Which baguazhang style?

Question

which style of baguazhang should I choose?

Answer 1

Any style is good! I study the Yin system(Lion style). Just find a GOOD instructor in your area. Ba-Gua is not very popular in the U.S., so you may only find 1 to 7 instructors in any state and out of those only 1 to 3 are very good. Many Tai-Chi instructors also know or teach Ba-Gua. When you find an instructor watch one or two of their classes, if they are good you will know! The style you take is not quite that important as Ba-Gua is built on the understanding of the principles of the system(if you FULLY understand the principles of driving, you can drive any car anywhere). All styles of Ba-Gua are beautiful and very effective. The principles and body mechanics take a while to master but once that is done you will be very surprised at how little energy is needed to defeat one or more people, and how you can make up many very effective moves of your own. A good class should consist of 30 to 60 min of standing postures and strikes,30 to 60 min of moving postures and direction changes, 30 to 60 min of circle turning and 30 to 60 min of applications. Ba-Gua is not hard to learn, but it will take years to learn so patience is a must and you will not get quick gratification like in some of the (hard) systems, if you stick with it your effectiveness and gratification will be much greater. Good Luck!!!!

Answer 2

look for a GOOD TEACHER.

that KNOWS what they are talking about and actually teaches you.

many teachers get aggrivated if you don't "just listen" and do as they say becasue they themselves just learned that way without learning any real application.

if they don't know how to explain it then how can they teach you.

if they don't have patience to explain it, then they are masking the fact that they don't know it.

if your teacher doesn't allow you to question and test it, he is likely not teaching you anything at all.

you should find a competant teacher that trains with RESISTANCE.

if your teacher says "never spar" or "bieng soft" or "circle walking and forms" are enough- then they are afraid to and probably have not tested thier art.

the techniques should work on you no matter what resistance you give- in bagua particularly, your teacher should know how to apply each of the palms and be able to do so (or teach you to do so) against a fully resisting opponent.

the kind of opponents you will be able to use techniques against in real life are the kinds you face in class.

if all you do is face compliant opponents in class- then your technique will only work on the outside when people are co-operating with you to let you get the technique.

obviously unless you are on "dancing with the stars" your opponents will not be co-operating with you.

EDIT: bagua1 is an optimist, IMO, 1-3 out of 7 instructors is a very high number of competant instructors. I live in a big city. the numbers will undoubtedly be higher in a large urban community. Personally if you live in a suberb and have no access to a large urban area- I wouldn't even bother trying to find good internal instruction without first having some basis by which to judge by as if there is no other practitioners in the area, there are no safeguards to prevent someone from just "making it up" from books, movies, etc.

Answer 3

they really closed to Tai Chi family and the Gao style system is referred to as the Gao Yisheng branch of the Cheng Tinghua system of Baguazhang. Essentially, Gao Style Bagua is a unique subsystem. The Gao style system, because of Gao's own martial progression over time, can be found to have a number of different permutations, represented in these various lingages. All are valid examples of Gao style Bagua because they all represent Gao Yisheng’s progression as a martial artist. Gao was refining and creating sets until he died. He changed his straight line, pre-heaven and weapons sets more than once in his life but at its core it is a complete Baguazhang system. Gao style divides training into two categories: pre-heaven (先天) and post-heaven (後天). Pre-heaven training includes walking the circle and practicing changing palms on the circle; this material is similar to that found in the other Cheng styles. Post-heaven training consists of 64 linear palms (六十四掌) said to be passed down by a man known as Song Yiren (宋益仁); these palms are unique to the Gao system. Many Gao style practitioners can be found in Tianjin (lineage of Liu Fengcai and others), Taiwan (lineage of Zhang Junfeng), and Hong Kong (lineage of He Kecai).

Answer 4

Wow you threw me... I always saw Paqua Chang...

Anyway... it's all Chinese to me.

Why would you only do one? Do them all.

Answer 5

get a good teacher

Answer 6

Which ever is available to you.

Answer 7

The European one..j/k but it is good.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=O7_dzu4TQDs