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Lo De Xiu 2002
As an avid Gao style Ba Gua man I relished the opportunity to
train again with Lo De Xiu. This year his students Aarvo, Ed
and Herve organised a set of seminars that would cover the beginner
levels and the more intermediate.
The seminars in London were based in Kentish Town and Elephant
and Castle and Canterbury. As I did not attend the Xing-Yi
and Tai Chi seminars I will have to omit any comments on these.
The first seminar was for the intermediate class. With a
tired looking Lo I wasn’t sure weather the jet lag would
affect the class. As ever I learnt a lot.
The first point Lo made was that there are five areas to
study in the Gao Yi-Sheng Syllabus.
Hand methods
Tien Gan (Heavenly Stems)
Straight Line Forms
Circle Forms
Two Person Practice
Because of the many reasons people study Ba Gua, Lo made
the point that 3 of these were important to practice if
you were not so purely martial orientated.
These are the Hand methods, the Tien Gan and the circle
forms. It was fair to point this out as Internally based
Ba Gua is, these 3 contain the obvious alignment and Dan
Tien exercises. The techniques of the hand methods show
how weight is translated between the legs and the arms and
also the shape of the torso.
The Tien Gan contain many of the Dan Tian movements and
consequently endow the Circle form with its subtle internal
power.
The Circle forms have the footwork and the patterns of internal
and cardiovascular work.
With that settled hand forms were covered with some core
exercises that help limber up and settle rhythm of the body
co-ordination.
The focus on playfulness was stressed a few times as we
progressed through the seminar. We could link the palms
of the circle form by establishing a good mental focus by
allowing the sense of play to dissolve any tension that
might discourage good style. Lo showed us that we could
learn intelligently by focusing on the basics of weight
distribution in the mud step. I think the idea of observation
would encourage self-correction correct mental attitude
is achieved (that being a playful but intelligent one).
We moved onto some good training routines that were revealing.
These soft sparring techniques helped show the function
of the forms and made sense of some of the ways the internals
could be linked to the palm methods.
It was a very good chance to see the simplicity of the
palm change in action. Lo has a good ability to translate
his obvious enthusiasm into attainable concepts for those
near and far from achieving them.
It was also emphatic to see his focus on the core concepts
in discussion and body movement.
Seminars 2 and 3
These were open to every one.As it proved for both seminars
there were no absolute beginners. There was a general approval
that we would not be repeating what most already had been
told about the basics.
continued >>
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| Lo chose to discuss the simple methods of meditation that
help the form. The relaxed state of mind encourages good practice
and correct body shape – mostly natural shapes that
other martial arts tend to over complicate.
Once Lo had showed simple rules for the movement of the concentration
away from the mind to the waist we all felt less tense and
the overall response from the remaining teaching time was
very effective. I was personally amazed by everyone’s
learning pace.
Lo reviewed the first four palm changes (not including single
palm) with everybody focused on the simple explanations given.
It was made easier as Lo participated with everybody getting
the chance to see Lo’s interpretation of the movements.
Ed Hines helped those who had not covered the other palm changes
to teach the smooth body palm in detail. Aarvo Tucker joined
in correcting postures.
The other complicated palm sets were shown in a very open
manner that was even paced in speed weight translation and
relaxed. Again I think the method behind this way helps all
to achieve an internal connection when we venture into the
real subtleness of these movements. Lo gave us all a sensible
and practical way to bridge the gap between repetitions of
external movements into true internal grace.
The real way to do this is not just mindless performance but
awareness supported by a clear mind, a sense of continual
movement, and pace….. And practice of course!
At the end of the Final seminar there was time remaining
to askquestions. Most people got a good answer. It was helpful
especially since Lo’s English speaking had improved.
Overall I found that his teaching was very informative. Lo
left us with some good building blocks for improving many
aspects of training. These were mind and body related. Focusing
on the basics of what was shown to all meant that everybody
has a chance to intelligently improve their Ba Gua. I’m
sure that those who were there won’t forget these seminars.
Nick Cumber 24/07/02
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nick cumber
Nick runs the Kentish Town Ba Gua Group with the help of other
established students.
When hes not wearing out grass circles in the park he can be
found making websites as a profession.
Other interests are Art History and Italian cooklng!
nick.cumber@palmchange.com
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