Ba Gua weekend workshops in Berkeley, CA

[JessOBrien]

Hi all,

My buddy Isaac and I are putting on a series of classes on Ba Gua Palm Changes. This is all from the system of BK Frantzis.

Our goal is to provide beginners with a complete ba gua circle walking and palm changing set that they can take home and train, as well as continuing the system for intermediate practitioners. Isaac is also teaching some of the spinal nei gung training up in Petaluma.

Should be fun!

-Jess O

Ba Gua Single Palm Change and Double Palm Change: On Sunday April 19th, Isaac & Jess will teach a day long workshop on the form work of Ba Gua’s Single Palm Change and Double Palm Change (the second palm change).
Sunday April 19th, 10-5 at Eight Street Studio in the Sawtooth Building. 2525 8th St., Berkeley, CA 94710, $75 for the day.

Ba Gua Single Palm Change and Wind Palm Change: On Saturday May 30, Isaac & Jess will teach a day long workshop on the form work of Ba Gua’s Single Palm Change and Wind Palm Change (the third palm change). Saturday May 30, 10-5 at Wildcat Studio in the Sawtooth Building. 2525 8th St., Berkeley, CA 94710, $75 for the day.

Ba Gua Single Palm Change and Thunder Palm Change: On Saturday June 27, Isaac and Jess will teach a day long workshop on the form work of Ba Gua’s Single Palm Change and Thunder Palm Change (the fourth palm change). Saturday June 27, 10-5 at Wildcat Studio in the Sawtooth Building. 2525 8th St., Berkeley, CA 94710, $75 for the day.

Introduction to Spinal Chi Gung Workshop: On Sunday April 26th, Isaac Kamins will teach an introduction to the spinal chi gung of his teacher Bruce Frantzis. This method works directly with the spine and with the energy of the lungs. It includes the more advanced stages of Taoist breathing and works with the body's capacity to store and release energy from the spine.
Sunday April 26th, 10am-5pm
Ocean Within Healing Arts Center
616 N. Petaluma Blvd. Petaluma, CA, Suite A.
$75 for the day.

http://www.watertradition.net

[chud]

That looks really cool Jess. I wished I lived closer, I would attend.
Hope you have a good turnout.

[shawnsegler]

Tear up that circle, brother.

Can't wait to get down there for the next Luo seminar. You have to come out with us afterwards this time. No punking out!!!

[JessOBrien]

HI Chris,

Thanks man!! I appreciate your vote of confidence. It's kind of fun doing these all day classes, you get to really dig into the material, and do a few repetitions to get a stronger feeling for things than you can at an evening weekly class. In this particular system, Single Palm Change is highly emphasized, so we like to make that rock solid before moving on to the rest of the system. Single Palm is about extension, expansion, stretching and opening the body as much as possible. On the mental side it's all about Yi, intent, and focused awareness. Each move of SPC contains the prototype for a lot of applications, and we try to delve into that in order to tap into the creativity and spontaneous nature that Ba Gua's circular flow can create. Once this is well ingrained, we move into the other palms more.

Another thing we like to do is introduce people to Rou Shou, the sticky hands practice. I feel that it should really be an intermediate exercise, but for beginners it's so cool because it allows them to do applications in a freestyle way without having to go into sparring. Many people who are scared to do martial arts do some Rou Shou and fall in love with it. My favorite moment is when some chi loving whimp makes the breakthrough that martial arts can be fun, interesting and spontaneous, without the need to hurt or be hurt. It becomes more of an exploration and that opens up so many doors.

-Jess O

[JessOBrien]

Hi Shawn,

Missed your post..

NO doubt man, I'm there for sure. HOpe you can make it down. Been working on the lines, forms and applications from last year which kicked ass.

I'll try to make an evening out if I can, I'll try to get childcare set up before hand this time...

We've been having fun teaching Kumar's palm changes, they have some very cool qualities. In his school the trigram qualities are highly emphasized in a clear way, more than I've seen in any other school. You could say it's esoteric, but it begins on quite a practical level. The Wind Palm is all about moving in a very erratic, non-committed way,alternating between extension and retraction while using some cool-ass footwork. It also works to get your mind all flighty and intuitive in terms of seeking openings, never getting stuck in one place. It is the Smooth Palm Change, incorporating everything from Single and Double while multiplying it's number of circles. Very cool stuff, and a very simple system to learn. Yet it goes quite deep.

-Jess O