Kevin, please study some with that Baqua master; make some more vids of his style. I love his explanations and his openness to share his style. Thank you for this vid as well
@@lorenzozapaton4031 I hear you. Traditional is a scam . They teach ridiculous forms that have no relevance to real combat. To keep the student coming in paying the money. Only thing good about traditional martial arts are hand body strength and conditioning exercises. The rest is a money making scam.
@@DxModel219 can't find it here in the Bay Area, I have been looking for five years for a serious class. I studied bagua for a decade in NY. I have been using tom bisio's online material which is first rate, but not like a good class. His style is Liang, which is not very widespread at least in the US. This master in the video is excellent.
I appreciate the sifu's taking time to state that every lineage of bagua has great things to offer. So often we see political and lineage rivalries that it's a breath of fresh air to see him praising other methods!
Yes, the divisive lineage crap has to stop. If anything kung fu could use some more unity like the Guoshu institute did back in the day. One thing I loved about my Sifu was how open he was to altering a form based on functional application.
This is what all martial artists should aspire to. I know I fall short myself, but many I see are much worse than me. MA is about self improvement, the fighting is the vehicle to get you there. These days there are so many guns and cops and lawyers, we can't just get into fist fights all the time, unless you enjoy visiting hospitals and prisons. If you aren't improving your mind, body, and spirit, you are wasting your time playing fantasy street warrior.
Master Hu did an impressive feat at 12:15 , it shows years of cultivation of his breathing and inner strength. It is not easy to push opponent structure through a staff using Dantian. Most people would think it's purely muscle or body strength, on the contrary ... one must train for some lengthy amount of time to be able to do this. And for those skeptics out there, this technique is real. My Laoshi once threw me off with similar move using his Dantian.
As a Mandarin learner, it's really awesome to have access to subtitled content I'm interested in. This is useful for me in a bunch of different ways! Thanks Kevin!
Just be aware that M aster Hu pronounces words starting with the 'n' syllable (in Pinyin) as the 'l' syllable, like na 拿 in qinna 擒拿 as la， qinla. This is southern Mandarin, definitely not standard.
Those master did nothing but try to perfect their style, that’s all they did. Their students did the same. Some arts have a hundred or more years of nothing but that. All that’s left is what works.
It is NOT rare at all. There are several Japanese Martial Art channels. The Japanese are crazy about Chinese Kung Fu. Turn on cc if you don't know any Japanese. Here is a good video about Baagua. th-cam.com/video/AYUhoPbrK9A/w-d-xo.html There is a circle of Japanese MA guys who gather together to know each other's MA style.
That's what I do myself when I'm training novices and beginners especially. I had that done with Senseis and Coaches at times in the past. That's how it should be. 🙏🙏👊👊✊✊
The angles of Bagua compared to Xingyi makes me think of Wing Chun almost being a compromise between the two, and by that I mean stepping off the center line and then attacking directly.
Xing Yi doesn't really stay direct on line. It plays a more precise game, like a fencer. You always crash their arm at an angle it will make them fold their elbow, or turn their arm/chest- and then you drive through with your hit.
It's fair to say that many chinese methods are similar due to the nature of fighting in general, but many different practitioners did cross hands. Although history can't catch every "friendly" spar or bad intentioned fight.
My Wing Chun/Animal styles training was “unique”. Before I learned to strike or redirect, I had to learn to move my body. Basically, i had to retrain my instinct to move back and flinch. My teacher taught me to always move laterally, to the outside. Always move, be flowing. Strangely similar to bagua 🤔.
@@anotherboredpersonSorry, but fencing is linear. You’re literally moving along a catwalk. Wing Chun is centre-line attacks, but using angles , not the straight attacks you see in the first 2 forms. It’s also all about collapsing the opponent’s elbow. That’s the root of the sticky hands exercise.
Oh my gosh I love this, I secretly wish that they were my neighbors! Once you mentioned the early time and a park, I knew you were going to get your Wudang on:) So very excited to meet you in Greece! Great video, looking forward to more.
I’m working on a Bagua form and did some few Bagua drills to get the right feel and understanding on how to move and apply this very difficult style of TCMA. Thanks for bringing these traditional styles to light and show them respect in how they can be applied in real life scenarios
I have a friend who practices Bagua, which he learned in China. His training is crazy, he does a variety of conditioning, a lot of forms, and so much drills. We go to an mma gym to spar, and he always beats us.
@@ambulocetusnatans people can write anything on TH-cam. I once say a Chinese Bagua Master beat Godzilla in a power slap competition using an ancient and deadly technique called hundred hand shuffle 👋😂
I always wanted to learn Bagua as a youngster, but it just wasn’t available in my area. I was very blessed to learn the Shaolin styles that I did have access to. In the video the master mentioned the founder, Dong Hai Chuan. He got a job at the Forbidden City in Beijing training the Emperor’s elite bodyguards, so all of his first generation of students were already expert martial artists. Dong Hai Chuan just taught them Bagua principles and footwork to polish them up. That’s why the different styles developed by his disciples are all very similar but each has the unique influences of that disciple’s previous training.
Wow, amazing Bagua master with incredible skills. I really liked his Hsing-i as well. Twelve minutes was too short. I would have liked to have seen at least 30 minutes or an hour of this master talk and demonstrate. 👏👏👏👍
Great video and teacher! My teacher created an art named Lau Kune Do. His system incorporates Ba Guazhang, Xing Yi, Hun-gar, qi'gong and wing chun. I'm excited to see so many traditional techniques that I continue to study after 12 years at the LKD temple. Fighting is poetry. Stay strong Warriors!!
One of the things I miss the most about hanging out with older kung fu practitioners is this excited shop talk. They love to share techniques and talk ideas. Reminds me of family Thanksgiving and holidays. All the aunties and moms would gather and usually talk real estate and the uncles and dads would get together and talk martial arts. People would get excited, drinks would flow, someone would get thrown through a wall or accidentally break something. They always seemed to make the same sound effects and use the same expressions as this Master. And it was always just done on some patch of clear ground, often my Aunt's backyard and she'd get pissed that we ruined her lawn. Or sometimes in the living room, the garage or the driveway. Chinese Martial Arts always seem to be done "in the moment" meaning in whatever you're wearing, and wherever you happen to be. I can't tell how many times my Dad would suddenly get up at dinner and just say something like "ok, if someone does this, then you want to cross them up and hit like this." Sometimes it'd be a 45 second lesson, other times it'd be an hour and Mom would get mad that dinner got cold.
'excited shop talk ' I hear you, up until my teacher 'retired' and moved away he used to tell great stories about the 'Tai chi lineage' he came from, some really interesting stuff that flies in the face of some of the information out there...
@@KevinLeeVlog it really is a fun a cool martial art. The throws alone complements striking so much. I am not the best fighter but I also love the forms and weapons.
I really like this instructor. He is good and takes care not to hurt his students. I love the structure of the hsing yi to ba gua to tai chi lifetime development. It's all so perfect, what I love so much about ancient Chinese culture.
@@KevinLeeVlogmaybe you can meet with Tim Cartmell in socal sometime. He is a high level fight coach who also practices the internal Chinese arts. He trained for many years in Taiwan before coming back to the US, where he proceeded to apply those principles to bjj.
Liuhebafa water boxing would be amazing to throw into the Neijiaquan exploration. It will probably be difficult to find a suitable teacher, but yiquan is worth exploring also (the successor of xingyiquan) 🙏
Thank you for posting. It’s rare to see posting about this form. I’ve been 20+ years in the art form. It’s as much science as it is mechanics. Again, thank you.
Ever noticed how, no matter how cool and exotic the underlying forms look, once a school starts demonstrating technique, or even sparring, all the effective fundamentals turn out to be the same across every martial art?
Sure, but how you frame and conceptualize those fundamentals, what primacy you place on each of them, and what order you train them in is what distinguishes styles, and all of those have an enormous impact on what those styles are like for humans to learn and practice. Also, though martial arts with the same goals will tend to converge, it isn't really a given that all martial arts share the same goals. Competition, self-defense, combat, beauty, tradition, and philosophy are held in varying regard across styles, and within each of those categories the role of taste, weapons, and the social context that produced the styles often matter as well. In the same way that three people can examine a piece of art with three different sets of life experience and three different critical frames and each have a unique experience of its meaning; the fact that the inspiring mechanics and biology are relatively universal matters, but doesn't override the fact that those observers are experiencing and learning and feeling distinct things as a result of it. A human lifetime is too short to master a single approach to martial arts, let along all of them, so styles still often matter even between practitioners with similar goals.
If you have a big mountain ⛰️ there are different paths you can take to get to the top! But once you get to the top, the view is the same no matter how you got ❤there!!!
I've been waiting for somebody with a big channel to talk about this martial art for years, a friend of mine is a master in this style and he teaches me a few things when we meet for training. Thanks, Kevin!
The differences in their “Jin (勁）” contribute to the footwork as well. Xinyi and Baqua are 2 dimensional Jins. Xinyi is a straight line, Baqua in a circle, like moving from the x axis to the y axis. However , taichis Jin is 3D, which incorporates the Z axis along with X and Y, is also called uprooting. So when you get hit by a tai chi uprooting Jin, your feet will leave the ground, where the attackers punch may look like a simple straight punch. Sounds crazy, but I’ve been on the receiving end of them, not fun 😂
actually all three of them have 3D "Jins". They are just manifested differently. Xinyi feels way more like a wave than a straight line, bagua as a spiral rather than a circle. and you've already experienced the taijis one aparently.:P
Oof, getting uprooted isn't fun. I was rehearsing for a Tai Chi demonstration for my late mother's Yoga class and my dad took one look at the the push part of Grasp the Sparrow's Tail, bearing in mind that he doesn't even practice Tai Chi, and tested the move out in the way that seemed logical. I was sent sprawling backwards into a table, completely unable to gain traction or anything. And that was just from a fairly casual attempt. My mom replicated the move in a bar a few weeks later and hurled a dude over a pool table XD
Thanks for this video. i really appreciate Master Hu's quality teaching and matter of fact approach. I also love hearing him explain in Mandarin as it allows me a little listening practice.
Some great details in here, a strong introduction to some of the foundational principles of Baguazhang. Being a practitioner now in Yin Style for almost 20 years, I still get confused how teachers can have so much crossover knowledge for the 3 Families (Bagua, Xing i, & Taichi); Baguazhang is so complex by itself I just can't imagine having the time (or the desire...) to dabble in the others. I suppose I try to synergize my training with other elements (movement culture, MMA conditioning, and bioenergetics), but this is all in relation to Baguazhang and the Book of Changes. He seems like a good teacher, knowledgeable and skilled. Hard to find that combination nowadays.
Great video Mr. Lee. Now we just wait for the comments that says "This won't work in MMA". But who cares, great forms and mechanical principles. I think as students of martial arts I'd love to study under Sifu
@Re-Booter Guess I'll bite. I agree that not everything has to work and it's perfectly fine to like and learn something if you think it's cool. I will say, though, that you should be honest with yourself and others about what works and what doesn't. As long as you are honest, you can practice and teach whatever you like, but if you aren't, that's how you get yourself and/or other people hurt.
@@redrenegade7724 No, absolutely not. My comment was in response to the original commenter, not Kevin (I just realized that that might not have been clear, so my bad.) Kevin is respectful and open to all arts and learns from all of them to see what works and what doesn't. He's the perfect role model martial artist and the exact opposite of what I was trying to criticize.
@@redrenegade7724 Kevin rarely comments on what works and what doesn't, just what from each style impresses him. As for him getting tossed around, that's him acting the uke, or as my teacher called it, fall guy. You give the teacher an attack to react to, then you're more focused on learning and / or helping showcase how to fall than actually resisting. To me, Kevin seems honestly interested in just about any new concept related to martial arts, but I don't believe he's claiming every style he features here is "100% street efficient AND perfect for MMA". Styles have strengths and weaknesses, except for Ameri-Do-Te of course (best of all, worst of none), so what I interpreted @munzutai as saying was styles should be aware of and acknowledge those, in particular to new students, so they know what they're getting. There are too many McDojos and too much Bullshido around, we don't want people to waste years on following a "no touch knockout" style, or e.g. learning swordfighting for self defense, when they never will carry a sword in a self defense situation. I mean, if I claimed ballet as a form of martial art (just look at those high kicks!), then you spent several years learning en pointe, you'd be pretty miffed when the local drunk round-housed you to the ground in one swing - especially when you could have been practicing the Hurticane all along.
To me it looks like much defensive counters to sword strikes, evading the sword strike and knocking the aposing off balance , and eventually defeating your opponent by getting in his head by anticipating what sword strike is coming by paying attention to the legs as well as shoulder and arms. Very clever.
Thank you Kevin for keep exploring this kind of traditional Chinese Martial Art, the system, skill, training, and philosophy are so unique and valuable for any martial art practitioner. Waiting your video, I really want to visit and learn from each of these traditional Chinese Martial art practitioners. Truely incredible.
Interesting :D Thank you for sharing! I "figured out" a mild version of the Mud-Wading Step through my Taiji practice, by trying to remain song chen (relaxed and sunk down) while walking, (Taiji is not as well-known for footwork as Bagua is, because Taiji tactics prefer to walk less, but the principles are still there) And I can confirm that it does indeed make your locomotion smoother and faster, because it eliminates all the up-and-down bouncing that usual running generates, and instead allows you to "glide" forward (or in the case of Bagua tactics, around the opponent) in a *really* smooth trajectory. Another beneficial side effect is that it allows you to absorb force by "drifting" away, like you're floating on water, so you get displaced but not unbalanced. Useful in Moving-step Push Hands, but obviously not so much under Fixed Step rules, haha.
I was fascinated by Baguazhang when I read about it forty years ago. So cool to watch this, as at 57 I'm about to try a class in Cheng style. Already attended a class in Chen style Tai Chi at the same school. Don't know which one I'll focus on. I also love the modern martial arts, but they don't scratch the same itch.
Some of it looks sort of like the circle step in Wing Chun. I love the way you're bridging from traditional Chinese arts back to practical fighting. Great stuff.
so weird ... I was literally practicing everything he was showing this morning and thinking about using my sand bag again.. and there's the same sand bag I have shown in the end .... looking forward to the next video ..... there circle walking is also for multiple attackers ... also ... to find someones blind spots .... the hit that knocks you out is the one you don't see coming
Nice video! Even if internal arts aren't street or cage efficient, there surely are principals, strategies and conditioning you might incorporate into your training - also they help fight the real enemies, stress and aging who you are certain to confront in the dark alley of your soul! They also look cool, not sure i could pull off the silk PJ's mind.....
As visiting master Wang Ysn Ji expressed when visiting the BCCMA seminars Tai Ji Quan energy is like a rubber nall Bagua like a Wooden ball Xingyi Quan like a Steel ball ! Good to see Kevin tbank you
And as he said, Cheng style in particular utilizes shuai jiao - because that's what Cheng Tinghua trained before he met Dong Haichuan, and Dong would tailor his training to what his pupils already were proficient in. It's the same reason he mentions Yin style focusing more on strikes: Yin Fu was proficient in Arhat when they met. (That said, Shuai Jiao is also very important to Yin style; I once heard my teacher call them "sister arts.")
@d.b.i.a. Yes, it's incredibly awesome how martial arts were tailored to what you were comfortable with and not the other way around. It truly is a process.
The application of this footwork almost reminds me of sanatan shastar vidiya, a martial system from India. There aren't circles outright in that, but the indirect line of attack and the actual footwork tactics look similar. This is really interesting.
I’m very impressed at both the control and respect Sifu has towards his students, even showing Kevin how effective and quickly these practices can down someone, he gently supports his exampling students. That’s truly a master of his craft, respecting both his students’ pride and his style
Baguazhang is a great effective martial art. Ninjutsu has Baguazhang influences because Taoist sages that fled China and went to Japan applied Taoist movement principles with the samurais hand to hand combat method Jujitsu. Also Taoist Yin and Yang philosophy was a big influence on Ninjutsu.
I was thinking the same. The traditional tai sabaki from gyoko ryu (aka basic movement, 8 directions) is super similar, just more liniar, thanks to the japanese influence.
In my opinion, Bagua is one of the most beautiful traditional Kung Fu styles. Whenever I see it performed, I am always amazed at the skill and precision of every movement. Even though I don't speak a lick of Mandarin, I could clearly see that Sifu Hu was incredibly passionate and excited to answer all of your questions. This was a great watch! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Kevin! I'm a big fan of Chinese martial arts and I appreciate you interviewing knowledgeable and skilled practitioners. May GOD Bless you all! Jesus saves!
For the pedagogical illustration. Imagine having one thrusting sword each. The one with the longer reach will have an advantage. So the goal for the other person may need to be to get in close. Sometimes straight forward will not be a successful tactic. Sure it is shortest and maybe more deadly but likely not if fighting terms are not equal or in favor. So he might need to use rounding and outflanking to gain a superior position. Of course the battle of determination and speed and quality is an important factor in a face of, but superior position is king (high ground if you will).
I did BaGua for five years here in Montreal. One can tell that it's inspired by Shuai Jiao. Dante Basile from Italy has some good videos, showing the BaGua-ShuaiJiao complementarity. I also studied your video on Keysi.
The MOST important thing is Baagua is its footwork. Most Baagua practitioners do not know how to apply their footwork in real fights, unless you are talking about the very top people who study in the Wushu academy in China. There is a lady who is now residing in Japan. She was interviewed by a Japanese Kung Fu master on TH-cam. She is very strong. She doesn't just know Baagua, but traditional Chinese weapons.
Not "CRAZY"! Especially if you are on the receiving end of Bagua. This vid is "GOLD" after going on in circles for years watching circle walking teasers that rarely showed execution. Thanks.
As a player of Northern Mantis, Hsing Yi, Taiji and Ba qua, I would love to hear more from this master. He in ways reminds me of my Mantis/Tai Chi uncle!
...honestly, feels a lot like Aikido. A bit less focused on throws, and of course different techniques, but the rhythm and flow feel like those of Aikido.
I've studied both, a little. There's some overlap, but the approach is different. Aikido tends to focus on destabilizing uke's center, where Bagua tends to work about the center to take the back. Obviously a vast simplification by someone who is not a master of either art.
Kevin, honest question. With all the coverage of traditional marital arts, especially Chinese ones, what do you think of Xu Xiaodong? He's been exposing traditional martial arts and their masters. Do you think traditional Chinese martial arts is obsolete?
I wish I could experience several styles of Bagua locally as my own training in Jujutsu has throws and joint locks equally, whichever the situation presents and needs, strikes too. The study of Jujutsu has also lead me to an appreciation of Chin Na; but if one author of my books is correct, Chin Na is not a style but merely joint locks that are present in many Kung Fu styles.
Kevin please take some more lessons with Dr. Cheng about 24 forms martial performance of Tai Chi as his explanation is really acceptable for everyone who is interested at the subject🎉
Shame the weapon based stuff will be paywalled, as it's really the heart of this art, especially the deerhorn knives. One of my absolute favourite weapons. Awesome that you are showing this.
Hi Andy, great video on Shifu Hu. However, you did not cover his specialties. I know you just covered Xing-Yi recently. However, his "jin" is incredibly powerful. You should have him demonstrate on a tree which he can iron palm it to death within a few days. Also, he can create "chi" sound by grinding & rotating his dain tian. His no stance Wu style push hand is on another level. Instead of looking at his big fist/palm. you should take a look at his back tendons. They're like 2 giant metal cables. that's where he's getting a lot of his "jin" from. Lastly, his rooster/mud stepping steps are very powerful. he can crack 4-5 inches cement floor by using these steps. These are usually things you don't see from everyday Shifus. Hopefully, you're still around the area where you can do another interview.
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Kevin, please study some with that Baqua master; make some more vids of his style. I love his explanations and his openness to share his style. Thank you for this vid as well
Of course you were BLOWN AWAY...he's an Airbender.
All of Kevin's content about MMA, combat sports and self defense was the gateway drug to get into Traditional Kung fu.
Sneaky....
Competing at Wong People tournament in DC, and this comment made me appreciate this channel so much more even than I already did! Subscribed!
Going back to bull shito?
@@AbdulGhani-vm6oq I am open minded about this. There is always something new to learn from the ancient arts.
@@lorenzozapaton4031 I hear you. Traditional is a scam . They teach ridiculous forms that have no relevance to real combat.
To keep the student coming in paying the money. Only thing good about traditional martial arts are hand body strength and conditioning exercises. The rest is a money making scam.
We live in an amazing time. 30 years ago this information was so much harder to find and share. Thanks for taking the time and making the effort
I agree!!
You got that right. I remember when a VHS video tape would cost 50 bucks or more. That's like 120 with inflation.
Couldn’t agree more!
unless you live in a big chinese population City like San Francisco, yup it’s hard to
@@DxModel219 can't find it here in the Bay Area, I have been looking for five years for a serious class. I studied bagua for a decade in NY. I have been using tom bisio's online material which is first rate, but not like a good class. His style is Liang, which is not very widespread at least in the US. This master in the video is excellent.
I appreciate the sifu's taking time to state that every lineage of bagua has great things to offer. So often we see political and lineage rivalries that it's a breath of fresh air to see him praising other methods!
Yes, the divisive lineage crap has to stop. If anything kung fu could use some more unity like the Guoshu institute did back in the day. One thing I loved about my Sifu was how open he was to altering a form based on functional application.
This is what all martial artists should aspire to. I know I fall short myself, but many I see are much worse than me. MA is about self improvement, the fighting is the vehicle to get you there. These days there are so many guns and cops and lawyers, we can't just get into fist fights all the time, unless you enjoy visiting hospitals and prisons. If you aren't improving your mind, body, and spirit, you are wasting your time playing fantasy street warrior.
Yes you get so sick of saber rattling.
Yeah indeed, is sickening.
Couldn't agree more! It was so refreshing to see him do that.
Such a beautiful art form. This man's heart is bigger than his fist. His kindness is obvious.
Master Hu did an impressive feat at 12:15 , it shows years of cultivation of his breathing and inner strength. It is not easy to push opponent structure through a staff using Dantian. Most people would think it's purely muscle or body strength, on the contrary ... one must train for some lengthy amount of time to be able to do this. And for those skeptics out there, this technique is real. My Laoshi once threw me off with similar move using his Dantian.
As a Mandarin learner, it's really awesome to have access to subtitled content I'm interested in. This is useful for me in a bunch of different ways! Thanks Kevin!
Just be aware that M
aster Hu pronounces words starting with the 'n' syllable (in Pinyin) as the 'l' syllable, like na 拿 in qinna 擒拿 as la， qinla. This is southern Mandarin, definitely not standard.
Ba Gua is probably my favorite martial arts in regards to the beauty of the movements.
Those master did nothing but try to perfect their style, that’s all they did. Their students did the same. Some arts have a hundred or more years of nothing but that. All that’s left is what works.
@@Apollyon83 Yeah... No...
Rare to see Ba Gua: thanks for posting!
My pleasure!!
It is NOT rare at all. There are several Japanese Martial Art channels. The Japanese are crazy about Chinese Kung Fu. Turn on cc if you don't know any Japanese. Here is a good video about Baagua. th-cam.com/video/AYUhoPbrK9A/w-d-xo.html There is a circle of Japanese MA guys who gather together to know each other's MA style.
Your channel is really one of my favourites. Thank you for showcasing traditional kung fu.
Man if u could get longer podcast style interviews with some of these guys and their life story/thoughts on combat sports/martial arts would be great
That would be amazing!
I like the extraordinary amount of care he takes with his students to catch them so they don't go flying.
That's what I do myself when I'm training novices and beginners especially. I had that done with Senseis and Coaches at times in the past. That's how it should be. 🙏🙏👊👊✊✊
well, yea, they are not on a matted floor, should not push people to fall on the ground.
The angles of Bagua compared to Xingyi makes me think of Wing Chun almost being a compromise between the two, and by that I mean stepping off the center line and then attacking directly.
Xing Yi doesn't really stay direct on line. It plays a more precise game, like a fencer. You always crash their arm at an angle it will make them fold their elbow, or turn their arm/chest- and then you drive through with your hit.
It's fair to say that many chinese methods are similar due to the nature of fighting in general, but many different practitioners did cross hands. Although history can't catch every "friendly" spar or bad intentioned fight.
My Wing Chun/Animal styles training was “unique”. Before I learned to strike or redirect, I had to learn to move my body. Basically, i had to retrain my instinct to move back and flinch. My teacher taught me to always move laterally, to the outside. Always move, be flowing. Strangely similar to bagua 🤔.
Pairing Bagua with your Xing Yi is the standard for your journey down the road of Chinese internals.
@@anotherboredpersonSorry, but fencing is linear. You’re literally moving along a catwalk.
Wing Chun is centre-line attacks, but using angles , not the straight attacks you see in the first 2 forms. It’s also all about collapsing the opponent’s elbow. That’s the root of the sticky hands exercise.
Oh my gosh I love this, I secretly wish that they were my neighbors! Once you mentioned the early time and a park, I knew you were going to get your Wudang on:) So very excited to meet you in Greece! Great video, looking forward to more.
Thank you!! See you in Greece!!
I’m working on a Bagua form and did some few Bagua drills to get the right feel and understanding on how to move and apply this very difficult style of TCMA.
Thanks for bringing these traditional styles to light and show them respect in how they can be applied in real life scenarios
For stocky guys like me who don't have good reach, only moving forwards and backwards doesn't work - you have to circle/outflank.
I have a friend who practices Bagua, which he learned in China. His training is crazy, he does a variety of conditioning, a lot of forms, and so much drills. We go to an mma gym to spar, and he always beats us.
Please make a video of it and upload it!
Of course he does 🙄🙄🙄
@@AbdulGhani-vm6oq Get out of here, Racist
@@ambulocetusnatans people can write anything on TH-cam.
I once say a Chinese Bagua Master beat Godzilla in a power slap competition using an ancient and deadly technique called hundred hand shuffle 👋😂
@@AbdulGhani-vm6oq Just like you who says anything u like
The end fight in the movie the One with Jet Li against Jet Li is one of my favourite.
Sun Tzu: "Practice Bagua...and buy "Factor" pre-packaged meals. They're yummy!" Note: my translation is probably inaccurate. Good vid, regardless.
Using this martial art to represent airbending was such a good choice.
Yep!!
This was great. Thank you. I love how he casually holds a water bottle while delivering high level skills with one arm!
I always wanted to learn Bagua as a youngster, but it just wasn’t available in my area. I was very blessed to learn the Shaolin styles that I did have access to. In the video the master mentioned the founder, Dong Hai Chuan. He got a job at the Forbidden City in Beijing training the Emperor’s elite bodyguards, so all of his first generation of students were already expert martial artists. Dong Hai Chuan just taught them Bagua principles and footwork to polish them up. That’s why the different styles developed by his disciples are all very similar but each has the unique influences of that disciple’s previous training.
Thank you so much for posting this! I always love to see more information about bagua getting to more people.
Wow, amazing Bagua master with incredible skills. I really liked his Hsing-i as well. Twelve minutes was too short. I would have liked to have seen at least 30 minutes or an hour of this master talk and demonstrate. 👏👏👏👍
Great video and teacher! My teacher created an art named Lau Kune Do. His system incorporates Ba Guazhang, Xing Yi, Hun-gar, qi'gong and wing chun. I'm excited to see so many traditional techniques that I continue to study after 12 years at the LKD temple.
Fighting is poetry.
Stay strong Warriors!!
One of the things I miss the most about hanging out with older kung fu practitioners is this excited shop talk. They love to share techniques and talk ideas. Reminds me of family Thanksgiving and holidays. All the aunties and moms would gather and usually talk real estate and the uncles and dads would get together and talk martial arts. People would get excited, drinks would flow, someone would get thrown through a wall or accidentally break something. They always seemed to make the same sound effects and use the same expressions as this Master. And it was always just done on some patch of clear ground, often my Aunt's backyard and she'd get pissed that we ruined her lawn. Or sometimes in the living room, the garage or the driveway.
Chinese Martial Arts always seem to be done "in the moment" meaning in whatever you're wearing, and wherever you happen to be. I can't tell how many times my Dad would suddenly get up at dinner and just say something like "ok, if someone does this, then you want to cross them up and hit like this." Sometimes it'd be a 45 second lesson, other times it'd be an hour and Mom would get mad that dinner got cold.
'excited shop talk ' I hear you, up until my teacher 'retired' and moved away he used to tell great stories about the 'Tai chi lineage' he came from, some really interesting stuff that flies in the face of some of the information out there...
Sooo happy to see you working with a Baguazhang teacher! Thank you for delving into the neigong!!
Excellent video Mr. Lee. Your channel is great. We get to see so many great styles, that other channel s don't have.
YESSSSSS!!! You just did Baguazhang such a huge favor! Thank you! I love Baguazhang so much. We teach here in Vancouver WA! Cant wait for next week!
I love Bagua now and I would love to continue studying it!
@@KevinLeeVlog it really is a fun a cool martial art. The throws alone complements striking so much. I am not the best fighter but I also love the forms and weapons.
I really like this instructor. He is good and takes care not to hurt his students. I love the structure of the hsing yi to ba gua to tai chi lifetime development. It's all so perfect, what I love so much about ancient Chinese culture.
More Bagua, Xingyi, and Taiji please🙏
I got a great Taichi video coming up!!
@@KevinLeeVlogmaybe you can meet with Tim Cartmell in socal sometime. He is a high level fight coach who also practices the internal Chinese arts. He trained for many years in Taiwan before coming back to the US, where he proceeded to apply those principles to bjj.
@@xKaidoh I will have to look him up! Thank you!!
@@KevinLeeVlog More Taichi is more good! Especially with a Wing Chun practitioner involved.
Liuhebafa water boxing would be amazing to throw into the Neijiaquan exploration.
It will probably be difficult to find a suitable teacher, but yiquan is worth exploring also (the successor of xingyiquan)
🙏
You could watch this master all day. Powerful, precise and compassionate. Bet he has developed spiritually as well. Good stuff.
Thank you for posting. It’s rare to see posting about this form. I’ve been 20+ years in the art form. It’s as much science as it is mechanics. Again, thank you.
Then you must not miss the next episode!!
Ever noticed how, no matter how cool and exotic the underlying forms look, once a school starts demonstrating technique, or even sparring, all the effective fundamentals turn out to be the same across every martial art?
Sure, but how you frame and conceptualize those fundamentals, what primacy you place on each of them, and what order you train them in is what distinguishes styles, and all of those have an enormous impact on what those styles are like for humans to learn and practice. Also, though martial arts with the same goals will tend to converge, it isn't really a given that all martial arts share the same goals. Competition, self-defense, combat, beauty, tradition, and philosophy are held in varying regard across styles, and within each of those categories the role of taste, weapons, and the social context that produced the styles often matter as well.
In the same way that three people can examine a piece of art with three different sets of life experience and three different critical frames and each have a unique experience of its meaning; the fact that the inspiring mechanics and biology are relatively universal matters, but doesn't override the fact that those observers are experiencing and learning and feeling distinct things as a result of it. A human lifetime is too short to master a single approach to martial arts, let along all of them, so styles still often matter even between practitioners with similar goals.
If you have a big mountain ⛰️ there are different paths you can take to get to the top! But once you get to the top, the view is the same no matter how you got ❤there!!!
The human body is The same, that's why.
@@TonyqTNTyeah like when all your ffx characters are maxed out and they're all practically the same
@@BetterMonsters Well said! Take what you find useful & adapt it to your arsenal, which should only be a handful.
I've been waiting for somebody with a big channel to talk about this martial art for years, a friend of mine is a master in this style and he teaches me a few things when we meet for training. Thanks, Kevin!
Kevin is bringing the content man! Great stuff!!!
This teacher is much kinder than most instructors, in that he doesn't just dump his students during a demonstration 😂 very informative 👍
This was such a blast to witness in person. Master Hu's footwork is truly next level & so inspiring to watch.
The differences in their “Jin (勁）” contribute to the footwork as well. Xinyi and Baqua are 2 dimensional Jins. Xinyi is a straight line, Baqua in a circle, like moving from the x axis to the y axis. However , taichis Jin is 3D, which incorporates the Z axis along with X and Y, is also called uprooting. So when you get hit by a tai chi uprooting Jin, your feet will leave the ground, where the attackers punch may look like a simple straight punch. Sounds crazy, but I’ve been on the receiving end of them, not fun 😂
actually all three of them have 3D "Jins". They are just manifested differently. Xinyi feels way more like a wave than a straight line, bagua as a spiral rather than a circle. and you've already experienced the taijis one aparently.:P
Oof, getting uprooted isn't fun.
I was rehearsing for a Tai Chi demonstration for my late mother's Yoga class and my dad took one look at the the push part of Grasp the Sparrow's Tail, bearing in mind that he doesn't even practice Tai Chi, and tested the move out in the way that seemed logical.
I was sent sprawling backwards into a table, completely unable to gain traction or anything. And that was just from a fairly casual attempt. My mom replicated the move in a bar a few weeks later and hurled a dude over a pool table XD
Thank you so much for covering this style! Many blessings to you & your loved ones ❤
Thanks for this video. i really appreciate Master Hu's quality teaching and matter of fact approach. I also love hearing him explain in Mandarin as it allows me a little listening practice.
Appreciate you exposing everyone to the traditional arts.
Some great details in here, a strong introduction to some of the foundational principles of Baguazhang. Being a practitioner now in Yin Style for almost 20 years, I still get confused how teachers can have so much crossover knowledge for the 3 Families (Bagua, Xing i, & Taichi); Baguazhang is so complex by itself I just can't imagine having the time (or the desire...) to dabble in the others. I suppose I try to synergize my training with other elements (movement culture, MMA conditioning, and bioenergetics), but this is all in relation to Baguazhang and the Book of Changes. He seems like a good teacher, knowledgeable and skilled. Hard to find that combination nowadays.
Kevin, I love the content you’re creating. Fong Sifu is truly a great teacher. Wish you well.
Great video Mr. Lee. Now we just wait for the comments that says "This won't work in MMA". But who cares, great forms and mechanical principles. I think as students of martial arts I'd love to study under Sifu
He is a very friendly and approachable teacher!
@Re-Booter Guess I'll bite. I agree that not everything has to work and it's perfectly fine to like and learn something if you think it's cool. I will say, though, that you should be honest with yourself and others about what works and what doesn't. As long as you are honest, you can practice and teach whatever you like, but if you aren't, that's how you get yourself and/or other people hurt.
@@munzutaiI guess the question is, does Kevin strike you as the type of guy who isn't honest about what works? If so, why are you watching?
@@redrenegade7724 No, absolutely not. My comment was in response to the original commenter, not Kevin (I just realized that that might not have been clear, so my bad.) Kevin is respectful and open to all arts and learns from all of them to see what works and what doesn't. He's the perfect role model martial artist and the exact opposite of what I was trying to criticize.
@@redrenegade7724 Kevin rarely comments on what works and what doesn't, just what from each style impresses him. As for him getting tossed around, that's him acting the uke, or as my teacher called it, fall guy. You give the teacher an attack to react to, then you're more focused on learning and / or helping showcase how to fall than actually resisting. To me, Kevin seems honestly interested in just about any new concept related to martial arts, but I don't believe he's claiming every style he features here is "100% street efficient AND perfect for MMA".
Styles have strengths and weaknesses, except for Ameri-Do-Te of course (best of all, worst of none), so what I interpreted @munzutai as saying was styles should be aware of and acknowledge those, in particular to new students, so they know what they're getting. There are too many McDojos and too much Bullshido around, we don't want people to waste years on following a "no touch knockout" style, or e.g. learning swordfighting for self defense, when they never will carry a sword in a self defense situation.
I mean, if I claimed ballet as a form of martial art (just look at those high kicks!), then you spent several years learning en pointe, you'd be pretty miffed when the local drunk round-housed you to the ground in one swing - especially when you could have been practicing the Hurticane all along.
To me it looks like much defensive counters to sword strikes, evading the sword strike and knocking the aposing off balance , and eventually defeating your opponent by getting in his head by anticipating what sword strike is coming by paying attention to the legs as well as shoulder and arms. Very clever.
5.53 that double slap to the back of the head was great. Beautiful footwork too
Thank you Kevin for keep exploring this kind of traditional Chinese Martial Art, the system, skill, training, and philosophy are so unique and valuable for any martial art practitioner. Waiting your video, I really want to visit and learn from each of these traditional Chinese Martial art practitioners. Truely incredible.
I can see this as a very effective Martial Art once mastered. I see similar concepts in other Arts and Fighting Styles.
Thank you very much kevin and to the master teaching.
I Love Ba Gua. So the more the better. Its all footwork and movement. Its great.
Interesting :D Thank you for sharing!
I "figured out" a mild version of the Mud-Wading Step through my Taiji practice,
by trying to remain song chen (relaxed and sunk down) while walking,
(Taiji is not as well-known for footwork as Bagua is, because Taiji tactics prefer to walk less,
but the principles are still there)
And I can confirm that it does indeed make your locomotion smoother and faster,
because it eliminates all the up-and-down bouncing that usual running generates,
and instead allows you to "glide" forward (or in the case of Bagua tactics, around the opponent)
in a *really* smooth trajectory.
Another beneficial side effect is that it allows you to absorb force by "drifting" away, like you're floating on water,
so you get displaced but not unbalanced.
Useful in Moving-step Push Hands, but obviously not so much under Fixed Step rules, haha.
Thank you - It is very generous of you to share your hard earned knowledge. (Bow - Respect - Thank you)
I was fascinated by Baguazhang when I read about it forty years ago. So cool to watch this, as at 57 I'm about to try a class in Cheng style. Already attended a class in Chen style Tai Chi at the same school. Don't know which one I'll focus on. I also love the modern martial arts, but they don't scratch the same itch.
Some of it looks sort of like the circle step in Wing Chun.
I love the way you're bridging from traditional Chinese arts back to practical fighting. Great stuff.
so weird ... I was literally practicing everything he was showing this morning and thinking about using my sand bag again.. and there's the same sand bag I have shown in the end .... looking forward to the next video ..... there circle walking is also for multiple attackers ... also ... to find someones blind spots .... the hit that knocks you out is the one you don't see coming
Nice video! Even if internal arts aren't street or cage efficient, there surely are principals, strategies and conditioning you might incorporate into your training - also they help fight the real enemies, stress and aging who you are certain to confront in the dark alley of your soul! They also look cool, not sure i could pull off the silk PJ's mind.....
I’ve been watching his videos for years. I’d love to see you do another with him going over Xingyi.
Awesome video! Thanks for sharing! Baguazhang is such an amazing art!
As visiting master Wang Ysn Ji expressed when visiting the BCCMA seminars Tai Ji Quan energy is like a rubber nall Bagua like a Wooden ball Xingyi Quan like a Steel ball ! Good to see Kevin tbank you
I love the shuai jiao=chinese wrestling aspect because all chinese methods turn to grappling really fast because even long styles fight closely.
And as he said, Cheng style in particular utilizes shuai jiao - because that's what Cheng Tinghua trained before he met Dong Haichuan, and Dong would tailor his training to what his pupils already were proficient in.
It's the same reason he mentions Yin style focusing more on strikes: Yin Fu was proficient in Arhat when they met. (That said, Shuai Jiao is also very important to Yin style; I once heard my teacher call them "sister arts.")
@d.b.i.a. Yes, it's incredibly awesome how martial arts were tailored to what you were comfortable with and not the other way around. It truly is a process.
The application of this footwork almost reminds me of sanatan shastar vidiya, a martial system from India. There aren't circles outright in that, but the indirect line of attack and the actual footwork tactics look similar. This is really interesting.
I’m very impressed at both the control and respect Sifu has towards his students, even showing Kevin how effective and quickly these practices can down someone, he gently supports his exampling students. That’s truly a master of his craft, respecting both his students’ pride and his style
I love the Internal Styles, and this Sifu really has the goods! Thanks, Kevin!😮
Very interesting. The footwork especially.
Ba Gua is ALL footwork.
Great content! Thanks for sharing, master Lee.
Ba Gua is the only style in my area- it is great to see, and learn more about this kung fu.
Baguazhang is a great effective martial art.
Ninjutsu has Baguazhang influences because Taoist sages that fled China and went to Japan applied Taoist movement principles with the samurais hand to hand combat method Jujitsu.
Also Taoist Yin and Yang philosophy was a big influence on Ninjutsu.
I was thinking the same. The traditional tai sabaki from gyoko ryu (aka basic movement, 8 directions) is super similar, just more liniar, thanks to the japanese influence.
In my opinion, Bagua is one of the most beautiful traditional Kung Fu styles. Whenever I see it performed, I am always amazed at the skill and precision of every movement. Even though I don't speak a lick of Mandarin, I could clearly see that Sifu Hu was incredibly passionate and excited to answer all of your questions. This was a great watch! Thank you for sharing.
It is so cool to see this information travel so far and still find people who want to learn and experience it. Thanks for sharing.
Bagua is the martial art used for airbending in avatar series.
Thanks Kevin! I'm a big fan of Chinese martial arts and I appreciate you interviewing knowledgeable and skilled practitioners. May GOD Bless you all! Jesus saves!
It's super wholesome that the other gentleman is ready to catch the younger student at 7:36
Shout out to Andy Dale in WA and all his students. He was my introduction to Bagua. Beautiful stuff. The dragon form is still my favorite
Thank you for all the Traditional Kung Fu content. It's great!
Those deer-horn knives are like miniature twin Bat'leths!
Love it ! Keep it coming, Sifu Lee 🙇♂️🙏
The creation of angles here is nice. Some good opportunities for throws and outside foot advantages.
For the pedagogical illustration. Imagine having one thrusting sword each. The one with the longer reach will have an advantage. So the goal for the other person may need to be to get in close. Sometimes straight forward will not be a successful tactic. Sure it is shortest and maybe more deadly but likely not if fighting terms are not equal or in favor. So he might need to use rounding and outflanking to gain a superior position. Of course the battle of determination and speed and quality is an important factor in a face of, but superior position is king (high ground if you will).
Hell yeah let's go 🔥🔥🔥🔥
I did BaGua for five years here in Montreal. One can tell that it's inspired by Shuai Jiao. Dante Basile from Italy has some good videos, showing the BaGua-ShuaiJiao complementarity. I also studied your video on Keysi.
The MOST important thing is Baagua is its footwork. Most Baagua practitioners do not know how to apply their footwork in real fights, unless you are talking about the very top people who study in the Wushu academy in China. There is a lady who is now residing in Japan. She was interviewed by a Japanese Kung Fu master on TH-cam. She is very strong. She doesn't just know Baagua, but traditional Chinese weapons.
AWESOME! Kevin, dude where is this master located? This is the first 'combat based Bagua that I have seen on YT yet! The application.
Foot dragging was done to strengthen the hips for kicks. So-called mud walking was to develop a low kick to the toes or ankle.
Not "CRAZY"!
Especially if you are on the receiving end of Bagua.
This vid is "GOLD" after going on in circles for years watching circle walking teasers that rarely showed execution.
Thanks.
That teacher is the real deal.
There are similarities with Okinawan Goju. Very insightful video. Thank you for sharing...you have a new subscriber.
As a player of Northern Mantis, Hsing Yi, Taiji and Ba qua, I would love to hear more from this master. He in ways reminds me of my Mantis/Tai Chi uncle!
Found this really interesting.
I could see that by using a combination Baguazhang and Wing Chun, it would be quite an effective pairing.
The concept of going around your opponent so as to catch them from the side is very useful in combat sports too, like boxing!
...honestly, feels a lot like Aikido. A bit less focused on throws, and of course different techniques, but the rhythm and flow feel like those of Aikido.
Probably very similar! I can’t speak for Aikido yet 😂
I've studied both, a little. There's some overlap, but the approach is different. Aikido tends to focus on destabilizing uke's center, where Bagua tends to work about the center to take the back.
Obviously a vast simplification by someone who is not a master of either art.
Can someone use those tactics to get back of the opponent who knows kick boxing? Can you us some ways?
Kevin, honest question. With all the coverage of traditional marital arts, especially Chinese ones, what do you think of Xu Xiaodong? He's been exposing traditional martial arts and their masters. Do you think traditional Chinese martial arts is obsolete?
I wish I could experience several styles of Bagua locally as my own training in Jujutsu has throws and joint locks equally, whichever the situation presents and needs, strikes too. The study of Jujutsu has also lead me to an appreciation of Chin Na; but if one author of my books is correct, Chin Na is not a style but merely joint locks that are present in many Kung Fu styles.
Kevin please take some more lessons with Dr. Cheng about 24 forms martial performance of Tai Chi as his explanation is really acceptable for everyone who is interested at the subject🎉
I'll sign up for Bagua soon. Doing Tai Chi and Xing Yi already. I want them all 😸
look like wrestling with palm hit.
Many traditionnal look like ju justu, but in movie they show that like palms and fist fighting
Shame the weapon based stuff will be paywalled, as it's really the heart of this art, especially the deerhorn knives. One of my absolute favourite weapons. Awesome that you are showing this.
Was jet li's pa kua / hsing i fight in that movie the one based upon a historical fight between a pa kua master and a hsing i naster?
Hi Andy, great video on Shifu Hu. However, you did not cover his specialties.
I know you just covered Xing-Yi recently. However, his "jin" is incredibly powerful. You should have him demonstrate on a tree which he can iron palm it to death within a few days.
Also, he can create "chi" sound by grinding & rotating his dain tian.
His no stance Wu style push hand is on another level.
Instead of looking at his big fist/palm. you should take a look at his back tendons. They're like 2 giant metal cables. that's where he's getting a lot of his "jin" from.
Lastly, his rooster/mud stepping steps are very powerful. he can crack 4-5 inches cement floor by using these steps.
These are usually things you don't see from everyday Shifus.
Hopefully, you're still around the area where you can do another interview.