ashe wrote:i never understood why bagua guys walk the circle 100 miles away from the post.
close in, walking the circle is great for getting around your opponent. far out it's a waste of energy.
anybody wanna illuminate me on the intricacies of walking the big circle?
In my opinion it is important to know how to walk both large and small circles in training. True it is not really necessary in sparing or fighting to walk the circle so far away, although i am sure there are people out there that do. When training in walking i beleive it is important to train at all levels and lengths. If one is to focus on sinking their body and extending each step then naturally the circle becomes larger, if you are to sink and "tighten" your footwork, the naturally the circle will become smaller.
The advantages of the the large circle are to teach the body and legs to extend, and strengthen the legs, waist and back - specifically if you emphasise the twist in your waist. Learning how to step with long and low legs can be very important in linear techniques aswell - in order to close the gap on the opponent and enable easier application of small circle methodologies. In this way it will save energy and unecessary footwork. Of course large stepping methods should not be overly exaggerated as this will leave to large a gap between the legs and may develop bad habits.
64palms