Bajiquan

[Mephariel]

I was wondering if anyone here practice Bajiquan. I heard it is pretty powerful and the art frequently employs shoulders and elbows. It was was the art many bodyguards were trained in back then.

[BoarSpear]

Baji is often taught with Pigua, wait thats not right... IF you find one being taught you will likely find the other being taught along side it.

You may be in luck, look up Adam Hsu.

Edit: here i'll save you lookin'...

http://www.adamhsu.com/

[humble_student]

do you also mean pakua or bagua?my master is a bagua master. you are right in saying that it uses the elbows and shoulders, but not in the way muay thai fighters do. based on how i see it in him pakua is a very deceptive martial art. in all my lessons with him i am often mislead by his movements which were short, quick and employed in near the enemy. pakua then becomes a technique in closed range fighting. in order to close the range the pakua practitioner must be lightning fast in entering the enemies' inner range .i praise pakua very much because of what i see in my master. he is so much of an efficient chinese martial artist and does honor to the chinese martial arts because of the level of his skill. one motto of ours is to "become the art yourself". only in this, i believe, can one become the truest chinese martial artist. if this is not achieved, then the aspiring chinese martial artist will not be able to apply the chinese martial arts. chinese martial arts, on their highest level, are not executed as if by techniques. the body teaches the mind, and not the mind who teaches the body, in this manner. that is, the chinese martial artist relies on the action of the reflex in face of the situation, and does not move erratically. every movement in chinese martial arts has a purpose, and that is for me and other aspirants to discover.

"get the power"

[BoarSpear]

do you also mean pakua or bagua?

Totally different arts, with totally different ways to generate power.
Baqua is a great art, but it isnt the same as Pigua and Baji.

Although some Baqua schools teach Piqua or Baji, its extremely rare.

[humble_student]

What is Bajiquan

PLS tell me more of this art ty!!!

"get the power"

[danfaggella]

i praise pakua very much because of what i see in my master. he is so much of an efficient chinese martial artist and does honor to the chinese martial arts because of the level of his skill. one motto of ours is to "become the art yourself". only in this, i believe, can one become the truest chinese martial artist. if this is not achieved, then the aspiring chinese martial artist will not be able to apply the chinese martial arts. chinese martial arts, on their highest level, are not executed as if by techniques. the body teaches the mind, and not the mind who teaches the body, in this manner. that is, the chinese martial artist relies on the action of the reflex in face of the situation, and does not move erratically. every movement in chinese martial arts has a purpose, and that is for me and other aspirants to discover.

"get the power"

Good call. However, this is not something unique to Chinese Martial Arts.

[BoarSpear]

PLS tell me more of this art ty!!!

"get the power"

Bajiquan (Eight Infinite Fist-style) is the "hard" or external component. The strikes of Baji are usually delivered at close range using linear movements powered by stomping or "drop stepping". The weapons of choice are the head, shoulders, elbows, hips, and buttocks Typically Baji is trained from low postures with extremly powerful stomps.

Piquazhang (Splitting Deflecting Palm Style) is taught along side Baji. Piqua is used at longer ranges to deflect strikes and "cross the opponents bridges" its weapon of choice is palm strikes. Essentially Piqua was the long range circular flowing component that used quick stepping and high postures combined with the palms to close the gap, Baji was then used to crash into the opponent with a viscous whole body drop step powered attack into a low posture.

"When Piqua is added to Baji, demons and spirits will be terrified" and "When the Baji is added to the Piqua, heroes will sigh knowing they are no match against it."

[humble_student]

Ty Boarspear

Indeed the arts you mentioned do sound like pakua in style. One aspect we are being taught of is to endure low stances, which, as you all know here, involves much pain in training. In particular a very low horse stance is required for us each time we train, and that means so much pain and agony while training. it's like sitting in a low chair where there is only air. But there is a chinese philosophy that goes like this: the more you can endure pain, the more you become happy. ANd i belive that is true, if we try. The pain felt while doing the low horse stance helps develop the legs of the practitioner while helping him/her endure pain which might also be felt in actual fighting. Thus in a fight the martial artist pays no heed to pain as he /she is able to endure it during trainings. I have reason to say that a so-called chinese martial arts school or dojo whatsoever does not imbibe the true chinese martial arts training without the training to endure pain, and the practice of low stances, especially the low horse stance. I have seen some videos of chinese martial arts classes doing so-called chinese training and yet having it done while standing. it does no good to the development of speed, stamina, and power of the students if they do not constitute at least the practice of a low stance. Legs would easily tire in a fight, and their training to endure both the time and the pain is of utmost importance. Try doing a low horse stance for a minute and feel it if you can endure it. If you don't feel pain then you are lax in your stance. The training of a low stance also contributes to the development of immense power in the legs. When you practice this and train with a normal stance you can feel more power in you, as you have been training with a low horse stance. This training also helps you to train your mind to free itself from pain, and to be mindless during pain. In this way one can develop powerfull stomps to the enemy, and push a kicker with your hips before the kick develops into its full potential and strikes you. The applications are endless.

[danfaggella]

it does no good to the development of speed, stamina, and power of the students if they do not constitute at least the practice of a low stance. Legs would easily tire in a fight, and their training to endure both the time and the pain is of utmost importance. Try doing a low horse stance for a minute and feel it if you can endure it. If you don't feel pain then you are lax in your stance. The training of a low stance also contributes to the development of immense power in the legs. When you practice this and train with a normal stance you can feel more power in you, as you have been training with a low horse stance. This training also helps you to train your mind to free itself from pain, and to be mindless during pain. In this way one can develop powerfull stomps to the enemy, and push a kicker with your hips before the kick develops into its full potential and strikes you. The applications are endless.

Sure this kind of exercize has its applications, but there are plenty of martial arts that do not practice this exact exercize, yet still have powerful, enduring legs. Wrestlers don't practice this, yet they are always in a very low stance when standing, kickboxers don't quit matches because thier legs tire (none iv ever heard of...), and boxers remain standing for many many rounds. It's a cool exercize and I suppose it translates to different abilities, but it surely isnt necissary at all. Saying "it does no good to the development of speed, stamina, and power of the students if they do not constitute at least the practice of a low stance" is pretty rediculous.

[Sagacious Lu]

Sure this kind of exercize has its applications, but there are plenty of martial arts that do not practice this exact exercize, yet still have powerful, enduring legs. Wrestlers don't practice this, yet they are always in a very low stance when standing, kickboxers don't quit matches because thier legs tire (none iv ever heard of...), and boxers remain standing for many many rounds. It's a cool exercize and I suppose it translates to different abilities, but it surely isnt necissary at all. Saying "it does no good to the development of speed, stamina, and power of the students if they do not constitute at least the practice of a low stance" is pretty rediculous.

The style of kung fu I studied puts a very strong emphasis on low traditional stances. At the boxing gym I go to we work those muscles by doing different exercises, including variations of squats. These exercises still work the same muscles in much the same way and leave you just as sore when your done, they're just a little different. He's right that you have to work your legs, although ma bu isn't the only way to do it. Personally in this particular instance I think the traditional drills offer a more complete work out, but in the end that might just be a matter of taste since either way will make your legs strong if you put in the time and effort.

[danfaggella]

I'll admit I hold squats at a certain level, which is like a ma bu stance, it gets a nice burn and doesnt tourture the knees like quicker squats do. However, I don't go low enough to bring my knees over my feet, thats Lifting 101 for hurting your knee joints.

I'm sure Ma Bu is a pretty decent exercize, but its not that revolutionary, you work those muscles in many ways, even in just sparring (in wrestling as i said earlier, we are ALWAYS in that low kind of a stance, so we build those muscles anyways). Those muscles are built in a more indirect way when you run, walk, jump rope, ect..... I even like those exersizes a bit more due to the added stamina. Not to mention, in a real self-defence fight, (which your Kung Fu is training you to prepare for), you aren't going to be standing and exchanging blows for half an hour, you're going to get in there, bust his ribs, stomp his ancle while he lies on the pavement, and book it (in that case, running is a good exersize to practice regularly).

I still think "it does no good to the development of speed, stamina, and power of the students if they do not constitute at least the practice of a low stance" is absurd.

I'd rather be fast, enduring, and powerful with noodle legs than have iron legs and no other traits.

In a way I kow what you mean though.

[danfaggella]

Dp..............

[Sagacious Lu]

I still think "it does no good to the development of speed, stamina, and power of the students if they do not constitute at least the practice of a low stance" is absurd.

You can't take the quote out of context, you have to read the whole thing. He never said that stance training was the only way to train. Take a closer look, he's saying that the stances won't work unless you go low when you practice them, and that's just the simple truth.

I have seen some videos of chinese martial arts classes doing so-called chinese training and yet having it done while standing. it does no good to the development of speed, stamina, and power of the students if they do not constitute at least the practice of a low stance.

[BoarSpear]

Its transititioning through the low postures that really builds the legs. The postures can be held as statics then you transition between them randomly so the transitions become natural.

[Sagacious Lu]

Its transititioning through the low postures that really builds the legs. The postures can be held as statics then you transition between them randomly so the transitions become natural.

Absolutely! There's a lot more to it than just holding one uncomfortable position after another. One of my favorites drills rises up to crane stance from leaning horse stance, then steps down into leaning horse on the opposite side; rinse and repeat. By the time you work the transitions through all six stances it will roast your leg muscles like nothing else