It is difficult to learn both tai chi and bagua - but absolutely worth the effort!! With time, I expect to be able to fully differentiate one art from the other without having to think about it and also not mix them up in practice. They are both so completely different, one teaching to yield, empty the centre and act - the other teaching to move your centre and act. Baguazhang is sneaky, like moving in a shadow. Tai chi teaches to yield to the incoming force as a tactic.

 It can be a lot to take in at times, however, when you 'get it', the feeling is fantastic. Applying an application on an opponent correctly is both exciting and surprising. The effect from so little work and being relaxed [or trying to be relaxed] is incredible. It is absolutely worth it, but it obviously requires more practice than learning one art alone. Reading, relaxing and practice are the key elements to be able to learn both in my opinion.
 
 (Barnaby Baron)

Does everything need to have a function? 

Humanity is obsessed with being productive. 
We fill our living spaces with junk, and then work harder and harder to acquire more and more.
But why? What is it all in aid of? Do we need all this stuff? Why are we doing this?

A functional life may sound fulfilling and useful, but it also sounds mechanical. 
Where is the fun, the pleasure, the creative spirit?
Do you explore who you are? Or what you want from life?

Becoming an instructor takes a lot of time: literally years...
You need to be closely guided by a skilled and knowledgeable instructor.
It is easy to mistakes.

Your instructor will set you many tasks to determine your attitude.
Laziness is your worst enemy.

An instructor works far harder than a student.
If you lack the motivation to do what is necessary, you would make a very shabby instructor.

We are told that we need to make a contribution. To be useful, to be a tool. Why is this?
Has humanity become happier by acting like a tool?
Do people feel worthwhile and needed because they have a role to fill?

As an adult we are asked to define our contribution, to be something useful. 
This may sound positive but how many people are doing things they do not want to do?
How many people are fulfilled?

Often the pursuit of one action has an unforeseen side effect. Unforeseen consequences.
Pollution. Toxic waste. Garbage. Stress. Injury. Physical strain. Psychological problems.

The Industrial Revolution reduced the human being to a cog in the machine.
Is this all we are? Really? 

We are told that life must have meaning and purpose, but who says so?
And why do you choose to believe them?
Are they saying what you want to hear?
Is that it?
Maybe we do not have a purpose. Maybe our actions are largely meaningless.
Do you know for sure?

Hui Tzu said to Chuang:

I have a big tree
The kind they call a stink tree.
The trunk is so distorted,
So full of knots,
No one can get a straight plank
Out of it. The branches are so crooked
You cannot cut them up
In any way that makes sense.

There it stands beside the road.
No carpenter will even look at it.

Such is your teaching-
Big and useless.

Chuang Tzu replied:

Have you ever watched the wildcat
Crouching, watching his prey-
This way it leaps, and that way,
High and low, and at last
Lands in the trap.

But have you seen the yak?
Great as a thundercloud
He stands in his might.
Big? Sure,
He can't catch mice!
So for your big tree. No use?

Then plant it in the wasteland
In emptiness.

Walk idly around,
Rest under its shadow;
No axe or bill prepares its end.
No one will ever cut it down.

Useless? You should worry! 
(Chuang Tzu) 

The best way to prepare your body for class and daily life is to:

1. Show restraint
2. Be playful and friendly
3. Do not get caught-up in fear
4. Exercise your body gently every day
5. Take some time to bring the mind 'home'

If you pull a muscle or hurt yourself during martial arts training, it is important to rehabilitate slowly and carefully.
Combine rest with gentle exercise.

'Constructive rest' (performed twice daily) is ideal.
Work through your qigong and stretching exercises cautiously; avoiding any extremes or discomfort.

Pain is a warning; do not ignore it. 

This is a one-way trip.
As soon as you notice an alternative way to live, you have changed. There is no turning back.
Even if you think to stop, the seeds of your transformation have already been planted, and will continue to grow.

Living a deliberate life is an opportunity for self-fulfilment, a chance to be you, to do what you want to do.
It is a chance to transcend pettiness and ego, to be free of your conditioning.
To die contented and happy. Without regret.

It is easy to get carried away during combat training. It is easy to be injured or cause injury.

By remaining composed, loose and friendly - safety can be encouraged.
Play, rather than fight.
Aggression has no place in our school.

 Sifu shows that the use of bagua in self defence is very effective and formidable. It is unpredictable for the attacker and extremely disorientating due to the movements and stepping of the defender. It is sneaky in its use of angles and finding openings. It offers many possibilities for the defender to counter attack. Bagua encourages lightness and mobility. It gets you out of the way fast and helps you deal with the potential chaos of multiple attackers. Good for people with smaller stature.

 (Rachel Waller)

Everybody feels fear.
It can be an overwhelming, overpowering experience, or merely anxiety.
This is normal and natural.

The main thing is to be present, in the moment.
Relax.
Place your mind on what is happening, rather than what you are anticipating.

Have faith in what you are learning, and avoid resisting.

Not many people actually think to live a deliberate life.
They just do what their friends do, or their family, or the people on TV, in the newspapers, in the magazines.
Instead of waking up and noticing the cage of convention that surrounds us all, most people just carry on sleeping.

Waking up is not easy. It may even prove to be disheartening and lonely.
You will be one voice in a tornado of noise, one person swimming against the current.
No one around you will notice, care about what you are doing, or offer you support.

People may even try and persuade you to stop.
They may invite you to set-aside your quest and re-join the ranks of the sleeping many.

Human beings have been civilised for a tiny fraction of the history of the species. Beneath the suits and dresses are primal genes. Even if it never acted out, the potential for violence is at the core of the games people play, a kind of hidden text.

Arrogant people employ it as a threat, timid people fear to confront it. Both conditions are out of balance and create trouble. Martial ability enables one to understand and come to terms with the subtextural violence, both in oneself and others.  It enables the practitioner to soften his hard edge and defuse of deflect the aggression of others. The deeper your kung fu, the less likelihood you will have to use it. Arrogance and fear draw trouble, internal power and centeredness bring forth wellbeing.

(Wolfe Lowenthal) 

We want to address an attack on a sliding scale of violence:

1. shuai jiao: fast and effective, a good deterrent

2. chin na: pain-infliction, suffocation, sprains, tears and breakages

3. striking: concussion, damage, internal injury

If shuai jiao does not work: chin na, if chin na does not work: strike... http://www.internalkungfu.co.uk/Freeformtriangle.htm 

Old news?

It is common for students in a martial arts class to tense-up.
This bad habit is often acquired at a young age.

The problem with tensing is that it locks the joints and stops the skeleton from moving freely.
Instead of falling to the floor in an organic, natural way... the body is stiff, brittle and rigid, and falls like a plank of wood.

There is a Chuang Tzu story about a drunken man falling out of a cart.
His inebriated state meant that he did not realise that he was falling, nor did he tense-up.
Consequently, he was not injured by the fall.
This is not promoting drunkenness or 'spacing-out'; but rather: relaxation.

The drunken man simply went with what was happening - without resistance - and was unharmed.

The human survival mechanism is referred to as 'the reptile brain'.It is the primitive part of our brain that deals with instinctive requirements rather than thoughts and desires.

When attacked, a human being experiences the 'fight or flight' response. You either defend yourself or you run away.

Our classes do not want people to freeze, run or become aggressive. We do not want to use the fight or flight response.There is an alternative.
The aim is to become composed and detached. Self-consciousness ceases. The mind becomes quiet and you are absorbed into the immediate.

When a student fails to train at home, they should commit a reasonable period of time before the lesson to preparing their body.
Loosen the joints, lengthen the muscles, improve flexibility.
Do not simply rush into combat.

Avoid a cursory workout; the time you commit to sensible training is an investment in your own wellbeing.

Training daily at home between lessons is the best way to avoid injury in or out of class.
A gentle daily workout will significantly strengthen your body.

Stronger muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments - combined with mobile joints - will enable your body to respond to adversity in a better way.

I am really enjoying learning baguazhang. Learning two different concepts of internal art really gives you a lot to think about and take in. The teaching method is exactly how I would want it to be. Focusing on one aspect of bagua one week, and then another aspect the next, never combining. You are clear and concise with your ideas, teachings and requests. I feel that this is vital to a student being able to learn. The student must be able to listen though or the teachings are pointless.

 Within the baguazhang class, I like the fact that there are no belts. Everyone has equal status, although different levels of capability. The class has a clear path; each class seems to have a message or a lesson to be learned. Not just learning 'something', but a specific lesson. I will always leave a bagua session with something new in my head. Again, I feel this is vital to keeping interest levels up without overdosing on information. I guess that this comes down to only teaching someone what they are capable of understanding.

 (Barnaby Baron)

Imagine a woodcutter with an axe...

If he hacks at the wood using great force and muscle strength, he will rapidly become tired.
The axe head has weight and so does the shaft.
When chopping, the woodcutter must propel the axe using his body.
If he softens the tension in his own frame, he can use momentum to swing the axe.
Tension in his muscles and joints will block movement.
It is the movement that produces momentum and the greater the momentum, the more powerful the stroke.

Think of an athletics event where a hammer, discus or shot putt is thrown...

The person moves their body in an arc, allowing the hammer to pull out from the body.
Centrifugal force draws the hammer around the arc, increasing its weight and power.

They move their body around the hammer, increasing momentum but sustaining the gravity.
Then they let go.
Striking in kung fu uses centrifugal power to gain momentum, then centripetal power to come back upon impact.

In self defence we do not aim to become nasty and cruel. Simply escape. Do only what is necessary.

Many kung fu students have a very balanced relationship with the world around them; animals, environment and people.
They refrain from hurting other people with words, actions or deeds.
Often, they are vegetarian and actively work to encourage other people to respect all life.

We can learn a lot from animals and can repay these lessons with kindness and compassion.

Some martial artists seek to be as fierce as an animal by copying the perceived behaviour of the beast.
Their emotions run wild, they lose control and become very aggressive.
This is not what we want in kung fu.

The kung fu person is not angry or aggressive; they are only doing what needs to be done.
Inwardly, the emotions are cool and relaxed, the mind quiet and expansive.
Their bearing suggests detachment combined with a physical readiness to act.

This is the animal way of martial arts: a potentially violent situation arouses animal instinct, which leads to fear, which activates the glands, which raises the heart rate, which engages the body, and it fights.

This is the human way of martial arts: a potentially violent situation instantly arouses the human ability to detect how best to handle the situation, without stressful anger, then the mind/body becomes tranquil and highly alert.

(Bruce Frantzis)

It is not enough to simply copy how an animal attacks. Nor is speed the answer.
Both body and mind must behave differently.
Neigong trains the body to move in a kung fu way; with connected, soft musculature and sensitivity.
Relaxation is imperative.

Unless your body is incredibly relaxed and balanced, it cannot move spontaneously in any direction.
Similarly, the mind must become quiet and alert.
Emotion must subside and awareness must grow considerably.
Mind, body and emotion are joined in every action - this joining is called shen.

Some martial arts have developed from the observation of animals.
Often the style may adopt similar strategies or body language to the animal.
In kung fu, the focus is upon the nature of the animal rather than just the physicality.

Consider: how does a snake attack?
It is not aggressive or anticipatory, it simply moves - spontaneously.
The attack is sudden and continues for as long as necessary.

We learn to adopt the same instantaneous approach.

'Fight or flight' is the term used to describe our instinctive response to serious danger.

Unfortunately, many people imbue situations with inappropriate import, and they are perpetually in a fight or flight condition.
There are very few situations in everyday life that are literally a matter of life and death.
Letting your animal nature rule you is not a good thing - it puts the body under stress and creates anxiety.

We train to be detached from violence, to remain calm and friendly.
By keeping a cool head and letting our body naturally do the work, we can work more effectively in the face of threat.
The reptile brain may move our bodies into action but it is not allowed to corrupt our temperament with aggression.