September 07/08, 2007: Sacramento:
Inner Circle Tai Chi, a group headed by Sifu Robert Nakashima hosted Plum (that is to say Debbie and Ted) to present information on the arts of Bagua and Xing Yi. Saturday introduced and reiterated the basics of Bagua Zhang practice including Circle Walking, Threading, Bagua Qigong, Partner Practice and all those lovely movements which so challenge the nervous system at first. Everyone put in a valiant effort, practicing hard on the hot day and keeping up the constant movement required for an understanding of Bagua. This was followed by a feast—there’s no other word—where much food, laughter and serious discussion mixed together in an exceptionally welcoming family atmosphere.
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Stone Tablet
The Record of Traditional Chinese Martial Arts
Posts tagged ‘Bagua’
Events: Bagua Seminar, Sacramento
Instructor Profile: Peter Thelin
Peter Thelin, a Tai Chi Chuan teacher here at the Academy and a student of Ba Gua Zhang, recently left us after studying and teaching here for many years. Much loved, he was a light and an inspiration to Academy student.
I interviewed him before he left about his association with martial arts.
Peter grew up in Massachusetts. His intellectual, esthetic and emotional roots were formed in the fertile culture of Amherst, a town that had housed the likes of Daniel Webster, Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost. There the New England appreciation of nature and poetry made its imprint on him. His formal education was in Berkeley during the late ’60’s and 70’s where he studied resource economics: water resources, rural development and systems theory. He has been teaching economics at West Valley Community College for the last 35 years. He identifies himself strongly as a teacher and says his classes are “technically rigorous and intellectually challenging”, yet gentle.
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Q & A: Practicing Kung Fu
Q & A with Shihfu: ASPECTS OF PRACTICE
Question: How much should you practice?
Answer: I tell beginning students to start with five minutes a day. Like a pin in a map, it establishes the practice time which can then be expanded. Beyond that, it depends on how deep the results are that you are seeking.
Q: How should you ration your practice time?
A: You should have the following elements in your practice:
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