The Whirling Circles of Ba Gua Zhang: The Art and Legends of the Eight Trigram Palm [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Level: Beginner

This is a clearly written, basic overview of BaGua. Essentially, it's written like an introduction of the subject to the Western culture-- a useful book for those who know little about BaGuaZhang. In the first part, we are treated to a very wide overview of BaGua's history, with a number of stories-- many with mystical flavor still intact. Given that BaGua is a relatively new martial art, the authors can go into some detail in a fairly short space-- roughly 15% of this book is history. They also, I think, fairly, speculate that the reason for much of BaGua's obscurity is the relative youth of this art-- what few masters that developed subsequently saw their skills lost over generations in the many Chinese cultural revolutions that ensued.

This is followed by instruction on basic concepts-- circle walking, stances, palm training, VERY rudimentary energetics. I guess I was hoping for more. For much more on biomechanics, see the books by Park Bok Nam. That being said, the instruction in this book is clearly stated.

Later, we are introduced to the Old Eight Palms of Cheng Shi family BaGua as interpreted by Liu Jing Ru. Some photos of Liu doing his stuff are included. Unfortunately, most of the photos are of the authors, and unlike on the cover, in the photos inside they are wearing very loose "tradiitonal" kung fu outfits that make it very difficult to discern what they are truly doing-- even basic spinal alignment. Me, I love going to seminars where the masters come out in sweats and a T-shirt. George Xu, for example, is famous for letting you put your hands practically anywhere on his body to feel what he is doing. The text of this book, while clear, is very basic.

Similarly, a basic overview of weapons, and a presentation of the Deer Horns Set (which is very similar to the empty hands set entitled "Cascading Palms" form, aka "Flexible Chain Palms" depending on your source-- which is a more advanced form in the system. Again, my same comments about clothing and content apply.

Incidentally, Grandmaste Liu has his own VCDs/DVDs and books now (all but one book in Chinese--available via Internet-- I got mine in SF Chinatown), and one can see him in action. He is quite good, and gives a fairly "pure" BaGua flavor. It is sometimes hard to find this flavor-- George Xu himself, for example, will admit his forms are all blends at this stage-- and his BaGua is heavily influenced by Hsing-I and Lan Shou, among others.

There is an overview of applications that is basic concepts but not really applications. Despite being familiar with BaGua applications myself, I had a hard time discerning what was really happening in the photos-- usually one or two stills for each application, and an explanation that basically said: "Thunder techniques have the quality of a shockwave..." Basically, not very helpful outside a a philosophical understanding of intention, but not the mechanics.

Finally, there is a translation of the Songs of BaGua-- historically the classic means of transmitting the basic principles of BaGua from generation to generation. Again, the translation is basic-- that is, without a lot of more in-depth discussion exploring details and experiences that might help the intermediate-advanced student.

This book did blend in concepts of BK Frantzis' water meditation techniques into circle walking to a more advanced levels-- concepts that I did not get even from Frantzis' two books on the subject. That alone gave me something to work on, and made this books worth it to me.

In summary, a good book as a reference to sequence for these particular forms, and especially good as a basic basic introduction to the BaGua concept, but not a hard core martial artist's book.

I have been a student of the martial arts for over 27 years, and have been a Bagua enthusiast for the last 10 years. This new book by Master Frank Allen and Tina Zhang is simply AMAZING!! Most martial arts books that give an overview of a particular art, tend to fall short in every category and leave the reader feeling unsatisfied. Such is not the case with The Whirling Circles of Ba Gua Zhang!
This book goes in depth into the history of the art, including anecdotes of the early masters that are both inspiring and entertaining. The basic training methods of Ba Gua are introduced and unlike most Ba Gua books, the Whys as well as the Hows are given.The book then explains the forms of Ba Gua, giving both history and explanations for the multitude of forms. A complete form is then introduced to get the reader started. The rest of the chapters of the book delve into the weapons of the art, where a Deer Horn Knife form is taught in its entirety, a VERY practical translation of the Ba Gua Zhang Classics,and then the meditational and energetic aspects of the art with reference to its Daoist roots.
All throughout the book, the benefits of Ba Gua are explained from the martial,health, and spiritual points of view. I have had the pleasure of personally training with the authors, and what I was most impressed with was their ability to translate their unique and effective teaching style into written format. Reading this book was ALMOST as fun, entertaining,humorous, and informative, as a private session with these amazing instructors!
I highly recommend this book to all martial artists!

Rather than just another impenetrable, desert-dry instruction manual, this useful and fun-to-read book combines a mix of patience and humor with an obviously deep connection to the internal arts. The photos that demonstrate positioning and posture may be small, but they're all crisp, and clearly explained in the text. The book moves logically, building on the fundamentals it lays out early on, after a fun opening segment detailing (in some depth!) the history and myths behind ba gua zhang; as a student of a different discipline, I nevertheless found it pretty simple to grasp and begin practicing stances and moves. Recommended!