by Francis Hriadil
Why are you studying the martial arts? What is your purpose? To learn forms? To learn fighting? To improve your health? I will not be addressing “sport martial arts” or “performance martial arts” here. The goals of those activities are fame and / or fortune, which are ego-based pursuits, and contrary to the philosophy, purpose, and principles of traditional martial arts practice, such as Qiang Shan Baguazhang.
Traditional martial arts does have forms. And, traditional martial arts does have fighting. But, martial arts studied properly, the traditional way, offers so much more than that.
You can learn forms anywhere. A form is a choreography, a formalized sequence of movements. There are literally thousands and thousands of forms. There may even be hundreds of forms, in each martial art style. Anyone can create a form. How many forms is enough for one to know? Martial arts, at least tradition martial arts, is not simply about learning form, after form, after form.
Shifu Bok-Nam Park teaches the Traditional Baguazhang Method known as Qiang Shan Baguazhang – the full traditional methodology that was passed down to him, as the formal inheritor of his teacher, Shifu Lu Shui-Tian.
Anyone can copy every form that Lu Shui-Tian taught, and that Shifu Park teaches. There are people out there teaching these forms. But, when you copy or learn forms this way, you obtain only the basic outline or framework of those forms. That is all you get, and that is all you have. You must understand that there is very little true value in just knowing a form.
Shifu Park says, “When you are always chasing ‘the new, the new, the new’, the old forms you know, you just simply ‘forget, forget, forget’.” This is nothing but a waste of your time and your money. You know many forms; but, know nothing well or deeply. You are just a collector of forms. Is this all that you want? Is this what you are spending your precious time and money on? Just a collection of forms?
Shifu Park has remarked that knowing a few forms that you “understand deeply” is more valuable than knowing many forms that you simply “just know”. Shifu Park has been teaching traditional Bagua for most of his adult life. He began teaching Bagua in Korea in 1971, and has spread the Bagua of Lu Shui-tian throughout the world. And, he has noted that, throughout his life and his teaching, the many people he has encountered don’t seem to think very much about this.
In whatever martial art you practice, or that you are considering, how would you answer the following questions:
- Do you understand, or want to understand, the role that forms practice plays in the traditional martial arts?
- Do you know the two ways that any form is used?
- When you do a form, do you just think “right, left, up, down, …” or “1, 2, 3, 4, …”, or do you envision what the form represents?
- Is your form a “live” form or a “dead” form? Do you know what the difference is?
- Do you know that there is more than one kind of internal power? Do you know how to properly generate and use each kind of power?
- Do you think that traditional forms practice has little or no value in fighting? If so, what is your basis for this view? Do you know how forms should be used?
- Do you understand natural principles and how they apply in a practical way to your martial practice? If your understanding of natural principles is only theoretical, how does this benefit your actual practice?
- Do you understand natural rhythm and the fundamental role that it plays in proper exercise practice?
- Do you understand the critical role that your mind plays in your practice?
- Do you understand how to adjust your practice based on your body’s needs?
- Does your teacher follow tried and true natural principles or his / her own thinking and ideas?
- Do you follow tried and true natural principles in your own practice, or do you follow your own thinking and ideas?
You need to think seriously about this. If you can’t answer these kinds of important questions, what kind of understanding do you really have about your practice, or any practice you are considering? What value have you really obtained for your time, money, and effort? You will not be able to answer these kinds of questions unless, and until, you acquire a deep understanding of your body and your practice.
With a deep understanding of your body and your practice, which can only be acquired through proper exercise experience, you will possess the knowledge and wisdom necessary to adjust your practice to maximize the benefits and meet your body’s changing needs throughout your entire lifetime. On the other hand, if questions such as these are not of interest to you, then proper traditional martial arts practice is not for you. But, this is your choice to make.
I will not and cannot give you the answers to these questions here, except to point out that a traditional form, and traditional practice, was not created for show, or sport, or entertainment. It was created for two important purposes. First, to develop and improve the health of the body. And, second, as a live encyclopedia of self-defense. Proper traditional practice is not like many current, modern, popular western exercise practices where you perform a physical exercise and your mind is somewhere else. You may be listening to music or audiobooks on your headphones, or watching videos on videoscreens; but, your mind is not particularly involved in your practice or your exercise. In this regard, you are separating your mind and your body in your exercise, and fundamentally curtailing the benefits that you can achieve from that exercise.
It is beyond the scope of this brief article to even begin to answer the questions I am asking you to think about here. That is a journey of discovery that you must make under the watchful guidance and teaching of a qualified, experienced instructor. For those interested in pursuing this further, you can contact Shifu Park’s Bagua Association and certified instructors, which and who are provided at http://www.pa-kua.com and https://ba-gua.org/ .
Do you want true and lasting value in your practice, for the time, money, and effort that you are spending? Or, are you just satisfied with “knowing” many forms, and / or “knowing” many fighting techniques? It depends on what you want. This is a personal decision you will have to make. In either case, I wish you well in your practice.
