The Art of War: States of Baguazhang 5

So that a baguazhang practitioner can move forward, a number of issues have been highlighted to me that needs clarification.

1. What does it mean when someone says they know baguazhang?

There are many forms or styles of baguazhang. When someone says they know baguazhang it is best to ask them which style. While there are stand alone baguazhang styles, most are part of a family set. For example Chen style baguazhang belongs to the Chen family kungfu house. And while you learn baguazhang, you also will learn Xingyi, Taiqi and others. Most practitioners from any school will have learned some baguazhang routines and so long as they walk in a circle they can pay lip service to the Baguazhang.

2. What is the difference between wushu and kungfu baguazhang?

Firstly, there is nothing wrong with wushu. The difference between the two are as different as learning archery for sport and learning the bow and arrow for hunting. Wushu is a sport. And for some people that is best for them.

Secondly, true kungfu is for fighting and killing. You will never see real kungfu in an arena because the outcome may be death: you learn to fight to win. There are no judges judging you on points. And this especially true for internal style practitioners, every strike you make has the potential to kill your opponent.

Thirdly, the kungfu you see in the arena is somewhere between wushu and real kungfu.

3. Should we look down upon wushu?

No. First learn the history of wushu and why it developed and visit China before making up your mind. There is a reason why wushu exists. Just like there is a reason why the hippie form of Taiqi practiced in the western parks exists even though it is not real Taiqi. And just for the record, real Taiqi is fluid, smooth and done to a quicker pace and has nothing to do with yoga. In fact, what you see in parks is not even kungfu. It is more closely related to basic qigong.

The Art of War: States of Baguazhang 4

For most people WeiQi (Go/Baduk) is just a game. For most players and masters it is also just a game. Very few know how to translate the game into the real world. This is partially because the game is played on a seemingly two dimensional board with two opposing coloured stones. But life has more dimensions and if only the player and/or master could realise it then they would see that that their life is just like a game of weiqi and that the game of weiqi is a reflection of their life.

Baguazhang is the same. However, baguazhang has a few advantages over weiqi when it comes to explaining higher concepts in its nature as being an internal style. And now from years of doing baguazhang I am ready to pass on some of the secrets that I have fathomed in order so that I can explain what I mean like in the first paragraph.

Firstly, I do not claim to be a grandmaster. There are just too many fakes out there. However I have learned many of the styles out there. This is not to be able to brag, but to know their differences and all that stuff.

So here goes....

1. By doing baguazhang, a practitioner gets to walk in that style's creator's shoes; to see through his mind whether it be Gao, Chen, Yin, Fu, Cheng, Wang and others.

2. Each baguazhang form is a 'book'. A physical moving story that teaches the practitioner what to do in a given situation.

3. Not all baguazhang forms are about physical one-on-one fighting. That is the tao of man, Others deal with the heaven and earth taos. For example, Wudang's Swimming Dragon form tells the pratitioner how to command armies and conquer a city.

4. The best way to see it for yourself, is to honestly ask yourself in which realistic situation would you move in a certain way? Some moves only look like blocking and attacking....This is part of the secret transmission of knowledge of the inner door circle.

5. Every baguazhang practitioner finds their level and their chi/qi base. The best and quickest way to know this is to break the baguazhang rules and find the element in which doing baguazhang is the most natural for you. For me it is outside on windy days. I come alive and nothing can stop the chi within me. This because my bagua element is thunder because I am the eldest in my family. Just like the youngest enjoys doing it on hard surfaces and the middle loves water and steel.

6. It is never wise to follow rules without understanding them. Rules are what separates the real baguazhang masters from okay masters.

7. Should any chose to want to become a true grandmaster to things must happen:

7A. The practitioner must write down what they know about baguazhang as it relates to them. It is a self-test that will help whittle down the essence of the style for them. And...

7B. The practitioner should start developing their own style. Light their own candle rather than standing in the shadows of others. By doing this, you will see what matters to you.

For weiqi players it comes down to this: Stop playing like a robot and start coming up with your own moves.

A simple lesson in the Art of War, part75

"Hah! If you thought we are through?... Then you'd be wrong. Rise Oh mighty white dragon!" Announces your opponent as the weiqi board burns with the corpse of a festering war. Flags flutter in the breeze as you realise that you have been fighting on an upside down weiqi board.

"What is it?" Asks the tea lady as she walks past.

"That's the face of a player who's about to lose everything!" Answers your wily opponent. You stare at him and wait... What will he do; Is the game truly over?

"I may not know much about the game..." Starts the tea lady, "but my impression of the game seems like a war of border skirmishes. I don't find you playing anything grand and sweeping."

"Oh." You answer... She is right. He has only been pricking at the seams. He lacks the ability to play in the grandeur of the great masters of yore. There is a concern upon your opponent's brow as he studies the board.

"Don't worry dear. Perhaps in another game you could beat him." She says to your opponent and now it is your turn to smile. "Would you like some more tea? Perhaps a snack alongside?"

"No." He replies.

"I would love a snack with my tea, anything special?"

"I'll get one of the girls to bring something special out. Oh... and thanks for dealing with that ruffian earlier. He forgets his place sometimes."

Your opponent lays down a white stone. It sounds definite in response to what the tea lady had said. Two places southwest from the central starpoint, the attack upon the heart of the country has begun. It looks odd to the untrained eye, but it feels like a needle piercing the neck very, very slowly; viperous, venomous, lethal if not stopped. But how?

"Welcome to the Kabila Dynasty. The African version of the Middle Kingdom... Bonjour Mobutu."

The Art of War: States of Time 2

To build an object in time is a little different to building one in space. (While it seems that I am splitting them up into two distinct things, they are not. It helps to remember that while space may be the black stones of a WeiQi board, time is the white stones. You need both to have a game.)

To build an object in time, you need eight dimensions. And they are...

1. The first dimension is length
2. The second dimension is width, and together with length you will get a quarter of a circle
3. The third dimension is height, and with area you will get 1/8th of a sphere
4. The fourth dimension is depth, yes depth, and with volume you will get a whole sphere. Some of you would have noticed that depth is different from length, width or height. This is true. It is only laziness that people love to one of the other three for depth. Pure laziness.
5. The fifth dimension is gravity
6. The sixth dimension is weak-force
7. The seventh dimension is electromagnatism
8. The eighth dimension is strong-force.

For those doing Baguazhang or I-ching these eight dimensions are another way to view the eight trigrams or gua, if the traditional meanings are a little hard to fathom: Qian = length, Zhen = width, Kan = height, Gen = depth, Kun = gravity, Xun = weak-force, Li = electromagnatism and Dui = Strong-force. If you have a baguazhang form that has eight palm changes, then rather calling each plam change after an animal as is the custom, a more scientifically minded person could rename them into these eight and meditate on each as they do their routine?

In time the starting point is always the centre. Marked by zero or nought. And for a time traveler, they are always at the centre of their co-ordinates. So while the first fourth dimensions build outwards, the second four dimensions build inwards. That is why gravity stands opposite length. Gravity is the empty space that bends the line (length) into a circle.

While the first three dimensions are easily understood by most people, true depth as a dimension is unique because we can kind-of see aspects of it. And we record depth in different ways depending on how we measure it against something else. For example mass, reflection, going down, tree rings, a well, the box within a box scenario and so forth...

Now has anyone read Alice in Wonderland yet?

The Art of War: States of Time

Playing WeiQi (Go/Baduk) helps the mind to fathom complex ideas in a more simple fashion. The game is what it is to whomever is playing it. But that does not stop a person from being more than just a player. In fact, to play the game at a 'higher' level, a player almost has to be an alchemist or in the more westernised sense of a true Renaissance man.

For me, game is a reflection of what my mind likes to think about and sometimes I have to be careful that I do not get lost from the main game. Which, as a progress, becomes harder and harder. So this is one reason why I have not been writing: To me, my mind is clear, but when I explain it to others, I am like the Mad Hatter of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Which incidentally, if you have read it, it is about Time. Yes. That's right. The twelve chapters refer to the twelve dimensions/effects/forces of time.)

But I do keep notes... So that I can share them with others.

So here goes:

To be really really good at WeiQi, a player needs to understand a few things about time. To help you, you need to ask yourself: Are you a space traveler or a time traveler? Forget Sci-fi. It is a matter of perceiving the world around you. If you asked somebody how far away something is from, say, themselves, a space traveler will always answer in distances like miles or km's, and a space traveler will always answer in terms of hours or minutes depending on the mode of travel. The two ways of thinking make a huge difference of how the world is made. Thankfully most people are a mix of the two. Because you need a bit of both to comprehend this little gem: To a space traveler length x width = area (square). Simple. But to a time traveler length x width = a quarter of a circle. Why the difference? (I know the answer but I'll let you figure it out for yourselves.)

PS. For those of you who suffer a lot from dejavu, it is because you have been bending your personal timeline into a loop (going around in circles like the lost traveler in the desert) and have not been paying enough attention. For those living in the city, imagine yourself walking a straight line but the line is so long that you never realised that you've been walking around the block.

A simple lesson in the Art of War, part74

The black dragon flexes his tail. The tip strikes the edge of the board. It is the first time that that has happened. A ripple shudders north and south as the eastern edge of the weiqi board is claimed by your opponent. Five gradients south of the north-eastern wastelands one looks around at a desolate outpost. As if stroking one's beard in contemplation you ponder deeply at the games progression before holding firm to the time at hand.

Your opponent smirks.

And you smirk back. "Hah! If you thought we are through?... Then you'd be wrong. Rise Oh mighty white dragon!"

A simple lesson in the Art of War, part73

An old saying among dragons goes: If your neighbour's cockroaches start to climb over the fence then it is time to burn down your neighbour's farm.

As two dragons face each other, you sit waiting. White picks up a stone as you sip your tea. There had been an annoyance beforehand but it was nothing. Then you freeze as one of your black stones is almost encircled down in the southeast - a place of beautiful isolation. You scratch your chin in thought and then shift slightly. It is time to purify the board with fire!

Your opponent smiles in delight.