Friday, November 12, 2010

Mr. Pang's Bagua, 1974



This demonstration puts the "art" in "Martial Art".

Here, our local Tai Chi Chuan and Bagua master, T.Y. Pang runs through the eight stepping methods of Sun Xikun lineage Bagua. I studied with one of Mr. Pang's top students, Joel Chung, every Sunday for a year. The foundation of the style comes from Cheng Ting-Hua, a renowned wrestler in his day. Tim Cartmell has told us that in order to seek the applications of Bagua, especially Cheng lineage, is to imagine your body right next to the opponent's body. Within these stepping methods are grappling takedowns, sweeps, arm drags and close striking methods.
Seattle internal art instructor Andrew Dale stated in a 1991 issue of the "Pa Kua Chang Newsletter" that:

"Pang's Pa Kua was the most intricate he had ever seen."
"Seeing Pang do Pa Kua was like watching a powerful snake coiling, attacking, twisting, darting, spinning and turning."

I know for myself, that Tai Chi Chuan balances my yin and yang most effectively.
Xingyi raises my yang energy and is the most direct expression of power.
But Bagua provides the most stimulation and has the appeal of whole-body Yoga. This method articulates and opens every joint in the body and is the most physically expressive of all the internal martial arts I have practiced.

Combat brings necessary pain, Art necessarily brings pleasure...

2 comments:

Charles James said...

DR: A lot better, cool.

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