The Way through Baguazhang - 八卦掌道

Yes. It is true. Through Baguazhang 八卦掌 journeying along the Taoist path, I am what I am: A real kungfu master and people like to call me Shifu 師傅 as a mark of respect. But… while it is a great honour, it comes with its own challenges like NOT abandoning this life for one of seclusion in the mountains like a lot of Taoists 道者. Or whether or not to continue podcasting, especially in light of...

On the one hand this episode could be another one about Mopai. But in the end I went back to what is really important: Baguazhang. It starts off with that age old question of how a person can measure qi? And the it goes somewhere else. Hey! It’s a Saturday and the garden path leads to where it wants to go. So sit back and relax into it. Enjoy ☺️

Let’s get real: Are the 72 levels of Mopai achievable? And how do you you know you have achieved any one of those levels? 🧐 Hmmmm….. ☶

Now this is an important question: Is Mopai a martial art? It reads like one in the book. And it is the source of much of the “qualified” criticism about it. Of which… I answer the question. The problem most people have and don’t want to admit is that they are seeking something that blinds them to the obvious. Something which all the internal martial arts (including Baguazhang) struggle with. ☵

Recently I read the book ‘The Magus of Java’ by author Kosta Danaos. It is a book about Mopai and its then grandmaster John Chang a.k.a John Baharudin a.k.a. Dynamo Jack from Ring of Fire fame. In part 1, I give a basic description of the difference between Baguazhang and Mopai in how qi is cultivated. ☳

While in Hong Kong I wanted to do a bit of exploring and eventually I got myself, sort of, lost. Well, not really in the larger scheme of things… but it made for an interesting day out and in the end I managed to score myself a nice new black jade pendant to assist me with my Qi 氣 cultivation while doing Baguazhang 八卦掌. So why black jade? Black jade behaves energetically like a spiritual well....

Hello from Hong Kong 香港. In this episode I am recording from my wife’s home town and the birth place of Bruce Lee 李小龍. It’s been an interesting experience thus far doing Baguazhang 八卦掌 and focusing on cultivating my Yin 陰修. I know that most Taoist cultivation practices focus on Yang 陽. But that is for people who’s qi 氣 lacks inner strength. But Baguazhang as an internal martial art is...

So recently I started my own personal journey of translating the Tao Te Ching 道德經 as part of my own Taoist experience because 1) I wanted to, and 2) because I have noticed discrepancies between what the typical English version says and what the Chinese version says. And it can get frustrating. But do not worry, I won’t be publishing it. But what would like to share in the text is this… While we...

Ok… So in this episode titled: How not to do Baguazhang 如何不做八卦掌, I’m letting you know about Neidan Master Damo Mitchell’s audio by the same name. Listen to it. It’s in-depth and worth its weight in gold. It’s about an hour long but if you try to rush it and skip sections, you will miss a great deal of important stuff that will either boost your practice or stop incorrect practices that are...

Question: What is it like to be a baguazhang Taoist? The answer to that question on the daily life of being a Taoist 道者 or a Baguazhang master 八卦掌大師 is… (drum roll, please) is this: You’re a fucking weirdo. Most people have no idea what you are. Or why you would bother chasing a goal that leads to nowhere. Maybe in Asia somewhere, with its exotic locations, people and spices, it would all m...

The urban environment is a tough place to practice, cultivate and master Baguazhang 八卦掌. No matter what people say. And for the most part, it is a lonely path 😩. But here’s the thing: Are you ready to become a Living Tao 活道? Are you ready to become the living embodiment of your craft as it’s ultimate personification? Even if none of us truly knows what that means. 🤔 …It’s time to enter your...

The way of the Taoist Bagua master is one of resilience. It isn’t for everyone. It’s a lonely 😩 path filled with a lot of hardships. A lot of people think 🤔 that once they become a Taoist or a Baguazhang master, life will be enlightened bliss. Sadly, this not the case. But as my podcast reveals, sometimes while we are down, our trained body just says ‘fuck’em!’ And we keep on doing Baguazhang. I...

I finally did it and talked about some weird shit involving Baguazhang - environmental cultivation (of the self). And no, I don’t care that to some people it’s total woo-woo! I know my shit and it’s grounded in experience.

After cultivating 基 Ji, 精 Jing, 氣 Qi, 神 Shen and the 心 Xin (heart-mind) the next cultivation stage is 德 Te (inner power). With the Tao Te Ching 道德經 it is usually referred to as virtue but this a Confucian ideal. And when read as such, it leaves a lot of people confused 😕 ! Te 德 or inner power, as it is more commonly referred to in Taoist language, is a kind of spiritual investment or sa...

Do you want to be a baguazhang immortal? Do you want to be a baguazhang xian? 1. 仙 2. 僊 3. 仚 4. 㒨 5. 僲 6. 屳 7. 佡 Above are the 7 Chinese characters in which to write the word: Xian. Xian means immortal. And then so much more. In this podcast #288 I discuss their different “deeper” meanings in relation to the #taoist #internal_martial_art #cultivation path of #baguazhang #xian #道 #八卦掌 #...

For those of you too impatient to listen to my #baguazhang #八卦掌 podcast, yi 意 is your will or intention. That’s it. For the rest of you, I finally delve deeper into the mystical side of baguazhang. This is a stage of Taoist cultivation that’s rarely openly discussed because it’s usually a very private and/or personal journey that a practitioner has to confront alone. I have also added a specia...

My first episode on the Taoist Heart-Mind of Xin 心 (episode 281), doesn’t fair too well with listeners because it’s not the rosy blissful description that people want to hear or experience. But if you are a baguazhang 八卦掌 practitioners or cultivator, you’d be wise to listen because without facing certain experiential truths, it will be nigh impossible to cultivate one’s Yi 意 or come to grasp...

Tonight I’m keeping it short and discussing the mysteries of Wu 無 or nothingness. And in particular I will discuss this Taoist concept through the lens of baguazhang 八卦掌. While in this podcast I provide a few real life examples of what it looks like experientially, the sad fact is for most people those examples are what people try their darnedest to avoid. And that is what makes it so hard as...

Again and again, it is a repeated comment that in order to cultivate the Taoist path, a practitioner of the way must have virtue or Te 德, or it is all for nought! But what is Te and how do I get some? Is it the same Te as in the Tao Te Ching 道德經？ Yes it is. And as a baguazhang 八卦掌 practitioner I will explain it to you in a way that the urban mind can know it (because you already do) and do...

True Baguazhang 八卦掌 cultivation can produce in the body, over time, trauma in the mind and body. The ritual of practicing Chazen 茶禪 is about more than just mindfulness. Without a way to cleanse ourselves and consolidate our “gains” we can get stuck in our progression in self-cultivation, especially if our Tao 道 is more or less locked into an urban environment. By listening to this podcast, h...

Well, I’m finally doing it and I’m gonna talk about Baguazhang master Sun Lutang 孫祿堂 (1860 – 1933). Disciple of master Cheng Tinghua 程廷華. Master Sun is important because he was the first to produce baguazhang manuals (which are still available today): Baguaquan xue (A study of eight trigrams boxing) published 1916; Baguajian xue (A study of eight trigrams straight sword) published 1927.

Whether you are a traditional Taoist cultivator or you are ascending through the baguazhang path, there is a stage that must be confronted in order to truly grasp the true significance of what you are doing. And that is the stage of Xin 心. In Taoism it is traditionally referred to as the heart-mind or mind-heart, and is sometimes interchanged with either the stages of Shen 神 or Tao 道. But that...

Revision of the 5 baguazhang cultivation stages of Ji 基, Li 力, Qi 氣, Yi 意 and Shen 神. Actually there are other levels, but for most Baguazhang practitioners these are the most important and exist like a alternative path or version to the Taoist one. Here I discusss the similarities between the two…

Before a person even attempts to cultivate the three Taoist treasures of Jingqishen 精氣神, there is the beginning of Xing 形 or form/shape. The baguazhang equivalent is called Ji 基, and it is the foundation of all that is to come next. In this podcast I introduce the listener to this much neglected stepping stone.

Taoism has its self cultivation path of the three treasures: Jing Qi Shen 精氣神. And sometimes they add a fourth level of Tao 道. The internal martial art of baguazhang 八卦掌 also has its parallel equivalents of Li, Qi, Yi and Shen 力氣意神. In this podcast I will be discussing (lightly) what they are and how they match up to the Taoist version of things.