2 Bagua Applications - The Calligraphy in Bagua

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MODULE7Bagua Applica tions:The Calligraphy in Bagua

BRUCE FRANTZIS


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Copyright 2011 Bruce FrantzisAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording orotherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.Published by Energy Arts, Inc., P.O. Box 99, Fairfax, CA 94978-0099The following trademarks are used under license by Energy Arts, Inc., from Bruce Frantzis: FrantzisEnergy Arts system, Mastery Without Mystery, Longevi ty Breathing program, Opening the EnergyGates ofYour Body Qigong, Marriage of Heaven and Earth Qigong, Bend the Bow Spinal Qigong,Spiraling Energy Body Qigong, Gods Playing in the Clouds Qigong, Living Taoism Collection,Chi Rev Workout, HeartChi, Bagua Mastery Program, Bagua Dynamic Stepping System, BaguaInternal Warm-up Method, and Bagua Body Unif ication Method.

Editing: Heather Hale, Bill Ryan, Richard Taubinger and Caroline FrantzisInterior Design: Heather HaleCover Design: Thomas HeringtonPhoto and Illustration Editing: Mountain Livingston and Thomas HeringtonPhotographs by: Eric Peters, Bill Walters, Caroline Frantzis, Richard Marks and Catherine HelmsIllustrations: Michael McKee and Kurt SchultenImage Alteration: Lisa Petty, GiriVibe, Inc., Patrick Hewlett and Jodie SmithModels: Bruce Frantzis, Bill Ryan, Keith Harrington, Don Ethan Miller and Paul CavelPrinted in the United States of AmericaPLEASE NOTE: The practice ofTaoist energy arts and medi tat ive arts may carry risks. The informationin this text is not in any way intended as a substitute for medical, mental or emotional counselingwith a licensed physician or healthcare provider. The reader should consult a healthcare professionalbefore undertaking any martial arts, movement, meditative arts, health or exercise program to reduce the chance of injury or any other harm that may result from pursuing or trying any techniquediscussed in this text. Any physical or other distress experienced during or after any exercise shouldnot be ignored and should be brought to the attention of a healthcare professional. The creators andpublishers ofthis text disclaim any liabilities fo r loss in connection with following any of the practicesdescribed in this text, and implementation is at the discretion, decision and risk of the reader.


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The Calligraphy in BaguaIf you want to achieve excellence in bagua, then having a supreme Single PalmChange (SPC) Palm Posture is essential. Anything less and your bagua practicecan only be described as mediocre.As a parallel example, ifyou desire wonderful, pristine and beautiful handwrit ing,writing volumes of text by hand alone may not get you there. You could, however, uncover the root of excellent penmanship by practicing Western calligraphy. Calligraphy masters are very clear that it is much easier to learn a good habitfrom the very beginning than it is to correct a well-established, bad habit later.Western calligraphy is the calligraphy of the Latin writing system, and to alesser degree the Greek and Cyrillic writing systems (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_calligraphy#cite_ref-1 ): "the art of giving form to signs in anexpressive, harmonious and skillful manner" (Mediavilla 1996: 18).In the early stages of learning calligraphy, you start by practicing the letter A,which could be likened to the training progression of the SPC Palm Posture. Thestrokes that comprise the letter A repeat many thousandsof times as you proceedto learning the other letters of the alphabet. So before moving on to learning thenext letters, you would practice until you obtain some clear level of stability in

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2011 Bruce Frantzis-AII Rights Reserved.


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4 Bagua Mastery Program

the most basic straight line strokes of the letter A; until the writing of your letterA shines, even if ust a little.Likewise, you should practice the SPC Palm Posture for a month or more beforeproceeding to other bagua techniques (e.g., the complete footwork turningto follow). Then and only then, would you move forward to the letter B, whichincludes the same straight line found in the letter A.From the perspective of calligraphy masters, it is not appropriate to moveforward until you acquire the motor skills required to adequately create theletter A's most basic linear strokes. Once hard-wired into a pupil's nervous system,adding basic curving strokes (i.e., energy postures or beyond to the SPC or themartial tradition's Double Palm Change) makes the letter B just legible enoughto read!So the cycle of learning commences again, whereupon initially encountering thecurving letter B requires patience and tenacity. If you are wise, again you woulddevote time to concentrated practice before moving forward to the letter C (i.e.,other energy postures or palm changes).Likewise, future letters will reuse the principle of curving strokes and teach youhow they flow together with other letters, such as those with straight lines. Theeffort you put in and the accuracy of your effort can eventually lead to yourpenmanship having a strong, stable foundation-the ideal position.In the future, you must continuously recycle different combinations of straightand curving strokes that comprise the 26 letters of the (bagua) alphabet. Thepoint is you can see why, upon first contact with the letter A, you must spend thetime and energy to hard wire a decent letter A into your system.If, however, from the beginning you began with a sloppy A (poor handwriting)and just keep going, you might still have barely readable penmanship evenafter decades and many volumes of handwriting-regardless of how excellentthe quality of your intellectual content may be.



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Module 7: Bagua Applications-The Calligraphy in Bagua 5

Failing to notice endless repetitions of inaccurate writing without focusedpractice to correct those mistakes, makes it exceedingly more diff icult to developgood penmanship over time. You can easily become stuck and must live with thelousy micro-penmanship variations that led to your poor letter A from the start.Often, even when practitioners try to go back in time and reform theirpenmanship, they find it too arduous a task. Essentially, skilledwriting must be re-wired into the mind and motor skills/body memory.Saddled with an unstable foundation, most people do not prevail and build(penmanship/bagua) excellence.So becoming a truly exceptional bagua practitioner starts with a lo t ofexposure to the basics. Both the meditation and martial arts traditionsadvocate starting slow and revisiting the basics, so everything that followsdeepens and is made stronger. In terms of obtaining value from bagua'smovement, it is not about knowing a greater quanti ty of techniques, but ratherthe quality in executing techniques. The various aspects must be fully integratedinto your body-mind system to which all the other techniques are connected andbuild upon.So in the vein of creating an accurate letter A, I encourage you to take this tinyacorn of the SPC Palm Posture and grow it into the mighty oak of your baguapractice.Eventually, you must return to Walking the Circle while holding the SPC PalmPosture. Many masters would instruct pupils to train this way for long periodsof time. Erroneously, many students throughout the ages have thought masterswere uselessly testing their patience and perseverance before teaching then the"real stuff" or the "whole art:'In reality, masters know that setting a strong foundation isn't the best way, butthe only way to achieve excellence in bagua or any deep art for that matter.


2 Bagua Applications - The Calligraphy in Bagua

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