Street Videos on Bāguàzhăng Applications (八卦掌打法)Aplicações de Bāguàzhăng(八卦掌打法)

Pakua Chang Journal

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.

Chapter 43 (四十三) from the Dào​dé​jīng (道德經)Capítulo 43 (四十三) do Dào​dé​jīng (道德經)

四十三

天下之至柔，
馳騁天下之至堅。
無有入無間，
吾是以知無為之有益。
不言之教，
無為之益
天下希及之。

老子

"The softest thing in the world dashes against and overcomes the hardest;
that which has no substantial existence enters where there is no crevice.
I know hereby what advantage belongs to doing nothing.
There are few in the world who attain to the teaching without words, and the advantage arising from non-action."

Unless noted otherwise, all quotations of classical texts and accompanying translations come from the Chinese Text Project

"O mais suave cavalga sobre o mais duro sob o céu
A não-existência pode penetrar no sem-espaço
Por isso conheço o benefício da não-ação
O ensinamento da não-palavra
O benefício da não-ação
Sob o céu, são poucos que os alcançam"

Tradução de Wǔ Rǔqīng (武汝清)

Ward-off Jin (掤勁) from The Secret of the Eight Methods (八法秘訣)

掤勁義何解？如水負行舟。
先貫丹田氣，次要頂頭懸，
全體彈簧力，開合一定间。
任有千斤重，飄浮亦不難。

吳公藻

"How to explain the correct meaning of Ward-off (Peng) Jin? It is like the water carrying a moving boat.
First one fills up Qi in the Dantian. Second, push up the head is as it was hanging.
The entire body generates a springing force, opening and closing in a fixed timing.
It is not hard to make even one of thousand pounds of weight float."

By Wú Gōngzǎo (吳公藻), based on the translation by by Yang Jwing Ming (楊俊敏) presented in the book Tai Chi Secrets of the Wu Style (太極拳吳氏先哲秘要).

Sixth Secret Song (歌訣六) from the The Thirty-Six Songs of Baguazhang (八卦掌三十六歌)

歌訣六

穿時指掌貼肘行，
後肩改做前肩承。
莫要距離莫猶疑，
步入襠兮是準繩。

"When boring, the palm moves straight forward closely along the elbow
The rear shoulder transforms and continues as the front shoulder
One shall not separate nor hesitate,
To step into the opponent’s crotch is the standard."

Based on the translations by Yang Jwing Ming (楊俊敏) and Liang Shou You (梁守渝) in "Baguazhang - Theory and Applications" (峨嵋八卦掌) and by Frank Allen and Tina Chunna Zhang in "The Whirling Circles of Ba Gua Zhang"

Sūn Lùtáng (孫祿堂) in Wújí Stance (無極势)

The Song of the Shoulders (肩) in the Nine Songs of Xing Yi Quan (形意拳九歌) by Jiāng Róngqiáo (薑容樵)

肩

頭宜上頂，
肩宜下垂，
左肩成拗，
右肩自隨，
身力到手，
肩之所為。

薑容樵

"The head should push upwards.
The shoulders properly hang down.
The left shoulder is completely twisted.
The right shoulder will naturally follow.
The body’s strength will arrive at the hands.
It is the shoulder’s position that allows it."

From the book Xing Yi Mother Fists (形意母拳), by Jiāng Róngqiáo (薑容樵), based on the translation by Joseph Crandall

Five Elements in Xíngyì Spear (形意五行枪) and Long Spear (大枪) by Shā Jùnjié (沙俊傑)

Excerpt from Variations in Tactics (九變) in The Art of War (兵法)

故用兵之法，無恃其不來，恃吾有以待之；無恃其不攻，恃吾有所不可攻也。

孫子

"The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable."

Unless noted otherwise, all quotations of classical texts and accompanying translations come from the Chinese Text Project

The Insubstantial Jin leads the Crown Upwards (虛領頂勁) from The Ten Important Points of Tai Chi Chuan (太極拳十要)

虛領頂勁

頂勁者，頭容正直，神貫于頂也。不可用力，用力則項強，氣血不能流通，須有虛靈自然之意。非有虛領頂勁，則精神不能提起也。

楊澄甫

"The crown upward Jin means the head looks upright and the spirit reaches the crown. One should not allow to use force. The use of the force makes the crown stiff and the Qi and blood cannot circulate smoothly and fluidly. The Yi of the insubstantial must be present, agile, natural. Without the insubstantial Jin to lead the crown upward, then the spirit of vitality cannot be raised."

By Yáng Chéngfǔ (楊澄甫), based on the translation by by Yang Jwing Ming (楊俊敏) presented in the book Tai Chi Secrets of the Yang Style (太極拳楊氏先哲秘要) and various translations on the internet