Pa Kua or Hsing-I?

[ascan]

This question is for experienced Pa Kua and/or Hsing-I practitioners.
I am 5'9" and small to medium built. I'm not that powerful. Most fighters are bigger than me.
Would I be better suited for Pa Kua or Hsing-I?
Now I know that it's not the art that counts, but the practitioner himself. But still, some arts are intended for big, musculer guys. For example, Tiger Claw. I want to learn an art that doesn't require brute strength, yet can still deal with people who fight with brute strength.

[Kumkuat]

They are both neijia so neither would require brute muscular power. Then again, chances of you finding a good Xingyi or Bagua school is almost nil. So go for Bagua because externally, they seem to be less relient on brute strength.

[Daniel Madar]

go for something else. Bagua without the internal component is almost a complete waste, and hsing-i without it may as well be cobra-kai karate.

Merciless is Mercy.

[MonkeySlap Too]

Try posting the city you live in. Maybe some board members can reccomend a good teacher near you. I'd hate to see you not do either of these. The world needs more good practitioners, and there just might be someone near you.

I am a big beleiver in luck. The more I work, the more luck I have.

[Guandi]

>Try posting the city you live in.

his profile says that he is living in New York City.

Guandi

[Water Dragon]

William CC Chen
BP Chan
Ask Razak or the Black Taoist

Although there are many styles, they all depend on the strong beating the weak and the slow falling to the quick. These are not related to the power that must be learned -- Taiji Classics

[virus fist]

Ascan

Master Boc Nam Park has a school in your city,and teaches only Pa Kua,real stuff,great skills,
look in his website for directions.

You can call him and find out when is he going there.
If I were you, I will definitively check him out.

Also,try to get some free classes in both arts,get a feeling of the people and what type of training is involved,just do it and ask your body not your mind.

Good luck to you in your search.

VF

[Sil Lum Palm]

Ascan , as you know from the other post that ELF made , there is an art which combines Tai Chi Chuan , Pa Kua , and Xing Yi int one art. It is called Emperor's Long Fist. The art is the most amazing I have ever witnessed. If you find a good teacher of the E.L.F. system , and you are ready to give dedication , then I believe you would like it alot.
I have the chance to learn ( and will be learning) from the 36th Patriarch (retired) of the E.L.F system. He is the one that put me in awe by this style. It's great for anyone of any size from what I have seen. There are tall guys and short guys that take these classes. The key is to develope the style to fit YOU.
I have some great information on the E.L.F style if you are interested then you can e-mail me.
take care.

[razakdigital]

Thanks Water dragon for the mention of me...I'm honored...

I can name a number of teachers but the bottom use common sense and a second opinion...

Check if the teacher is good... how do you know? reputation and QUALITY of students...

pricing...make sure you are getting bang for your buck...if you have to stand at a posture at every session for a year with no other lessons then you my friend are getting robbed...

Ressearch - read on this person and his school ... check out his or her students...compare postures with traditional text ... for example when someone is doing praying mantis they SHOULD look like a praying mantis

read books on what hsing and pakua is about then look at the teacher and students... are they following the principles?

thats all i can think of now...

[Water Dragon]

there is an art which combines Tai Chi Chuan , Pa Kua , and Xing Yi int one art

I was under the impression that Liu He Ba Fa was the art that "officially" held that designation.

I think Emperor's Long Fist makes the claim that it is the main art that the Chen's used in the development of Taijiquan.

Although there are many styles, they all depend on the strong beating the weak and the slow falling to the quick. These are not related to the power that must be learned -- Taiji Classics

[Braden]

http://www.livingstonkungfu.com/

You can see the postures of one of the "masters" of that style here.

[The Willow Sword]

I am an experienced internal martial artist,,,i have studied shaolin kung-fu as well as tai-chi ,,pakua and hsing-i....i took the internal path for i truly believe it is the way to go(when of course one sheds all the clap jap of kungfu this and kungfu that. as a practitioner of these ways and a teacher i always emphasize a balance of hard training,as in fitness and static strength(weight lifting,and cardio) form as in the forms of tai-chi pakua and hsing-i,,then there is the meditation and the internal. there is a rare combination system of all these three called li hou ba fa. i have found no teacher who has these forms, and i dont think that you will,,not formally anyway. i find that when i am doing my own thing(my own martial arts) i am combining all of these sytems to create a unique system of myself. as for which is better,,in the history of these systems they were always taught together for one has an advantage over the other and vice versa. so you are a small guy. okay,,,,think of this in terms of physics(the natural laws of nature) what happens when you go up against something larger and stronger than you? how do you overcome the larger and stronger obstacle? there is a sying about japanese and chinese martial arts. it is a derrogatory statement about japanese martial arts but in this context it is not meant to be that way. put a japanese martial artist and a chinese martial artist at the bottom of a hill and roll a boulder down the hill at them,,,,,the japanese artist will stand in front of the boulder and face it head on,,while the chinese martial artist will simply step out of the way and let it roll into the ocean behind him.....i hope that you understand this concept with respect to physics. here is what i believe to be true of the value of studying the three arts i described.
1.Tai-chi- builds chi
2. pakua- moves chi and directs it.
3. hsing-i- focuses chi.
all three do all the others as well....the physical attributes of these will naturally follow with you and you will be as strong as the mountain. but nothing is as strong as the tree that is humble at the base of the mountain.
oh yeah i also like the drunken ways as well. hope this is of use to you ASCAN.

[les paul]

To me all internal arts are about the same, just the strategies are different. I've seen really aggressive Taijiquan players to laid back Bagua practioners. All internal arts are really effective I think it's important to practice an art that suits your personality and temperament rather than your physical body. All arts at their highets levels use skill and technique to defeat an enemy no matter what his or her size. Most styles can also fit most personalities. However, there could be some exceptions. I practice Xingyiquan and its well known that the art uses office as a defense. If your a laid back person (which is cool and nothing is wrong with this) maybe just maybe, you might be better suited for something like Taichiquan which is more defense orientated. Bagua seems to me(I not an expert in Bagua so I might be wrong) to be a balance of them both "i.e. a good balance between offense and defense." Again I practice Xingyi so I love to attack, its my temperament, even in retrograde mode I try to attack, so Bagua or Taichi doesn't have such a large attraction for me.(I still value them, but...) To sum it up I beleieve it's not your size that should be the deciding factor but your personality in considering what art to persue for the long haul.

Paul
Michigan

[ascan]

Thanks everyone for your input. And yes Willow Sword, your advice was very useful, as well as insightful.

[wujidude]

willow: try http://www.liuhopafa.com/ I think you'll find Wai Lun Choi knows something about the art.

Do they have lei tai in the land of enchantment?

[The Willow Sword]

there are alot of schools here in new mexico. there are a couple which i have seen that have some solidity to them in my opinion,,one is the CHINESE CULTURE CENTER here in Albuquerque. run by Master Charles Lin. they do not have a web site(i dont think,its not on thier buisiness card) any way he teaches northern long fist,,and tai-chi. the other school is the chinese shaolin center run by sifu elton nicols,,this is a school run by masters David and Sharon Soard out of boulder colorado. (it is a division of Grandmaster Sin Kwang The's shaolin-do school) as far as the other schools here in new mexico there are a lot of em,,,my god there are a lot of em. more than chicago i hear. well anyway that is the news from the Land of Enchantment/Entrapment.