The practice of bagua makes a person very strong, flexible and healthy, both physically and energetically. It leaves the practitioner with a real experience of emptiness whilst being full of energy.

Bagua is a vigorous and aerobic, yet relaxed and internal practice. It is based on walking in a circle and frequently changing directions. Bagua Chang is the physical manifestation of the I Ching (Book of Changes). It incorporates the Eight Universal Energies, as represented by the eight trigrams in the I Ching.

Bagua Chang surfaced in China just over a century ago, but its precise origins are unknown. Its two primary movements, Circle Walking and the Single Palm Change, have been documented as having been practised in a Taoist monastery in southern China for 1,500 years.

Unlike tai chi, bagua was developed from the 16-part neigong system. Working from the inside out, the outer form was created from the internal movements. In bagua everything is practised on both sides of the body, balancing the body as it is opened and strengthened. It is one of the most beautiful arts to watch with its continual spiraling and unpredictable, changing movements.

Bagua’s martial arts applications are quite unique, utilising spheres and spirals to create continuous movement and power. Bagua’s speciality is the ability to defend oneself against multiple opponents. This is achieved by using sudden turns and changes to confuse the attackers and by arriving where they would least expect it. Bagua also contains the depths of Taoist meditation, working on all Eight Energy bodies.

Eight Energy Bodies:

1. Physical

1. Chi, which powers the physical
2. Emotional
3. Mental
4. Psychic
5. Karmic
6. Essence
7. Body of the Tao

I Ching: The Root of Change

“The fundamental principles of Taoism originated from an intimate and thorough understanding of the I Ching.” -The Chi Revolution, Bruce Frantzis

Although records of the existence of bagua date back to 4,000 years ago, the martial art of bagua with its eight palm changes and corresponding 64 combinations is much younger. When exactly these aspects were developed is unclear, as are its origins, because Tung Hai Chuan (the modern progenitor of Bagua Chang) would never say where he learnt it.

The I Ching is also cloaked in mystery as no one knows who compiled it, where it came from or when it was written. What we do know is that its principles existed 8,000 years ago as an oral tradition. Although no one knows its source for certain, it appears that the text migrated over to China from the Kunlun Mountains between Northern Tibet and the Takla Makan Desert. This is particularly interesting because the Kulun Mountains are implemented in both bagua and the I Ching. The 4,000-year gap between the arrival of the I Ching and the origins of bagua would have afforded Taoists plenty of time to develop a sophisticated physical practice.

What the ancient Chinese understood is that there is only one constant in the whole universe: CHANGE. Everything is constantly in flux--days, seasons, years and so on.

The art of Bagua Circle Walking was developed by monks to help understand, cope and merge with change, to get to the root of the I Ching. Walking the Circle, or bagua, as it is more commonly known, was developed for three prime reasons:

• To achieve stillness of mind.
• To generate a healthy, disease-free body with relaxed nerves and great stamina.
• To develop and maintain balance internally while either your inner world or the external world changed.

The I Ching-Bagua Relationship

Taoists have used chi practices, such as qigong, tai chi and yoga for millennia, but bagua has a special place within Taoism as it has the capacity to physically manifest the energies of change in your body. Studying the I Ching provides a mental framework from which the practitioner can grasp and understand the concepts of perpetual change. Bagua, however, gives a kinesthetic (felt) sense of change that penetrates your flesh. The direct experience of that change is realised through the body and this experience of change further transforms your mental framework and understanding of the I Ching. It is a positive feedback loop.

Practising bagua can lead, initially, to molding oneself to the constantly changing universe. Eventually, bagua can take you into stillness and, eventually, Emptiness-the central space of the I Ching--the unchanging root of the universe.

Practising bagua generates many benefits such as: removing inertia, developing spontaneity and freeing the body and mind of either externally or self-imposed constraints. It is an excellent method of clearing out all that clogs up our body, energy, emotions and mind-that which makes us sluggish and unresponsive to life. When the body and mind become free your energy develops, the mind awakens, your understanding of life becomes clear and your true path unfolds, so you can morph and flow with the cosmos.

One of the fundamentals of bagua practice is to help you become fully present to your experience so that you can realistically acknowledge your present situation. Acceptance of your present state provides the foundation required to begin the process of creating profound and lasting change. As long as you deny your present state of being, you block the ability to change, grow and become clear. Bagua removes the many layers of veils covering up what actually exists inside you. Continual practice of bagua will allow you to apply this to accepting others for who they are and where they are at in their own growth process. Eventually, the practitioner seeks to accept all and everything without wishing for it to be different in any way.

A fundamental problem in our society is that we do not accept others for their differences. Rejection breeds intolerance, intolerance breeds rigidity and rigidity closes us down. This prevents us from flowing naturally, causing imbalance which, over time can make us susceptible to illness.

A major cornerstone of Taoism is balance, which breeds wisdom--the wisdom to see the world as it is. Balance ultimately allows compassion and love to flow freely. Balance is created through all well-developed chi practices from qigong to acupuncture to bagua. These practices open up the flow of energy within you, so you can tune into nature and become harmonious with all and everything in life. Taoism emphasizes bagua because it is probably the most sophisticated and effective method of achieving these goals.

2010 Bagua Courses

Circle Walking to Release Your Nervous System
Brighton, 23-24 January

Integrating Water & Fire in Bagua
Neu-Ulm, 13-14 February

Circles & Spheres: Creating Central Equilibrium in Qigong, Bagua & Tai Chi
Crete, Greece, 24-30 April

Bagua Dragon Body: Twisting, Coiling & Spiraling
Brighton, 29-30 May

Advanced Circle Walking & the Single Palm Change
Brighton, 2-3 October