http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVVaEsWyVhE
This is a great example of some softer expressions of bagua energies in push hands/non-violent format from Kent Howard. I wish I had had this type of training when I pulled the night shift at the psych ward when I was younger.
Notice the sticking above combined with evasive footwork below. This is something that bagua brings to the table as far as push hands goes. He doesn’t just adopt some rooted posture and try to pull or push the opponent around. Those of you with toe-in and toe-out stepping in your taiji systems will also have access to these moves. Those of you who do not may be missing out on these types of movements.
Notice how Kent is able to take control without hitting the opponent. This is an extremely valuable skill.
My teacher told me one day that punching and kicking were great stuff, but a little crude. In order to have real skill, you need to be able to control the opponent without necessarily hurting them. This can even be done with xingyiquan, by the way.
What you wind up with is a wonderful aikido-like expression of Chinese IMA that has all the potential for damage because of your sticking to the enemy. But you have many options beyond simply violence.
I’ve become a bit obsessed with this way of training because I see this as a softer, but very workable approach, to IMA. Having skills like those shown in the video allows you to express your morals even in a conflict situation. There’s no need to just hurt people unless that’s called for.
Check out his other great videos.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Thomas // Oct 4, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Nice to see Kent’s work out there . . . thanks for the links to his video clips. I’d always been curious about him since reading about his training in Wang Shujin’s methods in the old PKC Journal.
2 Blake // Oct 5, 2007 at 1:03 am
Hello Mr. Chesser,
First, let me say that I love your blog. You write with both the beginner and advanced practitioner in mind, which allows for many to enjoy your posts. I have been following your blog for awhile now but this is my first post.
I love that you brought Mr. Howard to the forefront on your blog. Mr. Howard’s methods are closer to what I believe are the true intentions of martial art, that is, to stop fighting (Wu Shu) not to instigate aggression. In our UFC-NHB riddled world, the mentality is that aggression equals strength and compassion is weak. Hopefully more people will be able to further their training along the lines of Mr. Howard.
Thanks and keep up the excellent work!
-Blake
3 Kent Howard // Oct 7, 2007 at 5:43 am
I would like to point out the the fellow doing all the teaching is Dr. Doug Phillips. I am the big goofy guy being pushed around. I have some videos of Huang Jin-sheng doing Wang Shu-jin’s Bagua Zhang on YouTube.com also.
4 Patrick Parker // Oct 7, 2007 at 10:38 am
YES, YES, YES!
These are great videos. You’re exactly right about that being the essence of aikido. This guy is talking verbatim about the exact same principles and fundamental skills we drill in every class. We are using different words to describe the same thing.
5 Dave Chesser // Oct 7, 2007 at 11:53 am
Pat,
Yes, I was thinking it was the same. This is what I like drilling with my teacher. He’s always talking about going in an aikido-like direction, as shown somewhat in these clips. I’m even thinking of taking an actual aikido class near my house so I can further develop my material in this direction. Interesting that there’s this correspondence, eh?
Kent,
Thanks for the clarification and welcome to the blog. I was wondering which one you were.
6 Buddy // Oct 16, 2007 at 7:53 am
Hey Kent (BGG),
Good to see you here.
Buddy
7 MLK and the way of the peacful warrior // Jan 23, 2008 at 10:03 am
[...] Mokuren Dojo is running a blog carnival in celebration of MLK Day. The theme is being a peaceful warrior and conflict resolution. My submission was this post on Aikido-like Chinese IMA. [...]
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