the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

this is me just playing around on the circle- it doesn't represent any style or lineage-

i find that play can be a great vehicle for discovery sometimes- this is a rather conservative play- sometimes it get kind of crazy.... lol

the first part is just me improvising with teacup hands and static palms..
the second part is me improvising with a sword on the circle (never learned anything like this- i am just playing)

enjoy





Franklin

I like your idea to get and explore. always make the change.
But In technical you could sink a little and I don't know but it is possible that you are watching your legs?

lol

yes i agree

that is some lazy walking...

and i just put the post in... there is a lot of loose rocks i need to rake up... which is why i am watching the ground on one side of the circle... (also need to cut the grass)


franklin

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?

to avoid roundabout in the head

I walk around the tree very close with palm "attached" to the trunk,
- almost
but im not a bagua gua
so
my ideas may be misleading in the mist,
like:
less circles = more distance

walking in big circle is way easier. You don't have to twist so much, and you don't hurt your knees if you are doing it wrong.

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?

the turn is also a great action that can be applied as taking the opponent's corner

circle walking is more than just going around your opponent...

if you only walk small you will miss something and if you only walk big you will miss something too....

as for the intricacies of walking the circle... do you have an hour a day to put into the circle??


franklin

Thanks for sharing your stuff. Video taping yourself is one of the best ways to see your mistakes. In your case I would do 3 things: 1. the bottom hands should be more upright and alive. 2- turn the hip more toward the center of circle, 3. turn your head and look through tigers mouth of palm.

good to see you having fun. research the applications with a friend. choose a technique and spar with it.

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

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?

It's all here http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=15xz1BbVEm0 dude!

But seriously, I applaud your training direction Franklin. I like the idea of spontaneously creating "forms" - I believe it's an essential part of the training progression to using the art freely, like an IMA version of shadow boxing. I do it a lot with the arts I practice, except Tai Chi, which it doesn't seem to suit - push hands seems to be a better medium for that since the essence of the art is to give up yourself and follow the other (YMMV), which is kind of hard to do on your own!