Three basic principles for improving Baguazhang’s internal strength

1, The combination of internal and external is the foundation for practicing the internal strength of Baguazhang.

Baguazhang, like Xingyiquan and Taijiquan, also pays attention to the external three combinations and internal three combinations. What needs to be emphasized here is that in the initial external three combinations, we must pay great attention to the whole strength of the body and overcome the half strength or partial strength. For example, when changing palms and changing styles, whether it is the wild geese that are bend and buckle, or the simple lifting of palms, the front palm penetrates or lifts up, and the palm behind must follow the body method. If it can’t keep up, it is half strength or partial strength. When the internal strength reaches a certain level, it is the same. For example, between the two palms of each fixed palm, if one side of the palm can’t keep up, it is called unbalanced strength.

Another important sign of the combination of internal and external is that the qi penetrates the upper part. Specifically, under the guidance of the internal three combinations of heart and mind, mind and qi, and qi and strength, the qi in the body flows freely like mercury, flowing to the internal organs and the joints of the limbs. The Seven Star Rod is an important weapon in Baguazhang. Why is there mercury inside? It is in line with the principle of the flow of mercury in the body. For example, when we throw out a palm, the mind and the qi, the qi and the strength, the internal qi penetrates to the upper part like mercury, and hits the opponent heavily. Similarly, when the Seven Star Rod is used to point or hit, the heavy hitting force is also penetrated to the upper part.

From the perspective of combat, with the whole strength of the inside and outside and the mercury strength flowing freely, the skill will be greatly improved, and the rolling drilling strength, shocking and explosive strength mentioned in Baguazhang will be gradually developed. The author believes that when the internal strength of Baguazhang comes out, it has the corresponding ability from the perspective of combat. This is the reason why the predecessors of Baguazhang could become masters in a few years in the past.

2, Keeping the center is the rule of practicing the internal strength of Baguazhang.

“Laozi” said “too much talk is exhausting, it is better to keep the center”, keeping the center means to keep quiet in the heart. In the early stage of practicing, keeping the center refers to the line from the pubic region to the perineum. In the advanced stage of internal power, it mainly refers to the heart space with the Tanjin point as the center. The heart belongs to fire and belongs to the Li Gua in the Eight Diagrams. The Li is empty in the center. People usually talk about refining essence into qi in the lower dantian, refining qi into spirit in the middle dantian, and refining spirit into emptiness in the upper dantian. In the end, the void must be shattered and the void must be refined and integrated with the Tao. Why is it that the middle dantian is refining qi into spirit? Because before the formation of internal power, people practiced in an empty frame, so their minds and thoughts had nothing to rely on, and it was easy to form chaotic thoughts. When there is internal qi, especially when the internal qi is full and flowing like water and mercury, the mind and thoughts will have a place to settle, and the heart will slowly calm down. At this time, “the spirit is kept inside, embracing the origin and keeping the unity”, “reaching the extreme of emptiness, keeping stillness”, the internal qi will slowly diffuse like water ripples, the body will become more and more spacious with practice, the heart will feel more and more comfortable, and the spirit will feel more and more full. On the contrary, if you pay too much attention and use your Qi at this stage, it is easy to impact the internal organs, which is not good for health. As the saying goes, “pay attention, not Qi, if you pay attention, you will stagnate.” There is a saying in the martial arts world: the greater the Kung Fu, the faster you die. The reason is related to excessive use of Qi and unscientific force. Whether the internal power can be cultivated to a new level, keeping the towel is an important rule.

3, Tao is the highest realm of Baguazhang practice.

Han Jie, the successor of Fan School Baguazhang, said that the Baguazhang passed down by Dong Haichuan: “The sea is blessed with longevity and the mountains are eternal, strong and resolute to establish the foundation of the country. Changming Guangda Continent, morality builds Wuji.” The twenty words are not just for ranking, and the “morality builds Wuji” in it contains the meaning of Wuji Bagua. There is a special Wuji practice in Fan School Baguazhang. My understanding of the meaning of “morality builds Wuji” is to enter the Wuji Dao through moral cultivation. The practice of advanced internal power Baguazhang is mainly a process of cultivating the mind and cultivating the nature. We experience a process of looseness, dispersion, communication and emptiness in internal power practice. That is, from the relaxation of the body to the dispersion, circulation and emptiness of the internal energy, there are feelings of numbness, heat, swelling or one of them. Wang Anping, a master of Yiquan, said that the circulation of internal energy is divided into three levels: skin circulation, internal organ circulation and bone marrow circulation. The same is true for Baguazhang practice. Take the stimulation of the upper dantian as an example. It is also accompanied by the process of internal energy heat expansion. Through heat and expansion, the upper dantian centered on the Xuanguan is gradually opened and becomes empty. The three dantians are empty and become one. The whole body is transparent and the scene of formlessness and imagelessness will appear. The scene of the whole body being transparent and formless appears to be the emptiness of the body, but in fact it is a process of dual cultivation of sex and life. Life is our flesh and body, and the life palace is at the life gate of the body. The sex palace is at the Xuanguan on the head. Sex refers to the thoughts and spirits produced by the brain. It is divided into the acquired consciousness and the innate primordial spirit. The consciousness is the various consciousnesses, desires, and distracting thoughts formed after birth; the primordial spirit is a little innate spiritual root left to us when we are just born, the source of the burning of acquired life and the perpetual reproduction. “Those who cultivate their spiritual roots and calm their minds are practicing Taoism; those who strengthen their spiritual roots and move their hearts are enemy generals.” In terms of health preservation, one must calm his mind, and in fighting against the enemy, one must move his heart, both of which are inseparable from the return of the primordial spirit. To cultivate the primordial spirit, one must eliminate the acquired consciousness and purify the mind. The way is to cultivate virtue, calm the mind, cultivate nature, and overcome all kinds of distracting thoughts and delusions. Taoism: “Sweep away all things, seek peace of mind, unite heaven and earth, and get nature.” At a high level, the main focus of cultivation is to cultivate nature, transform life with nature, bring life to the extreme, and finally go from extreme to infinite. Of course, from refining qi to transforming spirit to refining spirit to returning to emptiness and refining emptiness to merging with Taoism, it is a long and complicated practice process, which requires opportunity, wisdom, understanding, etc., but Tao follows nature, it is in line with the law, it is a necessary practice process and ultimate goal, and it may also be a goal that we cannot achieve in our lifetime, but we are working hard, challenging the body, and looking for a new self.

Bagua Step​First practice straight mud step, and when you are able to wade steadily, practice walking in circles to wade in mud; then learn to stand in Bagua Posture, and then learn to practice palm. From not being able to wade in the beginning, practice being able to wade in the mud steadily. Mud-walking step is conducive to the downward movement of qi, and mainly practices the horizontal movement of the center of gravity. It is more difficult than the straight horizontal movement of Xingyi because it requires walking in circles, and the center of gravity of the human body must move in a horizontal circle. After practicing Bagua Step well, you will naturally be able to integrate it, and it will not be difficult to move the center of gravity horizontally in different directions. You can move the center of gravity horizontally in one direction and transfer the entire weight to one point, so as to obtain a good striking effect. Standing frame and walking in the post, guard the inner heart and stabilize the middle, and focus on the eight essentials outside. The body moves but the mind does not change, like a piece of wood floating on water, and the qi flows. The step of mud-walking step is like walking normally, but the body is still in the shape of three folds like the three-body posture. Walking is the basis of mud-walking step. After practicing walking, walking in circles will have a multiplier effect. The practice method of walking is: 1. Keep the body upright and relaxed, sink the shoulders and elbows, hold the chest and stretch the back, etc. 2. Press the palms down to the Dantian, as if pressing a floating wood in the water; 3. Bend the knees and squat to a suitable height; 4. Put the center of gravity on the left hip, push the ground with the right foot, and step forward; 5. Switch the center of gravity between the left and right hips, and walk forward straight; 7. Rub the knees and step on the shins, with the soles of the feet rising and falling flat. When practicing for the first time, do not seek speed. The Bagua step may seem chic and elegant, but it is actually steady and strong. To achieve this requirement, you must take every step carefully, and you can walk and turn freely after becoming proficient. Slow practice is different from discontinuous practice. It is like flowing clouds and water, although it is slow but continuous. It is necessary to break the form but not the intention, and break the intention but connect the spirit. Press the palms down with the intention of Dantian, and after a long time, you will feel a sense of agitation, and the knees will have the intention of pushing up. The feet are like walking in the mud. When lifting, it is like pulling the legs in the mud, and when falling, it has the intention of stepping on the ground. The center of gravity is changed in time. After practicing for a long time, you will feel relaxed and free, and it will be easier to master it when practicing on the circle. Walking in circles is a unique, simple, efficient and important skill of Bagua. In traditional Bagua, you first walk eight steps, and then walk smaller steps as you become more proficient. The old eight steps are equivalent to sixteen steps today. One step is for one Gua position, which is equivalent to two steps for one Gua position today. A circle with a diameter of five feet is walked in eight steps. The inner foot goes straight out, and the outer foot buckles inward. The outer foot buckles inward and can buckle and turn at any time. The inner foot goes straight out and can turn outward at any time to deal with enemies outside the circle. Keep your head straight and your body relaxed, sink your shoulders and drop your elbows, keep your abdomen full and your chest open, and wrap your legs around your crotch. Press your hands down on your Dantian, as if pressing a floating log. The body should be like sitting in a sedan chair, not leaning up and down, not falling forward or backward, tilting left or right, with the soles of the feet empty, and the five fingers grasping the ground when landing. The front of the feet is empty and the back is solid. The walking is like flowing water, and the steps are like wading through mud. The mind is focused, the qi enters the Dantian, supporting the eight sides, and the body is like twisting a rope. After being stable and accurate, seek speed. Lunge with the front leg, move the center of gravity to this leg, follow the back leg, and lift the back leg with the hip. At this time, the back leg must be relaxed, and the legs must be clamped when walking to achieve results. Seek change in stability. When walking in the mud, you need to be steady and low-key, and slowly experience walking and turning with the hips. When practicing, the speed is slow and the steps are low. The front foot walks in the mud like twisting a hemp rope, and walks with the hips clamped. If you walk and turn correctly, you will feel a warm feeling in the back of the waist. Turn the frame lower, the slower the better. When practicing, you cannot squat but sit. Squatting will stagnate the waist, while sitting will make the waist active. Use bricks to surround a circle with a diameter of 2 meters. The bricks are placed flat on the ground. There should be no space in the middle. The top of the head and shoulders are loose, the back is tight, and the chest is empty. Both hands can be clasped in front of the chest. Turn the body 90 degrees inward to face the center of the circle, be alert, be careful, and highlight stability, slowness, uniformity, exploration, and solidity. The body outside the mud can be relaxed and quiet as one with the body in the mud. Try to walk with the soles of your feet close to the ground, almost rubbing but not rubbing. After a long time, you will feel it in your feet, waist, chest, abdomen, and palms. Sit on your legs and walk for two hours a day. You will feel “only seeing objects floating, but not seeing the water flow”. When walking, you should be light and steady, and when you land, you should be firm. Only in this way can you be flexible. First, squat down, with your feet flat and level, and do not turn your hooves and show your palms. Second, you should move forward like a boat pole, with the front foot like a boat and the back foot like a pole. Third, you should rub your knees and shins with the scissor-legged mud-wading step. When your legs alternate, they should be like scissors, with the inner thighs rubbing against each other, the inner knees and the inner ankles of both legs rubbing against each other, and your feet should not be raised high, and the lifted foot should not be higher than the ankle of the standing foot. Fourth, you should be slow, you must be slow, start and end slowly, move forward slowly, and your whole body should be relaxed and heavy without any effort. Turn your palms for at least one and a half hours each time. Only by persisting can you achieve kung fu. When walking, pull your hips, and you will have everything. Steady as sitting in a sedan chair, moving like a floating log in the water, and steady as a mountain when changing positions. The lower body training method is to keep the thigh level. If you can reach the lower body, you will experience the charm of Baguazhang. Walking through mud is to test the strength. In actual combat, you can lift the opponent up with your feet. The purpose of grinding the shins is to experience walking in the mud and experience the resistance, not to really walk on the ground. The purpose of grinding the shins against each other is to open up the meridians of the lower limbs and to keep the center and use the center, to prevent the opponent from inserting his legs between my legs, and to naturally step directly into the opponent’s center when attacking. The two feet should walk on the ground to train the friction strength of the feet. If the feet rub against the ground, you will immediately feel strong in your body, and you will feel like you are filled with lead when punching. This is the correct way to practice strength from the feet. What is walking is the waist strength, which is dominated by the waist. At the beginning, it is even, and after slowly coordinating and coherent, the hard strength is brought out with the mind. Only such Ming Jin has the characteristics of hardness and softness, and has actual combat power. The Bagua Gudang step uses the swaying of the waist and abdomen to enhance the power of lower limb movement, and hides the sweeping force. The mud-walking step is not a foot-lifting exercise, but a movement in the mud without lifting the foot. Imagine practicing routines in the water with strong resistance, and imagine moving the body under great resistance. It is good for sharpening the sense of skin and controlling small muscle groups. The Bagua walking step seeks stability of the center of gravity during movement. The inner foot is parallel, and the angle formed with the outer foot is about 45 degrees. If the angle between the two feet is greater than 45 degrees, it becomes straight and loses the power of external support. It is easier to be dragged by others in fighting, or lose balance due to one’s own inertia. The two feet cross and run, starting and ending at the same level; when starting, do not lift the heel first, use the hip to lead the knee, and the knee to lead the foot, and the inner ankle bones of the two feet rub against each other; the two feet should be buckled and swung clearly, and the two knees should be closed and opened. When landing, there should be a sense of friction with the ground, and the step is like the abyss. When the two feet rise and fall, they should be pulled out of the mud or float lightly on the mud, using the buoyancy of the mud to shift the center of gravity. The whole body is like twisting a rope, with the upper and lower parts united. When practicing for the first time, it should be slow, steady, loose and flexible; seek to be natural, and do not make the body too stiff, but also not loose. Quick step is also called natural step. The way to walk is to slightly sink the body, and the feet do not need to rise and fall flat, just like walking normally. It is a practical step when it is used. The tornado is evolved from the swing and buckle step. Its fighting method generally requires a single foot to rotate more than 360 degrees, first buckle, then swing outward, and then drive the waist and hips to rotate outward. The mud-walking step should be a means of practicing rather than the purpose. The palm turns start with the shape of pushing a mill. Imagine the whole strength from the hands to the feet when pushing a mill, but there is no grinding when practicing, so the whole strength and twisting force are practiced in the mud. The practitioner needs to focus on practicing strength rather than just thinking about the steps. Bagua footwork is flexible and hard to grasp. It moves according to the four images and eight trigrams. In actual combat, it moves forward and backward quickly, with palms, fists, belts or pushes, and the force is mainly internal force. The swing and buckle step, the foot swings outward and the foot buckles inward. The walking method is similar to the quick step, which is the source of Bagua hidden leg. Because every time you swing and buckle, you can change to point, kick, step, hook, lift, shovel, rub, scrape and other methods, or lock the enemy’s legs to make them lose weight and fall or unable to retreat. The hidden leg method is very concealed. When practicing, you must pay attention to it consciously and count the enemy during the swing and buckle. Basic requirements: 1. Basic body shape requirements; 2. Use the waist and hips to lead the legs and feet; 3. Swing big and buckle small; 4. Swing with the knees, and buckle with the knees; 5. The steps are level; 6. Pay attention to the mutual conversion of the center on the two hips. When turning 360 degrees with a big bend and a big buckle, the standing foot cannot step on the ground with the body. Only after the swing and buckle foot touches the ground, the standing foot can move. The swing and buckle step plays a very important role in actual combat. Many technical movements require very skilled swing and buckle steps to complete. It is also led by the hips, not just the toes. There are two types of buckle steps: two steps, three steps and four steps. Stop after each step, count breaths and practice. Stop enough before stepping, and then move on. The back foot walks in a straight line, and the front foot turns inward to walk in the mud, moving like walking in the mud. Pushing is to connect with the ground force and move forward, and buckling is to change direction and cut to the edge of the circle. The focus of practice is that the waist and hips do not fluctuate, and the toes are pressed down but not curled up. The chicken-shaped step of Bagua is a single-weight step. The key is to move the step with the body, and move the body first when moving the step. It seems that the step is mysterious, but it is actually the change of body movement, and the step is led by the body. This step is rooted in internal strength, which can make the opponent misjudge the distance. It is used in actual combat to grab points and practice positions. It is mysterious and extremely helpful for exerting strength. Without lifting the root and showing the palm, the height of the lower abdomen is almost unchanged. Whether the front foot lands or not, it is possible to turn left, right, or retreat. After you have walked backward, your posture is the same as when you walked forward, so you can move forward immediately. Breathe naturally, and if you can walk ten or eight miles like this, no one can knock you down unless you are hit hard in the vital parts.