In a somewhat Taoist fashion, my goals are both event AND process oriented. Practice on any level is rewarding in and of itself, but there is also a particular De for my practice of it.
I'd like to be remembered for having preserved and maybe even expanded the combat viability of Baguazhang and for acting as a liaison between the enthusiastic but unfamiliar average student and the lofty but esoteric aspects of advanced martial arts skill. Basically, I want to empower the good guys.
RE: "Do you train in multiple disciplines.. if so, what are they, and how do they benefit your Tai Chi (or vice versa)..". I have trained in a number of things over the years. For the last several years, I've had a stable configuration of Baguazhang, Kali, Taijiquan, and Machado JJ. The JJ is obviously to shore up ground capabilities. For me, the interesting interplay is between Baguazhang and Kali. In my practice, each improves the other.
Kali brings a great practicality and versatility of real combat applications to the mix. The learning curve is among the shortest in all of the martial arts. The trapping skills are the equal of Wing Chun's, if you're into that. The weapons skill with weapons that reflect real world availability is rivalled only by Kali's sister arts of Silat from next door in Indonesia, IMO. The hand skills are lightning-fast and efficient. The practical usage of various body weapons is top shelf. The lock flows when using controlling lines are invaluable.
Baguazhang, in complement, brings superior biomechanics, power generation, and flow to the mix, besides its own deviously cruel applications. Baguazhang is a major influence in many Indonesian Kuntao systems, and as a result, some of my applications are often mistaken for Kuntao, which is known for its extreme brutality.
In the evolutionary cycle of almost any given martial art, there are three distinct phases. There is an evolutionary phase (usually occurring in times of war) when the art is being developed as a combat method. This is when the art is being maximally field-tested.
Next, there is a plateau phase (usually in peacetime) when the art most evolves and reaches the pinnacle of development in both its techniques and principles. It is during this phase that the art's most skilled and celebrated practitioners arise.
Finally, there is a degradation or devolution phase (almost always in periods of extended peacetime) when the art is transformed from a coherent collection of combat-tested fighting methods to a martial WAY. It is during this phase that the effective combat methods of the art become obscured by both the passing of time and the institutionalization of the movements as ceremonial expression of the art's philosophical principles. In terms of degradation, the first to go are usually the most combat-oriented and combat-effective methods.
While not all arts fit this exact mold for one reason or another, the model still generally works for predicting the history of most martial arts.
Baguazhang is still relatively new and obscure here in the US. Neither it nor Xing Yi Quan have yet been subject to much of the watering down as a combat art that their sister art of Taijiquan has experienced as a whole. Taijiquan, in fact, might represent the quintessential example of an art that finds itself at the very end of the evolutionary cycle, at least in this country. Yet still, even Bagua is no longer regularly field-tested and honed by its practitioners as it once was, such as in the days of the Chinese Imperial Bodyguards. This puts Bagua in, at the very least, the plateau phase, and in all likelihood, it is well into its degradation phase.
All that said, one of my goals is not to contribute to the entropy of the art. While the art as a whole may be moving inexorably toward degradation, it is still possible to have isolated eddies of development going on. That may be the most I can hope for.
As for the process side, every day reveals just slightly more insight into my personal De. It also offers a host of health benefits of great value to that facet of me which is a healer.
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