Originally posted by Jotaro Joestar
This question is for everyone who practices Pa Kua/Ba Gua
How many rules are there in the Pa Kua that you practice and/or taught.
We have something like 64, but they are not all enforced.
Perhaps listing the 64 rules could help to clarify whether people are practicing according to them
It may be that many people are doing just that, but referring to the rules you speak of in different terms.
Why does your school not enforce all of them?
Originally posted by Zen-Hydra
Shaolin-Do is a school. The art taught is Shaolin kung fu in its many forms. Bagua, Xingyi, Taiji, Black Tiger, White Crane, Mantis, etc are all comprised of different exercises, teachings, meditations, and forms that make them styles unto themselves.
So how many styles are you taught? Are you taught the entire style? Please educate those of us who are ignorant of what is taught in Shaolin-Do
We are not taught a mish-mash of random techniques, but we are exposed to many different styles.
Now you say you are exposed to many different styles. What does that mean? Are you learning the entire style as you imply in the first quote fragment above, or are you simply familiarized with them?
There is a great deal of (for example) Bagua material, and one could spend their life dedicated to developing their skills in this style.
If there is that much material, why learn the other aspects of the art? Do they all come together, coalescing into one comprehensive art later on down the line? Or is the study of the Three Classics an optional thing, thereby indicating that there is a main Shaolin-Do art that is taught and learned through the more advanced levels...? What if someone doesn't specialize in the Three Classics? What art are they studying then?
At Shaolin-Do you learn a basis in various external kung fu forms to lay down the ground work. This begins to prepare you mentally and physically for what comes later. When one becomes a disciple (at 1st black), then they are finally done with the prep. work and can begin learning the more demanding styles (including the internal styles).
What do you mean by more demanding styles? How many styles are offered in a Shaolin-Do school?
Shaolin-Do offers some curriculum outside it's normal teaching structure in the form of seminars. This allows students to be exposed to seldom taught forms, and higher level material (such as Bagua) that may be many years down the road for them otherwise.
So, do I understand you correctly by reading that higher level material is being taught to junior students before they are ready for it normally? Im confused by this...
As far as your problems with me go, after reviewing all of my posts, Im not apologizing for a thing. I stand my ground, since my posts were not inflammatory at all. I first pointed out that it seemed inconsistent that the commonly held understanding was that SD had 500+ forms (often substantiated by SD or former SD students here). You replied. I pointed out that the Three Classics were not Shaolin in origin. You replied that the arts had been taught at the Fukien Shaolin temple. Then you digressed and began talking about the Shaolin temple at Wudang, which was refuted by my teacher who pointed out there never was a Shaolin temple at Wudangshan. You countered with the caveat that Chinese history, and specifically Chinese martial arts history, is a less than well-documented thing, and you simply wanted to agree to disagree. Then, when we did not comply with your wishes, you got testy and started accusing us of trying to force our gospel on you, when up to that point we had only been responding with the information we had. Sorry that you felt we had to either agree with you or agree to disagree. Personally, given that my teacher has been playing with this stuff longer than either you or I have been alive, I tend to gravitate toward his version of the truth. Given that in my own research on the spurious lineage connections to Shaolin that so many schools seem to lay claim to I have found little to support those claims, I find that a simple historical timeline, the likes of which my teacher has supplied, speak more loudly than hidden teachers, secret training, and lost lineages rediscovered
Perhaps you could tell us how long you have been training, and in what arts. That may help us to appreciate your insight to things. Your profile is rather empty, so it is difficult to gain an understanding of the origin of your perspective.
Gambarimasu.
:asian: :tank: :asian:
