Questions on Bagua

[red5angel]

I have a friend who is interested in getting into martial arts. He is interested in Bagua, but we both have a few questions, I figured some of you guys could probably help out.
First, He is 6'2 and about 400 lbs so there are physical limitations, atleast until he looses weight. Do you think he could slide easily into bagua?
How easy is it to pick up, he has some time constraints that will only allow him to train minimally.
Is there anything else he should know?

[red5angel]

Hello?......anyone?

[MonkeySlap Too]

If that is 400lbs of fat, he should first consult with a physician and follow a physician directed weight loss / exercise program. His health could be in considerable danger, and this is the best way to start.

Once he has physician approval, he should consider starting training. Although very limited time tends to produce limited results - just like in developing any skill.

[Shaolin-Akira]

I study shaolin snake fist, and Baugu which are very similar, flexability and leg strength is important, as in all MA's. i would say start off with wing chun,hung gar, or even TKD and then move on to ba gua after your freind is a bit more familiar with MA's.

If there is a Will there is a Way.

[Shaolin-Akira]

Ba Gua is an Internal MA, and i generaly find internal arts more time consuming but much more involed then external martial arts. So if he doesnt have Time to dedicate to his studies then he will generaly not get very far.
When you study a martial art, you dont just know it, you become it and it becomes you. So maby your freind should do some work and realy chose what fits right for him.

[The Willow Sword]

Well first of all the diet must consist of nothing more than Lean meats and Vegetables and water or tea. NOTHING OTHER THAN THAT.
i recommend hsing-yi chuan as a martial art for him. it is simple and direct and will help your friend to stabalize himself with his weight. he neednt move around so much and overtax his body. detoxifying through excersise is good,,such as martial arts. but we must consider his cardio vascular system and whether or not it is in good shape or not. that is why i reccommend that diet of JUSDT lean meats and vegetables and water to drink or tea. sugar is a big thing that will inhibit the absorbtion of a lot of vitamins and minerals so it is good to get a handle on that first.
i still recoomend hsing-yi chuan,,,,,it is simple direct and not alot of movement that would overtax your friend. check out some books on hsing yi chuan,,i recommend the book by dr yang jwing ming called "hsing-i chuan" OR the book called "xing yi chuan xue" by Sun lu tang. hope your search goes well and i hope that your friend finds something that will suit him.
peace,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Many Respects,,,The Willow Sword

[Tinman]

I don't mean to sound Negitive about Ballet Fu

But in someones case of weighing alot it's better to study Karate
You will benifit alot more with Karate with your size.

It is very difficult to do ballet being so big.

[DelicateSound]

If you weren't such a piece of filth Tinman, I might have considered your reply.

[Justa Man]

yea tin...maybe you need to taste beng to the chest before you speak so lightly of hsing i. karate eh? lol
that aside, hsing i may be your friends best move due to his size. not saying that ba gua would not work for him, he just may like hsing i's flavor alot more. those books mentioned are good to start with.

[dedalus]

I agree with those who recommend xingyi. Its a great entry-level intenal art for anybody, and while you can move on to other arts when you've made some progress with it, you can equally follow it to its depths and never lack for subtlety and effectiveness.

[Kristoffer]

Just make him exercise. Your not small children that needs to be told what to do. Just start training, with devotion and HARD work u can train any martial art. It tires me a bit that everyone tryes to act really smart when confronting beginners. He don't need to exercise before start training. Martial art IS training. *sigh*
And Pakua is a very powerful MA and gives u alot more HEALTH than the regular external martial art. Anyone can start training Pakua or the Nei Jia (internal arts), old, young, thin, fat, ugly, beautiful or whatever. Just pick a style and Go for it!:)

[Leimeng]

~Baguazhang is an excellent means to loose weight. As long as one maintains correct body alignment and focus a person can walk the circle as fast or slow for as long as they need to. Holding the postures while walking the circle will aid circulation of internal energy. Additionally the twisting and turning at the waist will aid in digestion.
~When added to Hsing-I the effects will be compounded.

Peace,

Sin Loi

yi beng, kan xue

[PaulLin]

Originally posted by The Willow Sword
Well first of all the diet must consist of nothing more than Lean meats and Vegetables and water or tea. NOTHING OTHER THAN THAT.
i recommend hsing-yi chuan as a martial art for him. it is simple and direct and will help your friend to stabalize himself with his weight. he neednt move around so much and overtax his body. detoxifying through excersise is good,,such as martial arts. but we must consider his cardio vascular system and whether or not it is in good shape or not. that is why i reccommend that diet of JUSDT lean meats and vegetables and water to drink or tea. sugar is a big thing that will inhibit the absorbtion of a lot of vitamins and minerals so it is good to get a handle on that first.
i still recoomend hsing-yi chuan,,,,,it is simple direct and not alot of movement that would overtax your friend. check out some books on hsing yi chuan,,i recommend the book by dr yang jwing ming called "hsing-i chuan" OR the book called "xing yi chuan xue" by Sun lu tang. hope your search goes well and i hope that your friend finds something that will suit him.
peace,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Many Respects,,,The Willow Sword

Agree, I would say Xing-Yi is a better fit to start with in this case. You will find many BaGua masters in old time have Xing-Yi background before they practiced BaGua. Watchout moods too, it play an important part of how your motablize rate goes.

[diego]

First, He is 6'2 and about 400 lbs so there are physical limitations, atleast until he looses weight. Do you think he could slide easily into bagua?

LOL

and ah, No Offense to the horizontally impaired!.

[PaulLin]

He must also be very careful about his knee joints when moving. Need to find a mood-lifting excercise for him.

[Royal Dragon]

Alternate holding stances, drilling basics and kicking till he drops about 150 pounds, THEN he can worry about more than basics and pick an art

[sweaty_dog]

I think Ba Gua (mybe Tai Chi) would be fine, but he would have to take it easy on the twisting movements unless he has strong knees. Also the diet is important but i would not recommend avoiding all carbohydrates, going from a diet that is probably high in carbs to none at all would probably do more harm than good. I would say complex carbs early in the day with plenty of roughage and meat and vegetables for lunch and dinner.

[TkdWarrior]

400 lbs?
hmm he should take Xsing-Yi with this much body
he will be road roller on the roll, unstopable.
it hav elements of Hard n Internal too :)
all IMA are very demanding of knees so u can't escape that ...
-TkdWarrior-

[JAZA]

People who hva named the knees are correct.
LOw stances could be dangerous for him, unless he have a good knee structure.
If he have a good cardiovascular system( checked with MD), I 'drecomennd him a quick style like CLF.
I partner with a guy about 140 kg, he sweats liters but his low kicks were like crushing with a truck.

[neito]

i think his best bet would be to get rid of some of the weight first. at this point weight loss would be the biggest factor in successful training. once he is 300lbs then he should start the art of his choice.