Water Method Bagua
By Paul Cavel, Posted 5 January 2010
Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in more filming and sound recordings for the online bagua course my teacher Bruce Frantzis is in the midst of producing in
Over the several days we worked through various aspects and layers of the material: from the health, martial and spiritual paths to the basic mechanics necessary for deepening one’s meditation practice.
Throughout my visit I observed what and how Bruce taught, especially when there was a wide range of skill levels in the room—from complete beginners to some of his most dedicated bagua instructors. He jumped around the various aspects and layers of the material in consideration of who was in the room and where they were at along the Way. Some sessions were attended by many, others by only a select few and for a couple it was just Bruce and me.
Whether the focus was on the Single Palm Change, postures or simply Circle Walking, there was always the sense of laying the foundation for the complete beginners whilst taking care to upgrade and deepen the practice of the most experienced practitioners. Bruce would lay down foundations of the physical mechanics in one session. Later, he would build on that base, adding internal aspects for health and stress relief, which still later became the foundation for our meditation practice. All the previously explained internals would then be required to yield the desired results.
Now, anyone who has trained with Bruce knows that he not only teaches to the group present, but also focuses on different aspects of any given subject based on practice applications. He does it in a somewhat mysterious fashion. At the end of my time with him on this visit though, I became aware of a weave of threads that he had pulled together. He was able to help deepen and advance the practice of very different students—each received what they needed to progress to the next level.
As for me, each component piece he taught either advanced what I had already been practising or inserted a new Lego piece to link several components together. Since I’ve been back home (and playing with actual Lego with my daughters), I realise that the week I spent with Bruce has given me access to deeper layers and greater depths of the internal work of bagua.
As I reflect further, I’m amused by the fact that I spent five weeks training with Bruce last summer—three weeks of which consisted of his first-ever bagua instructor training where he had me demonstrating on a daily basis. Yet on this short visit I glimpsed connections I never even considered—let alone experienced—whilst totally immersed in the subject. It shows how rich, multifaceted and progressive Water method bagua is as a complete body of knowledge and the skill of a water method lineage holder.
However, you can’t really comprehend the next stage until everything that comes before it has gelled deep inside you. In the summer, Bruce had recommended I practise to more deeply release my nervous system in order for the teachings to take hold and advance me to the next level. So, naturally, it’s been a focus of my practise ever since—without which the realisations I experienced in Bruce’s home and some weeks later would never have come through.
The final practice session drew everything together as Bruce taught me a method for working on accessing the Heart-mind through the Single Palm Change. It has invigorated my passion for bagua and reinvented my programme in
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