concepts: Sky, Earth, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, and Cloud. Interpretations vary, more commonly Sky is referred to as Heaven and Cloud as Lake. I remove religious concepts by focusing on Sky, and while Lake has a variety of interpretation, Swamp being one, Mist another, Cloud offers an accurate vision for employing our hands.

Baguazhang means Eight Trigam Palms and is a classic internal art (or Neijia); the other two are Taijiquan and Xingyiquan. Baguazhang is sometimes referred to as the sister or the daughter of Tai Chi Chuan (that’s the other spelling of Taijiquan), suggesting that

• Baguazhang originates alongside or after Taijiquan
• and is more feminine in nature

Baguazhang uses palms to strikes, circular footwork with a peculiar mud-step (for real lower body power development), and a strange way of looking—gazing directly at the working palm. A fantastic and powerful art, when it’s done correctly, Fa-jing develops swiftly and delightfully.

The foundational form and early, beginning training in Baguazhang (also spelled Pa Kua Chang) teach circular, coiling concepts. The circular and coiling, waist shaking motions require precision and articulation to see and develop the potencies of Fa-jing. Later, more advanced forms and training methods retain the Fa-jing aspects, while adding barging, linear attack methods.

Baguazhang, right from the get-go, is more violent and viscious than Tai Chi Chuan. Unfortunately, like Tai Chi, Bagua has been dumbed down and taught ineffectively in an effort to make it easier and more fluid. Perhaps it’s also dumbed down to imply safer practices for people. Dumbing-down strips the art of its effectiveness and its gratifying and lovely details.

I won’t insult you with simplified martial arts.

Instead, I’ll show you the details and the fluid, powerful, circular shaking that develops internally through proper walking methods, accurate form work, and intelligent training devices. Ubagua.com emphasizes the arts of the World Taiji Boxing Association, teaching through Instructor Steven Smith (me), in Salt Lake City, Utah. For more information on martial arts and healing arts classes go to RealTaiji.com/classes

Start with the Baguazhang Circle Form. Here’s the first movement, in detail.

The Hidden Qigong Meanings of the First Posture in the Baguazhang Circular Form