Why circle-walk?
The training of the circle-walking builds your health and enables you to do all techniques with whole body power. The whole body united becomes very strong and can do all the practices of the system without injury. Otherwise, why would we spend so much time walking in circles?.
Effects of circle-walking
The main effect is to bring full circluation of blood and qi to all parts of the body and strengthen the tendons and ligaments throughout the body. When the whole body is umimpeded then disease and injuries will gradually disappear.
Another effect is to connect all the tendons, ligaments, and soft tisuue from the bottom of the feet through the body to where they connect to the skull. Circle-walking is designed so that at no point in the process do you lose whole body power, thus, you build whole body power when you circle-walk. If you have an error in a technique, you will find that this error occurs in your circle-walking, and that it will self-correct once you have fixed your circle-walking. All techniques in Ma Gui Bagua should ‘feel like you are circle-walking’. There is no difference in feeling between circle-walking and any other move. There must always be the same power and positions. Power is developed in the circle-walking. Later, fali movements are simple a test of the power of your body, the connectedness of the body. Once you get the circle-walk then nothing is new. All other moves express the circle-walk. If it wasn’t like this, then circle-walking would have no meaning.
Once you have developed this stability and power, then whether you do the techniques, routines, partner drills, or sparring, you will move with total control. Always circle-walk slowly for at least part of your training sessions, then the rest of your training can be done at the speed that you wish.
All movement types are present in the circle-walk. Fast and slow, hard and gentle, long and short. All movement principles are also present.
The slow circle-walking is not a ‘beginner basic’ that you stop doing as you get better. You will always do this practice. There are some specific drills that use a fast circle-walk, but his is not the normal practice. Slow circle-walking develops the qi and blood so that the tendons change. You cannot change the tendons without the support of the qi and blood.
How to circle-walk
When the upper body is released and the lower body is hard and strong and the body upright, the body is naturally in balance and comfortable. You should not be uncomfortable or suffering when circle-walking, but should want to walk more. All the requirements are to take the body and spirit to a natural, comfortable place.
Middle of the body
“Contain the chest and tighten the upper back, twist the lower back like a rope, lift the anal sphincter and breathe into the kidneys.”
Settle down the chest. Lets the ribs settle down towards the pelvic basin. Don’t cave in the chest, settle vertically, not forward.
“Have a turtle back.” The upper back is stretched wide, both sideways and up/down. Do not hump the upper back – open it evenly in all directions.
Keep the torso upright and centred, like a bag (not like a stick). It is not simply an upright body – the qi has to be centred, so that both internal and external are centred – this is not just a ‘requirement’, it is an ‘essence’. Then, when it turns, it is not twisted and weakened. A full bag remains full and rounded when it is twisted, it gets bigger and stronger. An empty bag just twists thinner and thinner.
Tuck the buttocks well in, but do not force this position. It should be natural and comfortable to do this, like sitting really relaxed on a chair or sleeping slightly curled up. This is the position that you naturally take when you are tired, as it allows the circulation to flow and helps you recover. It is like a bottle of water, don’t squeeze the bottom, leave it round. Lift the anal sphincter like putting a plug in the bottle.
Bring the hip joints into the body, both back-front and side-side. This is called ‘suck in’ or absorb (xikua), which is similar to but slightly different to releasing (songkua).
Settle the qi to the dantian. Breathe down into the dantian, allowing the flanks to expand. Breathe quietly like a turtle. This is better for your health and longevity than strained breathing.
Compact the body, like folding laundry into a nice, neat package. Instead of leaving yourself all in a heap. This allows the qi and blood to flow throughout, and will leave you feeling good and big afterwards. The upper part of the torso is settled down and the lower part of the torso is supporting it, so the whole torso is connected and can connect down to the feet.
The middle is the most important part. Stepping is based on an upright, balanced body. If your step is perfect but your body is not right, then you will not progress well. If your body is straight and settled then small mistakes in the stepping are not a problem.
Your body is always the axis. Not your hands, not the tree. When you walk in different forms, do not let the arm positions draw you away from your body. If you walk around a tree, do not let the tree draw you away from your body.
Lower part of the body
“Keep the knees together, step forward below the knees, do not allow the upper body to move.”
Place the feet at two foot widths apart for a stable support. The stance should always feel like a horse stance (mabu). The knees are rolled slightly inward, and when stepping, the body is turned slightly so that the knees are together.
“Trample the head and tail of the snake.” Grab the ground with the feet with whole body power. Grip with both feet equally. Set into the front leg, going firmly into it without shifting forward into a bow stance. Shift forward only so far as to have to grip the ground to be able to move forward.
“When the foot grips the ground then all movements will succeed.” Both feet must be firmly rooted. Grab the ground with the whole foot, ankle, and lower leg. The entire lower leg is fixed to the ground, up to and including the knee. Watch out that the legs do not get lazy, just balancing on top of them, because the heart is too lazy to send the qi and blood to the feet. If you just relax and settle, this can benefit you, but not as much as when you really grab the ground. Grabbing, in addition to being more stable, ensures that the qi and blood get fully to the whole body.
Lift the feet flat and land flat. Do not let the rear heel come up even a little. Push into the heel. Imagine that the rear foot is an onion stuck into the ground, it is hard to pull out.
Step the foot directly through. Do not bring the lifted foot in to the supporting ankle, and do not stop mid-step. Step directly forward to land on a tangent to the circle. This means that the outside foot lands hooked in and the inside foot lands straight. Be sure to land the feet flat on the ground, do not twist the ankles or roll on the feet. As you step the inside foot forward, drop the body a bit more into the inside hip, this will turn the foot while keeping it straight.
Step as far as you can reach without a glide (about one foot length). This is a small step, but do not hold back, step as far forward as you can with the buttocks rolled under and the body keeping its power – you need to stretch out the tendons. When stepping forward, keep the feeling that you are sitting back. This keeps your weight down and makes sure you do not go too far forward into the balls of the feet.
“Kick the doorstop.” Extend the knee and ankle fully as if kicking through a Chinese doorstop. Do not kick into the front of the knee, but reach through the centre of the whole leg. Fully extending the reaching leg strengthens all the structure around the knees. If you only squat as you walk, without also extending the knees, you can develop ‘peasant’s knee’ – a bursitis in the back of the knee. For extra training, hold the extended leg out briefly before touching down. The point of the kick is not the kick itself (though it does develop a very strong kick that can break the shin of an opponent) but to make your body more stable and connected. You have to set will into the supporting leg to be able to kick hard. Doing the kick makes the tendons of the foot smooth, so the whole body’s tendons become smooth.
“Roll a hemp rope.” Push the lifted foot down as it moves through the air, as if making a rope out of hemp (or playdough). This keeps the lifted foot connected to the whole body. This puts great power into the foot, so obviously the power of the rest of the body can be great. If you do not do this, then the unweighted leg is empty and you are no longer connected throughout the whole body. Do not worry too much about this at first, you need good qi and strength before you can do it.
“Toad walk.” Move the lifted foot very, very slowly like a toad. Toads walk with their body very close to the ground, lifting their feet carefully. The body moves forward steadily, no jerking, no rise or fall.
“Sit down like a tiger.” All power settles into the ground. You can’t tell if a tiger is standing or crouching, it is so connected and relaxed. It is easy to see if a human is sitting or standing. The tiger can make itself small because the tendons are strong enough to do any movement from any position. Many people have difficulty standing up from a seated position, squatting or jumping, because their legs are not strong enough or the tendons have become stiff. So, the circle-walking concentrated on the tendons and bones, locking the bones together with strong tendons and ligaments.
Head and neck
“Press the head up, turn the neck, tuck the jaw to the shoulder.”
Put power to the weak part of the nape of the neck, where the spine meets the head. Fill up the two depressions on either side of the neck, just under the skull. This effectively presses the head up, while keeping the neck naturally relaxed.
Turn the head to tuck the jaw towards the shoulder. Do not exaggerate this action, keep it natural. You will end up looking to the appropriate place for each of the walking models.
Arms and shoulders
The arms are light and relaxe (though power must go through to the hands). “Give up” the hands, do not put strength into the arms.
Settle the shoulders directly down, opening up the shoulder joints. Be careful not to roll them forward into a weak position.
Hand positions are not important, but if they are wrong then they can wreck the structure. They should go along with the body and be comfortable.
Keep the hands in the ox-tongue form. The ox-tongue form is ready to grab anything at all times. It is also ready to perform a palm strike without having to change form.
CIRCLE WALKING BASICS
UPPER, MIDDLE, AND LOWER BASIN IN CIRCLE WALKING
The upper, middle, and lower basin does not refer to the height of the stance, but to where the power is within the stance. So this is a reference to three levels of ability, the higher skilled being able to move from lower in the body. In the upper basin, the power is in the pelvic basin. In the middle basin, the power is in the thighs. In the lower basin, the power is in the shin/calves. This power is developed by the grip of the ground with the feet using the lower legs.
We do walk in higher, middle, and lower stances, but do not consider this to be walking in different ‘basins.’
CIRCLE-WALKING WORKOUT
Beginners will mostly circle-walk in the bear model. As you gradually get more settled and comfortable with it, you will also gradually be learning more models to walk.
Walk fairly big circles so that it is natural. Gradually the size of the circle will get smaller as you get comfortable. Concentrate on the body and walk very slowly. If you feel anything uncomfortable it is because the qi/blood is blocked there, so continue until you can make the discomfort go away. Just step with a comfortable, natural step, do not force yourself into low stances and long steps.
Usually walk in bear model circle-walking before other techniques, to et the qi and blood flowing to all parts of the body. This can be done for 40 minutes to an hour, though 20 minutes as a warmup is ok. The usual sequence of our training is to get the qi/blood moving to allow the qi to fill the body, and then the spirit is raised.
Do not overdo dragon model circle-walking as it tends to bring the qi to high up. Ten minutes is enough. If you collapse or lean in the bear model then you should do more dragon walking to become more upright.
Sometimes, though, you should go straight to techniques, so that you can do techniques without a forty minute warmup. When you start with techniques, once you feel nicely stretched out and the qi and blood are nicely flowing, don’t overdo the session, but finish with some bear model circle-walking to gather up this good energy.
STAGES IN CIRCLE-WALKING
Stage One: Eliminate illness. The first step is to smooth out the flow of qi and blood, making the body circulation unimpeded. The second step is to fill the dantian so that the body can start to heal. Focus on the requirements of the training and the qi/blood flow will come naturally, don’t think about it too much. Just try to do the circle-walking perfectly so that it will have the right effect on you.
One exception is when you have a specific injury. Then you may ‘negotiate’ with your circle-walk, giving up on some details so that the qi keeps where it needs to go. You still need to walk correctly enough to give it a chance, but you may focus on a specific area to first repair those injuries. People with bad knees, for example, may settle more into the stance and wait for longer so that the qi/blood has time to get to the injured knee.
Stage Two: Build the body. Smooth out the tendons from the top to the bottom of the body, through every joint and every segment of the body. The three weakest parts of the body – ankles, lower back, neck – can now become strong. The whole body is only as strong as its weakest point, so as these points strengthen then every part of the body can strengthen. The body becomes connected – the body is always upright and centred. At this stage, the body is strong and generally in good health.
Stage Three: Build the health. The body becomes fully healthy and natural.
Stage Four: Nourish life. The body and mind change completely. I don’t know about the magical properties, but what I teach has definitely healed quite a few martial artists who were almost forced to quit because of injuries.
If you practise bagua without circle-walking you will never get good at bagua. Circle-walking is the first thing you practise and the highest plane that can be achieved. The first three years are the most difficult, and you progress slowly, but you also have quite distinct changes that seem to happen suddenly.
TYPES OF CIRCLE-WALKING
Contained: a careful, controlled stepping, taking one step at a time but not forcing to slow down.
Continuous: do not pause in the grabbing phase, continue immediately, though not rushing, to the forward leg, and keep moving. This contains three powers – contained, stable, and continuing.
Controlled: a careful, controlled stepping, counting three to ten seconds at each phase – one legged support, kick, and grab.
Natural: small steps, with sunken qi, and naturally comfortable, allowing the feet to lift and lower more naturally, not worrying about keeping the heels down.
Mud Wading: still lifting and landing the feet flatly, but allow the foot to move forward before landing, gripping the ground firmly, as if walking in a muddy stream. In our style we do not push off to drive forward, so this step is not particularly long.
Toad: a very careful, slow, controlled stepping.
Toddling: childlike stepping, placing and settling on the feet, allowing the side of the body to sink into the supporting leg.
For the different shapes in circle-walking, I have put the details on the pages for each animal model. The Ma Gui system does not practice the different shapes all strung together in a workout, but concentrates on one at a time to build its structure and get its feeling before going on to practice its changes.