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<\/a>Many cling to a hope for the \u2018return to normal\u2019 but that\u2019s backwards thinking in so many ways. Change is normal and we\u2019re undergoing global change right now. Others talk about \u2018the pivot\u2019. Here at the Academy, it has me thinking about the Bagua. Perhaps it\u2019s because Sifu Ted has been working on a Bagua book, one that I\u2019m sure we\u2019re all eager to read. But also because Bagua is all about changes and pivoting. It is the essence of that art.<\/p>\nNOTE: Just to forewarn you, this essay will spin in circles, like a Bagua article should. As long as it doesn\u2019t become a downward spiral, we\u2019re good, right?<\/em><\/p>\n Those who practice alongside with me at the Academy will find this ironic. Bagua is a major component of the Academy\u2019s curriculum, and it is the one style that I do not partake in at all. My aversion is not out of disrespect. I have tremendous respect for the art. It\u2019s just that Bagua has just never resonated with me.<\/p>\n I dabbled in Bagua back in the 90s when one of the Academy\u2019s Sigong, Wing Lam, was first learning it. Sigong Lam had become fascinated with Sun style Tai Chi, which is a fusion of Tai Chi, Bagua, and Xingyi. Lam knew Tai Chi (in fact that was his very first martial art) so he set himself at the task of learning the latter two too, on his own. He invited his instructors to study it along with him, so I was exposed to all the palm changes then.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve forgotten all of that now. As Lam was just learning Bagua himself, he couldn\u2019t transmit a deep understanding yet, so it didn\u2019t seem worth keeping at the time. I\u2019m told that he made profound progress later, but that was after I had moved on.<\/p>\n NOTE: The Bagua practiced at the Academy is from a completely different lineage than Lam\u2019s. When Wing Lam was getting into Bagua, Sifu Ted wasn\u2019t among the Lam Kwoon group. Ted learned his Bagua from Sigong Adam Hsu, as well as from other sources. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Ultimately, I never bonded with Bagua. Beyond that disconnect, I have a few other reasons for abstaining. The predominant one is math.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my understanding that\u00a0there would be no math.\u201d When it comes to Bagua, the metaphor is mathematical \u2013 a numbers game. Ba<\/em> means eight so you know it\u2019s about numbers when they put it in the name. Bagua is conventionally translated as \u2018eight trigrams.\u2019 But what does that really mean? I\u2019ll get to gua<\/em> in a moment.<\/p>\n Bagua is concept elucidated in the I Ching<\/em>, a pivotal classic from Daoist cosmology. Bagua the martial art is a metaphoric physical expression of this Daoist concept. The I Ching <\/em>is a huge topic on its own but for the sake of this essay, let\u2019s simplify it all by starting with Tai Chi two (or taijitu<\/em> as you\u2019ll soon see). From there, we can work our way to the Bagua eight.<\/p>\n NOTE: This Chi is a completely different word than the Chinese term for vital force. Chi only a homonym when transcribed casually in this way. If transcribed in pinyin, the chi in Tai Chi is written ji as in Taiji. The term describing vital force is spelled qi as in qigong. The words have different sounds but if you\u2019re not accustomed to Mandarin, they might too subtle for you to distinguish the difference. When it comes to Chinese martial arts, precision in pronunciation is as important as clarity in practice.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n The chi<\/em> (or ji<\/em>) in Tai Chi is more about polarity, as in north and south poles, or more specifically, yin and yang. The symbol we call the yin yang – Bagua adds third duality. Mind you, it\u2019s not a triality. It\u2019s a third symbol that can be either yin or yang. The black or white paisleys are converted to an alternate representation, that of a solid (yang) or broken (yin) bar. These bars are the gua<\/em>. Gua<\/em> doesn\u2019t quite translate into English. It\u2019s a very specific term used in I Ching<\/em>, so it\u2019s sometimes translated on its own as \u2018fortune telling symbol\u2019. But this is where we get the \u2018tri\u2019 in trigrams because there are three gua<\/em>.<\/p>\n For me, this becomes like juggling three axes in the air. Actually, it\u2019s more. It\u2019s eight. Who the heck can juggle eight axes? Axe juggling something I do in life all the time (metaphorically speaking) but not in my internal martial arts. Honestly, despite my ability to pontificate on Tai Chi\u2019s yin yang theory in writing, such high-minded thinking can jam my applications. Juggling so many ideas overwhelms my ability to apply them. What\u2019s more, for I Ching<\/em>, two bagua<\/em> are combined. That\u2019s eight times eight. Sixty-four combinations. Math gets hard for me when it outnumbers my fingers and toes. Sometimes its better not to think about all this too hard and just practice.<\/p>\n I threw coins daily for about a year in hopes that it would reveal more about Bagua and Chinese culture. I even got some Chinese cash coins. \u2018Cash\u2019 is the term used for traditional Chinese coins with the square hole in the center, the first money dating back the China\u2019s Warring States period (475\u2013221 BCE). However, despite my throwing down real cash, I Ching<\/em> eluded me even more than Tarot. It felt like a deep convoluted rabbit hole, a square hole in a round coin, one where I never did get to the tea party, so I eventually let that go too.<\/p>\n I confess, this is over thinking it. Overthinking is a writer\u2019s curse.<\/p>\n Now I just practice Xingyi a little because I enjoy its energy. Every once in a while, I\u2019ll ruminate over five element theory. That\u2019s an entire world view which opened up to me through Xingyi. It\u2019s an extra bonus premium gift, and what elevates Chinese martial arts from fighting and health cultivation practices into high art.<\/p>\n There\u2019s more. Tai Chi has the thirteen postures. Some say these are derived from the five elements plus the eight trigrams. Five plus eight equals thirteen. There\u2019s an astonishing amount of math in internal styles.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can you hold on to something that won\u2019t hold still?\u201d So, what does Bagua mathematics have to do with a pandemic pivot? It\u2019s change. But it\u2019s not small change like the coins you toss to forecast the future. It\u2019s big change as in the whole I Ching<\/em>. After all, I Ching<\/em> is conventionally translated as the Book of Changes<\/em>. The \u2018I\u2019 (pronounced \u2018eee\u2019) literally means \u2018change\u2019. And we are in a time of great change.<\/p>\n The Academy was fortunate. It has survived the pandemic so far. I have several friends that owned martial arts schools in early 2020. The pandemic forced them to close their doors and move on. It takes a lot to maintain a brick-and-mortar martial arts school.<\/p>\n Then it closed. Now it\u2019s an auto repair shop. I stopped by during the pandemic when passing by, and it saddened me to see no trace of our former school whatsoever there anymore.<\/p>\n When I joined O-Mei Academy, it was on a huge growth arc. It grew to span six schools across the San Francisco Bay Area. The flagship school had a main floor, a heavy bag room, a full-sized boxing ring, locker rooms, showers, and an afterschool side that housed multiple classrooms for reading, writing, language, and cultural studies.<\/p>\n Now that flagship school is a Montessori school and all but one of the O-Mei Academies are gone. The coaches have moved on.<\/p>\n Both Lam Kwoon and the O-Mei Academy HQ occupied buildings that were larger than most supermarkets. Both are gone. And there was no pandemic. And there were a few more Kung Fu schools where I trained in between. All my previous schools are gone.<\/p>\n \u201cYou must have courage, and your children must have courage, to face all these changes. Because they\u2019re going to happen. If they don\u2019t happen, it will be the most boring existence you can imagine.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n Gene Roddenberry<\/strong><\/p>\n It was such a relief when the shelter in place order was lifted enough for our Academy to reopen. Training here has been my therapy, my refuge, and my main social outlet during these strange times. The Covid protocols we agreed upon at the Academy were quite satisfactory, even for my germ paranoia. I\u2019m happy to don a mask. I used to work in a shop and wore a mask forty hours a week just to make rent. I was in China for the SARS outbreak. Masking is no big deal and plus I have a few cool looking masks now. I hope I can continue wearing masks after the pandemic subsides because it\u2019s been great to quell my allergies. The availability of hand sanitizer and the option for physical distance at the Academy feels relatively safe, as safe as could be given the circumstances. I\u2019m not aware of any anti-vaxxers in our student body. Most of us are quite the opposite.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, while the weather is good, I love working outside. Being in Santa Cruz, where ocean breezes blow, the air is so fresh and clean, great for qi. That tiny original Lam Kwoon was so small that it felt like the congested Hong Kong rooftops where Sifu Lam practiced in his youth. When Sifu Linda and I trained there together, we worked out in the parking lot, just like we\u2019re practicing at the Academy now. I enjoy working out on asphalt. That feels more \u2018real\u2019 including the slope of our lot. Personally, I hope we can continue to work out outside, even after the pandemic subsides enough for us to resume indoor training.<\/p>\n Will indoor training ever resume? I hope so before the rainy season comes. Regardless of the outlook, it\u2019s up to us to continue practicing our Kung Fu. The circumstances of practice may change. The protocols and scheduling may shift. The class structure might become something completely different. But the fundamental practice must remain for us to be genuine.<\/p>\n The Academy of Martial and Internal Arts has a special legacy. It is the longest standing brick-and-mortar school propounding the teachings of two of America\u2019s foremost Grandmasters, Adam Hsu and Kwong Wing Lam. While both masters have countless pupils that still teach, Sifu Ted\u2019s school is the oldest that is still in operation. It is up to us to perpetuate it, no matter what the obstacles might be. \u00a0<\/p>\n Whatever may come, I hope we stay strong together. And I hope other schools share my sentiment. No matter what happens, we will always have our practice, and there\u2019s some comfort in that.<\/p>\n \u201c<\/em>Ch-ch-changes David Bowie<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The unprecedented changes triggered by the pandemic are ongoing. Like every school all around the world, the Academy of Martial and Internal Arts is adjusting to the changes. We struggle onward despite these challenges, but there are surely more ahead. Many cling to a hope for the \u2018return to normal\u2019 but that\u2019s backwards thinking in so many ways. Change is normal and we\u2019re undergoing global change right now. Others talk about \u2018the pivot\u2019. Here at the Academy, it has me thinking about the Bagua. Perhaps it\u2019s because Sifu Ted has been working on a Bagua book, one that I\u2019m sure …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1045,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,25,15,19],"tags":[310,244,311,172,140,309,84],"class_list":["post-4653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-bagua","category-philosophy","category-training","tag-bagau-zhang","tag-bagua-santa-cruz","tag-kung-fu-pandemic","tag-kung-fu-santa-cruz","tag-martial-arts-santa-cruz","tag-santa-cruz-kung-fu-school","tag-xing-yi"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reelingsilk.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reelingsilk.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reelingsilk.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reelingsilk.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1045"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reelingsilk.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4653"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.reelingsilk.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4680,"href":"https:\/\/www.reelingsilk.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4653\/revisions\/4680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reelingsilk.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reelingsilk.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reelingsilk.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford, Saturday Night Live<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>One of the things I love about Chinese martial arts is that there\u2019s a lot more to it than self-defense and health cultivation. It is also imbued with powerful metaphors. As a writer, I\u2019m all about metaphors. It is perfectly fine to practice Bagua, or any martial art, and completely ignore the metaphors. In the same fashion, you can watch a movie, or read a book or an article like this, and just get the story, totally overlooking any metaphors. But for me, metaphors are the veiled truth behind writing. I embrace them.<\/p>\n<\/a>Tai Chi was initially translated into English as the \u2018grand ultimate\u2019 and while I get why, however it\u2019s an unfortunate translation. Tai<\/em> can mean \u2018big,\u2019 \u2018extreme\u2019 or \u2018highest\u2019 so \u2018grand\u2019 is workable. However, \u2018ultimate\u2019 doesn\u2019t describe the fundamental duality of chi<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/a> – is more formally called Taijitu<\/em> in Mandarin. Again, far be it for me to describe the meaning behind it all in this short essay, but at its most simplistic level, it\u2019s duality. First there was nothing \u2013 wuji <\/em>as the Daoist call it. That\u2019s the same ji <\/em>\u2013 wu<\/em> means void. Then there was something. But in order for there to be something, there\u2019s got to be nothing, so it forms a duality on the most basic level just by existing. The martial art of Tai Chi is a metaphor for the Taijitu<\/em>. It\u2019s a martial expression of this philosophy. Tai Chi is all about emptiness and fullness, yin and yang, hard and soft, and the universe of dualities or polar opposites. It\u2019s the primordial binary, the swirling paisleys from which all other distinctions arise. From a modern perspective, it\u2019s a metaphor for the 1s and 0s that are the foundation of the computer coding for the internet you are reading this on right now. From that basic duality, everything emerges \u2013 it\u2019s the ultimate.<\/p>\n<\/a>Why eight? Here\u2019s where that math gets a little tricky. In Bagua, while two plus one equals three as in trigram, it also equals eight. This is because there are eight possible combinations of gua<\/em>. Three yin gua <\/em>and three yang gua<\/em> form two of the combos. For the mixed gua<\/em>, there can be three placements of a single yin with two yang (top, middle, bottom) and the same three placements of a single yang with two yin. Three plus three equals six, plus the two previous combos makes eight. Eight trigrams. Bagua.<\/p>\n<\/a>In a flailing attempt to learn more about it, I dabbled in I Ching<\/em>. I Ching<\/em> is Chinese fortune telling method based on the Bagua, or to be more mathematically precise, the sixty-four hexagrams (a trigram plus a trigram makes a hexagram \u2013 we\u2019ve moved from mathematics to geometry now\u2026well sort of). Each of those hexagrams is connected to a concept and those become sixty-four ciphers to the future akin to the seventy-eight cards of the Tarot. Instead of drawing cards, you can throw coins. Heads or tails determine yin or yang. Three coins are thrown together. There are different patterns of coin tossing which gets even more mathematical. I don\u2019t even want to go there. Each of the resulting possible sixty-four combinations are associated to a concept \u2013 a Chinese character. Remember that Chinese characters are pictographic, so it\u2019s parallel to those Tarot cards on a visual level too. Those symbols tease some answers to the dilemma we are all facing. They require you to reflect on how these universal concepts might be relevant to your current and future situation.<\/p>\n<\/a>In comparison, I practice a smidgen of Xingyi and that\u2019s based on the five elements. The five fists are metaphors for the five elements, and the poetry there is sublime. It works on so many profound levels and the deeper I explored it, the more was revealed. It constantly astounded me to see how well the metaphor worked into the practice. The whole numbers game of Bagua is muddled by my attachment to metaphor. You can practice these styles physically and make excellent progress without know any of this stuff. But for me, my I\u2019m BG_Pandemic3into something, I cannot resist going as deep as I can into it. It became quite the heady trip when I was studying Xingyi more actively.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Benjamin Fondane<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>In my half century plus of studying the martial arts, I\u2019ve watched many schools rise and fall even without the pandemic. When I started at Lam Kwoon, it was in a tiny industrial garage, so small that only one person to recite a form at a time. It grew to be a huge two-story facility with a massive main training hall, big enough for several classes to go on each time, a second carpeted hall for kids\u2019 classes and internal training, a spacious two-room office, a locker room with several changing closets, a heavy bag room, a lobby with a pro-shop and video rental area, and several storage rooms.<\/p>\n<\/a>That is based on if the pandemic ever does subside. Anyone who understands the science behind all this knows that Covid and the Delta variant is just the first major pandemic. Pandemics have been predicted by science for decades and once we conquer Covid, assuming we ever do, more pandemics are inevitable. Perhaps we will always have to carry masks in the future. Perhaps the Epsilon variant will be even more infectious. We\u2019re already talking about the Mu variant, which is eight Greek letters after Delta. These are grim possibilities that no one wants to face, but science is dispassionate. Perhaps that\u2019s why so many reject it now.<\/p>\n<\/a>I\u2019m looking forward to Sifu Ted\u2019s new Bagua book even though I don\u2019t practice it. Perhaps it was prescient for him to address this topic now whilst we\u2019re still facing so much change. Maybe there will be some metaphoric or symbolic notions that might tease some answers to the dilemma we are all facing. Maybe someday I\u2019ll come around to Bagua (pun intended?) There\u2019s always potential to pivot.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Don’t want to be a richer man
\n<\/strong>Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
\n<\/em><\/strong>Turn and face the strange\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n