day 19: circle walking - 2nd palm change (the art of dynamic change!)

concepts:

• practicing v. fighting
• dynamic change
• footwork
• algorithms
  

forms:

• 2nd palm change

today i was not the first one to arrive. the new baji students (Frank, Thomas, Charles, Simon) had evidently arrived a good deal earlier to play some basketball, and were lounging by the courts waiting for class to begin. i chatted with them for several minutes and then went to stretch and warm-up, just in time to be joined by Mike, Laura, Lee, and another bagua student.

this was scheduled as a light(er) class session, since it was the Lunar New Year on the Sinic (i.e., the Asian countries east of Thailand) calendar. we didn't formally start until Phunsak appeared, at which point Mike cajoled him into leading us through stances. we did this in abbreviated fashion, since Sifu was present and there were whispers of taking a collection for a gift (it was coincidentally also Jason's birthday).

circle walking: 2nd palm change

Sifu had us find our individual circles to begin circle walking. we did a quick run-through of circle walking with the 1st palm change, and then he ordered us to begin performing circle walking with the 2nd. he demonstrated how to do it, then watched as we began doing it ourselves.

for the 2nd palm change, Sifu took some time to correct our form, and then stopped everyone to make some statements about several concepts that we needed to understand to properly integrate the palm changes with our circle walking. the statements dealt with the following:

practicing v. fighting

Sifu told us that the saying he was given by his instructors was "practice as if there is an opponent there, fight as if there is no one there." he explained that this means that during our practices we need to visualize ourselves working against an opponent, but that in a combat situation we need to visualize ourselves working with no one else. Jason took some time to emphasize this point. he noted the following:

1. it is helpful, because visualizing imaginary opponents in practice helps a practitioner better understand the function of each technique, and also the intent behind them. in so doing, it helps a student maintain proper form and aids in ingraining the physical motions into the brain and muscle memory.
   
2. it is useful, because engaging in combat as if no opponent is present helps a practitioner to adopt a more pro-active mindset, meaning an attitude that is less defensive and more assertive. a defensive, reactive posture is always more difficult in terms of the pressure it places on reflexes and the uncertainty it generates within the mind, making it more likely for a person to make mistakes or be taken by surprise (this parallels a lot of sports philosophy, which always argues it is harder to play defense than it is to play offense). in contrast, by being more pro-active, the practitioner is more focused on initiating actions in the fight, forcing the opponent to take the defensive posture and forcing the opponent to react to the practitioner. this enables the practitioner to control the situation and "dictate the flow" of the encounter, and thereby increases the chances of victory.
3. it should be taken with a caveat: this does not mean that a person should fight ignoring the opponents around them. a practitioner should always be mindful of the opponent(s) and what they may be doing. but it does mean that a practitioner should be acting in the face of opponents rather than waiting for them to do something.

dynamic change

Sifu, using Phunsak for demonstration purposes, commented that we need to remember that bagua is about dynamic change, and that this means we need to vary our actions in multiple facets: speed, horizontal direction, vertical direction, angular direction, application, selection, and target. essentially, we need to constantly change the nature of our movements in regards to the 3 axes of physical space as well as in regards to pacing, choice of technique, and aiming point. there are several goals behind this:

1. creating uncertainty in the opponent's mind (following the above)
   
2. forcing the opponent to react to the practitioner (following the above)
3. exploring and exploiting avenues of vulnerability in the opponent
4. avoiding the opponent's strikes

footwork

this was a thread throughout the day's discussion. in his demonstrations with Phunsak, Sifu repeatedly pointed out the positioning of his feet. he directed everyone to observe the dynamic nature of the footwork, and that it changed as frequently and intricately as the rest of the body. this is something i've observed as being what many have taken as one of the defining characteristics of bagua: its complex footwork. Sifu stated that our leg-and-footwork needs to be as active and changing as our upper bodies. in short, it needs (consistent with the theme of today's class) to observe dynamic change.

Sifu also pointed out that there is a common misperception about circle walking. too many people, he argued, think that bagua in a fight must be applied by a practitioner walking in a circle. he warned us that this was a dangerous pre-occupation, in that it distracts from the actual purpose of circle walking, which is to help the practitioner gain position to either avoid a strike or to launch a strike. for an example, he showed that a defender can take a static posture against an assailant, then take a few steps in the circle to evade an assailant's attack and simultaneously gain position to counter-attack. the point of circle walking is not to walk in circles around an opponent, but to train the student to think about:

1. moving
2. moving in non-linear fashion
3. moving in different directions.

algorithms

the discussion ended on a note that Sifu has repeated in prior classes--the need to not think in forms. i call it "the dangers of algorithmic thinking." he's clearly made it a point of emphasis to remember that the forms are training tools, and not actual formulas that should be followed blindly in a fight.

basically, his argument is this: forms (xiao kai men, 64 palms, etc.) are meant to help students learn and remember the techniques of bagua, in a way that is easier and more efficient than simply learning them en masse. in addition, they help students see how techniques can be put together in combination, and mixed and matched in different ways.

but it is important to note that the techniques are individual techniques, and so can be assembled in any combination, and mixed and matched in a multitude of ways outside of the forms. we need to use and apply the techniques in ways appropriate for the conditions of a particular fight.

Sifu noted that too often there is a belief in martial arts (and apparently propagated by many teachers) that a particular form can be applied to all fight situations against any potential opponents--in essence, that a form is a "formula" or "algorithm" that can be magically applied to the variables in a specific situation and magically produce victory. Sifu said this is just simply wrong, and that each fight is different, and that each one has its own unique set of variables. it is useless to expect any one or any set of forms (algorithms) to solve such a variety of problems. it is far better to use the techniques in a more non-formulaic manner. that is, a practitioner should exercise greater initiative and creativity in applying techniques, and should feel free to apply them in any manner most effective for a given situation.

this was consistent with today's themes, since it held to the idea of using techniques in a formless way and working in a state of constant change. it's very Taoist in a way: formlessness, living with the way, accepting change...i'm starting to see some of the Taoist threads in the origins of bagua.

in addition, i can see something about the nature of bagua, in that it seems in part to be about changing perspectives on fighting--particularly Western conceptions of fighting. so much of stereotypical Western culture (at least, American culture) involves the idea of confrontation, face-to-face encounters, and direct onslaughts. this is reflected in the ideals of fighting and fighters portrayed in American movies (think about it: Rocky? Raging Bull? Cinderella Man?), which frequently feature boxers slugging it out "man-to-man" in head-long battles with their enemies.

bagua, in contrast, is about anything but direct confrontation, but rather misdirection, redirection, avoidance, deception, surprise, and motion--all things which in the West is seen as ways of fighting that are labeled as "strange" or "cowardly" or "unmanly" (which is funny, because these are concepts that are the centerpiece of insurgencies, and America is a culture founded in large part on the actions of insurgents against the British Empire, and hence if anything more American than face-to-face means of battle). as a result, bagua calls for a Western student to alter culturally ingrained notions of fighting (i.e., away from direct confrontation) towards something much more flexible, free-flowing, and unpredictable...something which Westerners can conceptually grasp, but may take some time to actually learn to apply on an intuitive and instinctive level.

collections

after delivering the discussion, Sifu instructed us to practice walking the circle applying the 2nd palm change. he told Phunsak and Kieun to lead, and then left to teach the baji students.

Phunsak led for a few minutes, and then started correcting our technique. Kieun pointed out several flaws that i seemed to be suffering (dropping the lower guard hand in the starting position, leaning down instead of keeping my back straight up in leaf covers summer flower, not raising my hand up in goose leaves the flock, etc.). all these are bad habits that i've been trying to work on, and i suspect are residues of bad habits picked up in childhood (i mentioned this in last week's post--slouching, staring at the ground, shuffling feet, etc.).

as people started taking a break and exiting their circles, i noticed that both Phunsak and Kieun were starting to walk the circle outside the 2nd palm change. in varying degrees, they seemed to be mixing the techniques and using them in different combinations, performing techniques individually or in groups of 2-4 as they walked the circle and changed direction. i could see that this was an expression of Sifu's comments, and a corollary to the manner in which Jason had us apply the 1st palm change in the circle last week--first doing each technique individually before changing direction in the circle, then doing the technique in increasingly larger combinations, until finally doing an entire form.

i made an attempt to do the same thing. i found that this involves a certain level of articulation and sensitivity with the techniques, in that you have to know 1) what it is you want to do, 2) when you want to do it, and 3) the direction you want to go. this entails a deeper understanding of the techniques and their nuances with respect to purpose, limitations, capabilities, and feasibility. it also requires a developed sense of coordination, balance, and timing. which leads me to a conclusion that is a constant truth: the better you want to do something, the greater the level of skill needed, and so the greater the level of practice demanded.

a lot of this is analogous to music, particularly the discussions i've heard on the art of improvisation within a live performance. most competent musicians can improvise music (indeed, they arguably wouldn't be musicians if they couldn't). the issue is if they can do it well. to do it well--to make it look smooth, easy, effortless, but at the same time gratifying in fulfillment and joy--requires a supreme level of expertise that very few ever master.

so the moral of this story? same song, different verse: i need practice. and a lot of it.

apart from that, i'm starting to realize that walking the circle is not that far an extension from the linear forms--at least for individual palm changes. based on what we were doing, it appears that performing the palm changes while circle walking is effectively the same as doing them along a line. the major difference is that there's a greater issue of balance and speed while circle walking, as well as awareness of where you are relative to the circle. having said that, i think the forms are much easier to learn in line, and significantly eases the transition to walking the circle.

of course, this raises the question as to how to link the forms together, so that a practitioner can walk the circle continuously while progressing from one palm change to another. i suspect that there is a linking element we haven't covered yet. this may have been what Art had been referring to in a prior class when he told me that the linking form between palm changes was in some ways actually much harder than the palm changes themselves.

by this time class was starting to wind down. i could tell people were ending things a little early, and they had begun clustering around Phunsak. everyone discreetly handed money to him for the class gift to Sifu. the baji students who were still around (Frank, Thomas, Simon, Charles) chipped in as well.

when Sifu called us together to formally close class, Phunsak gave him a red envelope (and i learned that, apart from other things, the Chinese New Year involves gifts of money inside red envelopes). Sifu accepted it gratefully, and then wished us well.

class ended on that note, and most everyone went home for the day. a few of us (including Art) went for a post-class lunch with Sifu, which turned out to be one of the larger (and more enjoyable) meal sessions we've had, due in no small part to the Lunar New Year preparations going on in Monterey Park.