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Enforcer-
10-19-2004, 09:29 PM
Did Bruce Lee ever learn pakuachang? I heard he was really into good footwork and mobility shich some southern styles especially lackedm, but pakuachang is famous for its footwork all over China and was said to have been added to the xingyi curriculum for this reason. So why did Bruce Lee not learn pakua than instead of boxing and other modern stuff?

Waxwood rod
10-23-2004, 02:09 AM
According to Inosanto, Bruce knew a Ba Gua form called 12 step, and possibly some more. Lee was only interested in what worked for himself. I think he learned to be mobile enough without using particular styles, he just moved where and when he needed to. Also, he was influenced by Wing Chun and fencing footwork heavily, neither of which are what I would call modern. Ba Gua footwork is for bagua, Bruce Lee footwork is for Bruce Lee.

Siu Lum Fighter
10-24-2004, 07:51 PM
According to Inosanto, Bruce knew a Ba Gua form called 12 step, and possibly some more.

You wouldn't have any idea when he learned that would you? Before Bruce developed JKD I've heard it said that he felt he was somewhat limited as far as his footwork was concerned.

I just find this sort of interesting since I've noticed that Bruce's regular fighting stance is somewhat similiar to bagua with both feet turned almost at right angles to front and a little more than shoulder length apart. The weight also seems to be distributed 60/40.

Whether he directly took from bagua is up for speculation, but it seems possible since both Wing Chun and fencing normally only emphasize forward and backward movement while bagua's overall scheme is multidirectional.

Buddy
10-25-2004, 01:14 PM
Guru Dan told me HE had studied some baguazhang (mentioned he liked my expalnation as well). He didn't mention BL but then again we weren't talking about him. BL DID study silat/kuntao with Willem Reeders. Pak Vic deThouars has some letters that Gurur Dan gave him regarding that.