day 175: things about the circle

concepts:

• circle
• energy
• focus
  

forms:

• 64 palms, side B

we had a number of people out this Saturday due to vacations or work, leaving the bagua group with just 4 of us (Phunsak, Ching-Chieh, John Eagles, and me).

Sifu started with both baji and bagua groups together to go over the plans for classes this fall, and also reminded everyone to settle the bills from the trip to Las Vegas. Phunsak said he needed to send out a reminder email, particularly since we haven't yet figured out just how to divide up the costs of the van ride to and from Vegas (made more complicated by the fact that i used my credit card, but neither i nor Phunsak rode the van back from Vegas). i figure we'll get it sorted out eventually, so no worries.

64 palms, side B

Sifu instructed Phunsak to lead us through a review of 64 palms, side B, and said he'd come back to evaluate where we were at. Phunsak decided to review the line forms of side B, and we took a fair amount of time going through the palm changes, working through 8 iterations of each palm. it turned out that there were a few confusing points for everyone, so it worked out to go through the review for all of side B. in particular, palms 4 and 6 still seem particularly vexing, since they both have different versions that we've learned.

this took awhile, and it was sometime before we were ready to have Sifu return. when he did, he had us perform side B individually in front of class, and then took time to make observations. since we're just starting to refine side B, he gave us the option of doing side B in a line or in a circle. i chose a circle, not so much because of the challenge (although, i admit, this was definitely the seductive side of it), but more because i've been practicing side A in a circle so often i figure i might as well stay consistent.

i struggled to remember side B at a couple of points, but managed to make it through. Sifu made the following comments for me:

• my eyes are wandering. this is a persistent problem. Sifu says he suspects it's because i'm still trying to remember the forms. still, i need to work on keeping my eyes focused on an imaginary opponent in front of me (in the case of 64 palms, this would be towards the center of the circle)...and my eyes shouldn't just be fixated on the center of the circle, but should be holding a general focus that also encompasses the surroundings beyond the center and outside the circle.
• the energy in my movements is currently being constrained within the circle. Sifu says this is a mistake in bagua--the circle should not be seen as the perimeter marking a boundary of activity, but more just a path you are following. as a result, your intent and your force vectors should be aimed within the boundary of the perimeter, but should instead be free to move in any direction in or out of the circle. in fact, it should be free to move in any direction at all....Sifu reminded me that bagua involves the creation and manipulation of whirlpools (vortices) upon which force vectors are to be applied, and that these vortices will take any orientation and any direction and any magnitude, and so as a result are only limited in the sense that they involve your body and your mind (which essentially means no limit at all) and follow you as you move along the circle--and just because you are moving along the circle doesn't mean that the vortices are confined to it; it just means that they trace their origin to your path, which happens to be along a perimeter of the circle.
• open. i need to be more open in my movements...and not just linearly, but in rotational movements as well.
• i need to practice the forms, so i can remember them better, and recall the intent behind their movements without having to think about them.
• i am not moving smoothly between techniques or palms. Sifu noted that this is crucial, in that part of the power generation in bagua comes from moving (i.e., dynamic) energy (which i take to mean borrowing the momentum...which requires a force vector with a sustained or non-zero magnitude, and hence smooth continuous motion). he noted side B really challenges this, and so is meant to help train this aspect of bagua power generation, and that i should treat it as a tool for helping me improve this.
  

regarding the second point, i asked Sifu if this means that the circle is really just a teaching tool to help practitioners understand the meaning of direction (and changing direction) and angles (relative to an opponent), and so has no other function in terms of instruction. he said in part the use of 64 palms in a circle is intended to do this, but that the use of circle walking in bagua is also meant as a larger framework to tie the bagua curriculum together, with basic components like mother palm and xaio kai men being taught via circle walking just as much as more advanced elements like 64 palms and forest palm, thereby giving students a starting point upon which they can gradually add and layer the components of their bagua education in a coherent, logically apparent manner.

additionally, Phunsak also noted that circle walking also had another role in terms of qi-gong, with the qi generation during circle walking being dramatically different than static or linear qi-gong. Sifu agreed, and said that this is another reason why circle walking is such an important component in the bagua curriculum.

Sifu also provided some additional background regarding side B, saying that it did not always exist, and that there are questions as to whether the original bagua taught by Dong Hai Quan had a side B (with the dominant viewing being no). the side B currently taught by the North American contigents of Wutan is one that was developed by Adam Hsu and Sifu sometime around 1982. there is another side B version developed earlier by Damon Hwang, and which is taught in other Wutan branches, but Sifu says it is dramatically different in appearance and movements. Sifu also noted that all current branches of bagua (Yin, Cheng, etc.) teach their own versions of side B.

Sifu pointed out that while all styles of bagua have their own unique side Bs, they are all consistent in that side B is meant to be a partner component to side A, wherein each palm change in side A has a corresponding palm change in side B. this means that any 2 partners can demonstrate the techniques in 64 palms by pairing off with one partner being side A and the other being side B, and then having both partners perform a palm change (palm change 1, palm change 2, etc.). this fulfills several different goals 1) it helps practitioners see the intent behind the techniques, 2) it helps practitioners get a sense of the movement and spacing in the techniques, and 3) it helps practitioners get a feel for the bagua fighting style, at least in terms of seeing its principles in action.

regarding the version of side B he teaches, Sifu said the hope had been to try and create a corresponding match to side A that 1) matched side A in intricacy, 2) matched side A in attack/defense/counter-attack, 3) matched seamlessly with side A in technique, 4) forced the practitioner to face situations challenging free-flowing movement (relating to my prior observations regarding power-issuing in bagua, this is crucial...in bagua, a lot of the power is built of free-flowing movement. reference: ), and 5) developed skills for issuing power in a variety of situations in addition to those taught by side A.

we eventually wrapped things up around 1, and took off for a post-class lunch.