The Pakua Chang Journal is the main reference on the art. It has a somewhat mytical status for its duration and the breadth of the information it conveys. Bāguàzhăng (八卦掌) has developped through inoumerous families which makes an overview of its styles quite a complicated topic. The curiosity of its editor, Dan Miller, made that took an agnostic attitude and was able to reach for many different styles. His persistence made it run for seven years, allowing the time for a broad coverage.
The magazine stopped running in 1997, and is now sold as a CD-ROM archive with the full set of editions. This makes it almost a mini-encyclopedia of the styles that were reachable in the 90's. Beyond the editions themselves, in the set that is currently being sold there is an editor's letter included. It is quite interesting for the description of Dan Miller's own history. One point in particular drew my attention: the reasons why he stopped editing the magazine. In short it was so absorbing that it was polluting his training. At some point he stopped being a publisher, journalist and teacher; he became a student of the art.
The magazine stopped running in 1997, and is now sold as a CD-ROM archive with the full set of editions. This makes it almost a mini-encyclopedia of the styles that were reachable in the 90's. Beyond the editions themselves, in the set that is currently being sold there is an editor's letter included. It is quite interesting for the description of Dan Miller's own history. One point in particular drew my attention: the reasons why he stopped editing the magazine. In short it was so absorbing that it was polluting his training. At some point he stopped being a publisher, journalist and teacher; he became a student of the art.
