The chill in the air receded as the fascination with the teaching grew. Shifu Painter stood quietly and explained the steps in specific detail so I could feel what he was trying to convey. This feeling in the body was clear once I stopped trying to find something I thought was supposed to happen and started to actually sense what he was getting at. “The body will feel like a tightly wound spring, and you will experience its urge to suddenly unwind. In that unwinding will be the force that was stored in the moment of twisting around as far as possible” he explained. I wound, I waited.”A bit more” he said. I wound a bit more and then, whoosh!! It happened. The body unwound suddenly and I felt propelled in the opposite direction. And I mean propelled! The force of it threw me off balance and I stumbled to regain it. “That’s it!” exclaimed Shifu, “how did that feel?”. With that question I was brought immediately to the self-discovery that makes Nine Dragon Baguazhang so compelling.

We were in a park in Toronto in late October 2011. The autumn weather had arrived a week before and the colours were just starting. That distinctive damp chill in the air gave me cause for concern at first since we had scheduled the morning for this lesson. The sky was overcast and I didn’t want either of us to get cold while engaged in learning. But, it was not a problem. In fact, the temperature was forgotten while I worked to understand the lessons I was being taught. As is often the case, simply being busy with working on inner connections, structure of the body, balance, and the myriad other components that make internal power so compelling easily overcomes the mild discomfort of cool autumn air.

Shifu taught me the function of the gliding step as a method of assisting balance while walking with Yi Xin Gong (Intention Heart Skill). Because one moves very slowly with this practice, the addition of the gliding step is a great help in maintaining imagery. This can be easily lost when balance becomes a problem as it grabs the attention away from the task of feeling the forces generated by Yi Xin Gong. Then we turned our attention to the winding of the body described above. Imagine the centrifugal force that is generated upon release from this position and the body spins in the opposite direction with the arms opening into Embrace the Pearl posture. Wow! The few times I got it just right, meaning I didn’t almost fall and there was some control over the momentum, it felt very powerful.

But the moment that stands out from the morning was the briefest, most magical and sublime. I was working on the movement very slowly. Shifu Painter was gently advising a subtle change in where my body attention should go. There was a break in the cloud cover and the wind gently increased. Golden leaves floated on the breeze while the sunshine warmed my back. I became aware of the momentary perfection of this scene. In a beautiful park with my teacher, learning the intricacies of a complex movement, the warm sun shining through a small break in the clouds, and leaves gently floating in the air with a whisper of wind in the trees. Can you feel it?

(This article is taken from a recording of a talk at the start of class on August 2, 2011 in Toronto. The transcript has been condensed and edited.)

There’s this notion in the health aspect of our training related to Chinese numerology (“Lucky Number” Qigong). By doing some calculation related to your date of birth, you come up with a number. Depending on what that number is and your gender, you are given four directions  (4 of the 8 Cardinal directions of a compass: north, northwest, west, southwest, south, southeast, east, northeast). These are supposed to be [Read more...]

Jiulong student Fabian Ferreri shares some lucky experiences.

Luck #1 – GOMPA VISIT: It was my good fortune to be able to go to The Gompa this past weekend and train with Shifu Castaldo in the Dragon Rolling the Pearl Basics curriculum. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, the curriculum is well thought out, linear, and quite complete. No exercise or new piece of information is given without receiving the base on which it is built.

Shifu Castaldo is a very talented teacher who knows this system deeply and can impart its pieces/parts with directness and pedagogical skill. He is an excellent teacher. He was easily able to bring different pieces of the system together to show me how they fit into the whole. Shifu Castaldo was able to explain a concept to make it easily understood, even for me. I don’t learn quickly, so it takes quite a few tries to get a movement down (just ask Shizi Krausman).

Shifu Castaldo’s love of the art was easily visible. You could tell that this is something that he does because he enjoys sharing this knowledge. One can get no better motivated teacher. As a bonus, I was able to sit in on Shifu Garza’s Taijiquan class and participate. His students made me feel welcome and kindly showed me moves that were unfamiliar. Besides training, I was able to go to lunch and dinner with Shifu Painter, Shifu Castaldo, and Shifu Garza. This was a great opportunity to glean information about the art from their combined 100+ years of experience.

The trip was well worth the cost and I would not hesitate to recommend the training wholeheartedly for everyone on this group. You may read these words and think, ‘Okay, maybe someday.” Don’t wait; someday may never come. If you’re serious about the internal arts, and JBZ in particular, then this training is a must have. It’s that simple.

Luck #2 – SHIFU PAINTER SEMINAR: The weekend before my Gompa trip, the Ohio group was lucky enough to host a visit by Shifu Painter. He presented a thought-provoking sessions on Flying Dragon qigong and the wedge. Shifu Painter is the embodiment of this art. His discussions on any aspect of JBZ are gems and the seminar was no exception. One student could only attend the Friday night seminar, but once she heard Shifu speak, she forced a change into her schedule and attended the rest of the weekend. I am always amazed how quickly the time goes whenever he lectures and instructs. Those of you who attend seminars know what I mean. The rest need to do yourselves a favor and attend one. Be careful, though, because you’ll get hooked.

With respect, -Fabian

PS: Ernest Hemmingway said, ‘You make your own luck.’ I’m going to be lucky three times because I’m going to the Gathering. You?

A Jiulong student, Brian Cain, shares some of his insights from his Jiulong practice.

I’ve been meaning to write a short piece about this for quite some time. I’ve just never gotten around to doing it except for now. As I write this, a powerful thunderstorm is sweeping its way at 55mph through the northern half of the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex.

Down where I’m at, about 15-20 miles south, we’re not getting much other than high winds and the evidence of a cold front coming through. Today I went to the grocery store and gathered a few things. On the way out, as I walked through the large sliding glass double doors, I was met with those high winds. Instantly I solidified my core and sunk down into the ground, grocery bags in tow, and strolled (as the immortal man) through the parking lot as I was met with this moderate yet constant resistance all the way to the car. It was yet another reminder that Baguazhang, at least our Nine Dragon art as I know it to this point, is everywhere.

There is always an opportunity to practice. There is always an opportunity to engage be it externally or internally. For me, today, it was fortunately both. The resistance of those high winds forced me to fill and engage the Ridgepole as I continued on. For anyone else, it can be something as simple as practicing deep diaphragm breathing while sitting in a car seat. It could be “practice filling” while walking past unknown persons in a store, a parking lot, or a public venue. It could be standing in Song, relaxed yet focused, while standing in a line at the bank or practicing ever-forward momentum with the Water Dragon, while being complicit to the rule of the Night Swallow, when making turns. A million things come to mind. The point here is that we are not constricted by learned and repetitive forms meant for very narrow situations but rather more the essence of certain basic principles that, when strictly adhered to, can reinforce our training at any moment or in any given event or circumstance.

We don’t have to be “Baguazhang people” while we’re at a private practice session at home, or in a study group, or even at The Gompa; we can be the Dragon anywhere, anytime, and any place. While I by no means have authority in this group, I can’t help but recommend to people that are serious about learning, especially those that are brand new, that you practice this wonderful martial art 110% by integrating those foundational principles (quiet sitting, breathing, standing, walking, Ba step, Night Swallow, sense memory and internal force resistance, and non-differentiation vs. localization just to name a few.) anywhere you can, right where you are. The rewards are worth it.

Brian Cain

Our man in Ohio, Shizi Rick Krausman offers an excellent lesson in weight training for internal artists. This is a topic that is almost never discussed due to the prevailing notion that strengthening muscles is to be avoided in internal martial arts. This is simply incorrect since it requires muscles to move the body at all. So here is the beginning of Shizi Krausman’s series of articles on the correct way to start a strengthening program.

I have allowed a time for the members that wanted to….to work on and structure the first exercise in the series…”DEADLIFT”. By now it should have done a substantial amount of strength gain for you and I would like to continue the series if I may.

Many times our Sifu says …”there is nothing wrong with being strong” and I wholeheartedly agree with that premise. Functional strength is a good thing to have when or if you have the opportunity to face someone bigger, faster, stronger than you. It is at that oh sh## moment that you wish you were at least 2x stronger than you are and had worked at providing yourself with the tools to remediate behaviors of an aggressor when the negotiations have failed. Strength is a commodity that you may as an individual decide how much is enough whenever you choose. Just keep in mind that the masters who came before me…worked for a living. they pulled stuff, they lifted stuff, they carried stuff, they threw stuff..usually heavy stuff. this also occurred on a daily basis, kinda brings the idea of over training to a halt does it not?

While the Deadlift is a whole body exercise sometime we forget that the next exercise in the series: The Squat is not just a leg exercise. it too is a whole body exercise as well, however it must be done in the manner that is the most conducive for success…and longevity of the knee and hip joints. We also must understand that in order for the Squat to be a whole body exercise it must be performed with a whole lotta weight, in a full range of motion, QUICK.

Squat

We must understand the background of weightlifting in general and realize that the lifts of today ar but mere pieces of the original strongman lifts or Olympic style lifts from yesteryear. The lifters believed that if one is to exercise properly or more specifically train properly there should be a minimum of apparatus used. A bar, plates, you…and courage…that is all. Thus most squat techniques are flawed from the get go because once the plates are loaded onto the bar, which is normally way more than you can CLEAN (next series exercise)the dilemma is how do you get the bar on your shoulders??No racks, no supports no uprights…how does one hoist the bar onto ones shoulders to begin the squat in the first place??? Answer: load the bar, go to one end of it and lift it to a vertical position. Then put the bar on your shoulders(think leaning temple here) and sit down gradually into a FULL SQUAT(meaning catchers position) while you receive the bar and it’s weight on to you. Now, imagine the strength building that has taken place prior to being able to perform the ADDRESS TO THE SQUAT LIFT. The other oddity not seen everywhere, is that normally the squat is performed from the up position(think stand) and then sink down and then stand up. however in times of yore…the squat started in the DOWN position…to UP…to DOWN. For any of our members that squat…starting down forces you to lift lighter cause you cant get a boost off the bounce at the bottom of the lift to start up. This is WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY difficult…to say the least.

The second thing that must be addressed is really HOW TO SQUAT…this question is answered for you by a trip to the playground, a daycare, Sunday school class that has iddy bitty people in it…say up to 4 years of age. Watch the kids pick stuff up off the ground. They squat to do so…and squat so low ..that their behind is almost on the ground to do so. This is the NATURAL way to perform this exercise. Stopping at 90 degrees, box squats, partial squats are not conducive to full body power over the full range of motion. Lay mans terms…behid to floor to start the lift, stand up, behind to floor to end the lift. Simple….not EASY.As adults we have the miles of life on us and it takes a while to get the knees working in full range of motion precluding injury, genetics etc.

This will then venture the question forward…IS THIS SAFE?? Answer….YES..provided you train up to it. Olympic style weightlifters squat as many as 6x a week…behind to floor..and have the lowest injury rate in Olympic sports specific to knees. I do not say that you should squat this often unless you are an elite lifter and going for GOLD..I merely point out that you can squat safely in this manner..if you train to do so and have no pre-existing injuries to prevent it.

How to do it

Ok..without a bar, plates, but some courage…open a door in you house that has a door knob on both sides, Stand to the edge of the now open door, place both hands on the door knobs,,,,that is the upper position. Now with your feet/legs get close to the door with a foot on either side of the door..place your feet so that as you bend your knees…the knee moves towards the toe…now hold on to the knobs, head up..squat down to the catcher position but stay as upright as you possibly can(you can use shoes with heels for this to elevate the heel some). once you have hit the down position(which in reality is the start)..rather than merely stand up..think that you are pushing the floor down and you become upright. Tricky part comes in now…instead of dropping the your body down and catching it at the bottom…I would ask that you PULL yourself down with your legs. First do the drop and catch…then the PULL down..and you will quickly see the difference in the quality of the motion. Simple…and you can use the door knobs as a spotter until you adjust to this range of motion. If you feel pain in anyway that is odd for you…stop, if you have pre existing conditions stop and consult you care giver before trying this.

Next installment…Squat variations (split squat, front squat, overhead squat, dumbell squats…oh my)

Thaks for the listen

R.C. Krausman

Shizi JBZ,Capt. PKC