Novell opinions of BaGua teachers.html

My opinions of Ba Gua Zhang teachers today.

Part 1 of a 2 part series

by Novell LaoShi the BlackTaoist

Writer Note-My comments are not for legitimate Ba Gua Zhang teachers and Practitioners. In fact there are some skilled teachers and practitioners of this art today, but a large amount of so-called BaGua teachers and practitioners are simply pretending.(False images) Being politically correct serves no purpose when trying to promote the true art of BAGUA Zhang. I don’t claim to be a master of Ba Gua Zhang , but in the face of what I have experienced, with all the frauds that’s taking place right now, I will express the truth of what I know. So this is not to offend those individuals training the real methods of BaGuaZhang, but rather to expose the fallacy that is being perpetuated so openly.

Presently in the martial arts world of the so-called Chinese internal martial arts there are many individuals teaching Ba Gua Zhang across the globe.

Most of these people purport themselves to be skilled martial artists, Masters and even Grand Masters of Ba Gua Zhang. Many of the individuals making these claims do not have any real fighting experience or a verifiable combat background utilizing the Ba Gua Zhang systems. Yet these same people want the martial arts community to address them as Grand Masters. These individuals that are looking for this kind of respect from other martial artists and skilled fighters do not appear to me to have any superior power or martial fighting ability in the Ba Gua Zhang systems that they proclaim to be so great in.

What is the point of a person claiming to be an Master or lineage holder of a Ba Gua Zhang system if they cannot successfully utilize what he/she has learned in a fighting situation? If your goal is to learn Ba Gua Zhang for combat, then my advice is seek out a Ba Gua teacher that can demonstrate and apply the art in combat situations which Ba Gua Zhang was invented for! A simple equation to remember this point is theory must be always put in to function in an noncooperative manner!

If you are currently learning and practicing Ba Gua Zhang forms supplemented with a few rehearsed combat applications, without any free-fighting training- then what you are learning is nothing more but a dance. You sure not learning a complete martial art system that will help you to deal with unexpected attacks! In my opinion, if individuals wants to develop fighting skills in the art of Ba Gua Zhang, then he/she must seek out a qualified Ba Gua Zhang teacher that has real knowledge. One who is truly skilled in the art and focuses on training in a noncooperative manner when teaching how to utilize the martial functions of the system.

Ba Gua Zhang is first and foremost a fighting system geared towards real-world combat. It is not just some classical chinese martial art form for so-called teachers to discuss and debate about topics like : which circle walking forms are authentic, which lineage is real or fake. In the old days, the BaGua Masters would compare skills by the crossing of hands! Not by the crossing of mouths, the method many Ba Gua Zhang teachers today love to utilize.

What is funny to me about the whole Ba Gua Zhang lineage debate is that most of these individuals with so much to say are not even of chinese descent! But are so actively engaged in fighting over who is right and who is wrong about lineage.

Today there are many so-called Ba Gua Zhang Masters, GrandMasters, and lineage holders that have no real fighting ability or even the attitude of a fighter. Many of these individuals truly act straight-up like punks when asked to compare combat skills! These are the same individuals that love raving about Ba Gua Zhang martial theory and fighting applications with great enthusiasm. But soon one of them are asks to compare skills- the punk comes out of them big time!

What you get in the end dealing with these kinds of people is a lot of talk about Ba Gua history, philosophy,mythological, and esoteric fighting theory.
Many of these individuals will tell you the reason that they won't spar against you is because their chi will damage or even seriously injure you if they happen to strike you. What "Nonsense!Well my friends, welcome to the world of the chinese internal arts - where most individuals teaching the internal arts presently believe and preach this kind of chi power... "BULLSHIT!

There are only a few traditional Ba Gua Zhang Teachers alive today that know what I'm talking about. I say a penny's worth. The majority are underground and shun the limelight. The other amount are all about public opinion - some to the point of celebrity.

In my Opinion a lot of world-renowned self proclaimed Grandmasters of Ba Gua Zhang today are teaching useless forms of combat. Many of these individuals that are teaching Ba Gua Zhang go around talking like I-Ching scholars straight out of China. Many regard themselves as experts in Ba Gua Zhang yet many of them can't utilize their Ba Gua Zhang in an free-fighting environment. Yet these same individuals love to discuss and give their so-called interpretations on combat, when they have no real fighting experience to base their theories on in the first place.

I have personally met a few of these so-called Ba Gua Masters which not one of these individuals had any fighting abilities!
When I crossed hands against some of these individuals, they had no practical combat techniques or could they deal with unexpected attacks. Yet - they still loved to talk diligently about martial theory and combat applications, associated with Ba Gua Zhang. From my experience meeting many of these Ba Gua teachers firsthand, my honest opinions is there are many Ba Gua Zhang instructors that love to discuss utilizing Ba Gua Zhang in fighting situations. But In all truth - many of these Ba Gua teachers can't put up realistic fighting skills themselves in a combat situation when asked to compare their martial skills unrehearsed in a free style fighting environment where everything goes.

The funny thing about this is many of these inexperienced Ba Gua teachers will still make instructional videos about Ba Gua Zhang and open up martial art schools to teach their low level methods of Ba Gua Zhang to the public. I have come cross and viewed many videos tapes on a lot of systems of Ba Gua Zhang. Most of these videos are displaying mostly forms, which in my opinion, are largely dance Ba Gua. The reason I believe many Ba Gua video tapes display mostly forms is because many of the instructors making these instructional videos today never develop any real martial skills how to apply their Ba Gua Zhang in a free style spontaneous way.

An experienced Ba Gua Zhang practitioner would be able to easily notice that most of these self proclaimed Ba Gua instructors that are demonstrating have no real martial art skill! The sad thing about this situation is that most of these Ba Gua Zhang instructors are world renowned today in the martial art world as high-level teachers of the Ba Gua Zhang system. I guess they are known for their flowery dancing because they sure as hell not fighters.

If individuals truly want to see if an Ba Gua teacher is teaching the real stuff - the best thing to do is ask the teacher could you test out their martial ability- This is the only real way you are going to know if the teacher has martial skill in utilizing Ba Gua Zhang and is not just playing forms. Most individuals that plan to study Ba Gua want the whole package, few people want to just learn forms all day. You should want to feel the art's power and technique being applied on you.

Whenever viewing a Ba Gua teacher demonstrating the art, one should check out the teacher's body mechanics when they are performing. If the teacher don't demonstrate proper posture, movement and stepping when demonstrating, then move on, because the teacher method is not correct!
I feel the reason why many of these Ba Gua Zhang teachers methods are not correct is because many of these individuals were not taught properly! That's why the Ba Gua systems of today are so watered down! Today all you see and mostly come across are Ba Gua Zhang instructors teaching a lot of forms with no martial function!

This is why many martial art practitioners of other styles look down on chinese internal stylists as a big time joke when it comes down to utilizing their martial arts in real combat! In my opinion many Ba Gua Zhang individuals need to develop real combat skills, applying their fighting techniques in a free spontaneous way in a combat situation. I feel that by practicing Ba Gua Zhang in free style sparring is the best way to develop ones fighting skills as well as develop ones confidence in utilizing their martial art freely and spontaneously . Through sparring in this manner - one truly learns about their self, thereby determining his strongest and weakest points and evaluates what they needs to work on for fighting situations. Free style sparring truly helps you test out your arsenal of tactics so that you can gauge how much punishment you can dish out and take.

I feel the reason why most non-chinese styles like brazilian jiu-jitsu, wresting, kick boxing, grappling can apply their art is because these people are testing their martial applications in real time combat situations. Which their approach to learning combat is more focused on the end result. While in the art of Ba Gua Zhang, individuals are emphasizing the practice of rehearsed forms & applications - never testing out any of the arts martial applications in free style-fighting situations so that they can truly understand the functions of their system.

To understand the combat essence of Ba Gua Zhang or any martial art system, one must step into an unrehearsed fighting environment of the unexpected to test and be tested! This is the only way individuals that practice Ba Gua Zhang will truly understand the combat science of their art and learn how to utilize the techniques of their martial system correctly and effortlessly in a combat situation.

My focus in practicing the art of BaGuaZhang is to analyze and dissect the Bagua system in a realistic and down-to-earth way. If this means being brutally honest about my view points and research, then so be it. While some individuals may find my opinions refreshing, others may not. It's simply a matter of personal preference and should not be taken to heart. People that may have questions or comments about this article can contact me at: BrotherLaoQiang@yahoo.com