Xiao Kai Men (Small Opening Gate Palm) - Ba Gua

[Bob]

Similar - I learned xiao kai men in the circle first and much later I learned the linear form. There is also a subset of the 8 Mother Palms (actually we have 12) that can be used either in a straight line or circle and is balanced on both sides so you can practice walking on bricks with it.

Bisio put out Daoist Ba Gua Circle Walking Meditation Online Learning Program which is similar in structure but we never learned it as meditation but rather as basic training and I did not learn until much later in my training years.

Not sure why but there seems to be a lot of variation among schools in the Wu Tan system. In the early 1990s there was an attempt to unify the curriculum by the late GM Su Yu Zhang - he went over the curriculum at my teacher's restaurant but somehow it never was implemented.

[twocircles13]

Similar - I learned xiao kai men in the circle first and much later I learned the linear form. There is also a subset of the 8 Mother Palms (actually we have 12) that can be used either in a straight line or circle and is balanced on both sides so you can practice walking on bricks with it.

Bisio put out Daoist Ba Gua Circle Walking Meditation Online Learning Program which is similar in structure but we never learned it as meditation but rather as basic training and I did not learn until much later in my training years.

Not sure why but there seems to be a lot of variation among schools in the Wu Tan system. In the early 1990s there was an attempt to unify the curriculum by the late GM Su Yu Zhang - he went over the curriculum at my teacher's restaurant but somehow it never was implemented.

In another thread, about the Chen Taijiquan Practical Method interview, you asked about the commonalities between Bajiquan and Taijiquan. I found a lot of common ground. My Baguazhang experience in Wutan is so minuscule that I rarely talk about it.

I also briefly studied Fu style Bagua, Fu Zhen Song began his martial career as a student of Chen Yanxi, coincidentally.

Baguazhang and Taijiquan are often compared for their similarities. However, between these two relatively short encounters, I find Bagua structurally to be antithetical to taijiquan while walking the circle. Until, in Fu style, at least, you cross the circle, and it becomes very much like taijiquan.