Circle Walking / Post Stepping In Various Martial Arts

[neilhytholt]

So evidently Bagua Zhang is well known for its circle walking and stepping between posts, but supposedly some other martial arts have this, such as Lama Pai, Xingyi (nine palace stepping), etc.

Does your martial art have circle walking or post stepping? How is the circle walking done? In some baguazhang lineages it is done with 'muddy wade step' (Tang Ni Bu), but what are the other type of stepping?

I'm not familiar with Xingyi but supposedly Xingyi has some type of nine palace stepping routine. Does anybody know how this stepping goes?

[Blacktiger]

I practice Zi Ran Men.

We practice circle walking which is an integral part of the training as well as special Zi Ran Men stepping.

Hands and feet moving as one -no beginning or end to movements.

Zou Luo Kuang

'Circle Basket Walking'.Develops strength, balance,
speed and lightness

The purpose of basket walking is to train your body in 'ching kung'
or 'lightness skill'. This makes your body extremely light and
agile.

Using a bamboo basket weighing 4.5kg, you fill it with 100kg of
peebles.Balance on the basket and start to walk around it, grabbing
the rim with alternate hands as you step.

Every 19 days, remove 1.5-2.5kg of pebbles until only 15kg of
pebbles are left.At this stage, remove only one pebble per day
until the basket is empty.

If you knock the basket over in training, fill it with 100kg and start
again....

[Dale Dugas]

The mud walking step is not the only step used in circle walking.

There are others, like the heel to toe stepping pattern which is called different things in different systems. Some people call is the Lion Step and others " Immortal Man Strolling". I walk my circle as in real life and I DO NOT walk with a mud step so I avoid that one. I use that step as a way to train how to kick someone in the shins very quickly without raising the foot, just shooting it out, Jeet Gerk(arrow kick).

[svenfeynord]

is it better to walk a straight line than a circle? seems like when you attack someone you would want to close space quickly and retreat quickly. i understand the moving from side to side quickly principle, just in my opinion it is more effective to move into the opponent quickly.

Of course my major study was karate so i may be wrong.

[LeeCasebolt]

is it better to walk a straight line than a circle? seems like when you attack someone you would want to close space quickly and retreat quickly. i understand the moving from side to side quickly principle, just in my opinion it is more effective to move into the opponent quickly.

Of course my major study was karate so i may be wrong.

And the answer is....


Sometimes.

It depends on a lot of things - your skills and intent, that of your opponent(s), surroundings, and so on. Sometimes you want to flank the opponent, avoid their power and hit them from a position of advantage. Sometimes it's quicker, easier, and just as effective to lunge straight at them.

Situational.