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I've been looking for a teacher of Pa Kua in the Manchester / Lancashire areas for some months. I've studied the martial arts for 20 odd years and either know or have contacts who know masters and teachers in a variety of arts, internal and external, but Pa Kua eludes me. BTW, is Pa Kua or Ba Gua preferred?

Any pointers welcome.

I'm not sure about your area, but checking [url removed by moderator] for their locations may turn something up...However Shaolin Do Masters vary a great deal in their area of expertise, so it is uncertain if one near you will specialize in this, but they should at least have Classical Pa Kua, if not the more advanced 8 Animal and Snake styles of it... However, here in Atlanta, GA ,there is a master who makes this, as well as Chen style Tai Chi Ch'uan his emphasis, Master Gary Grooms at the Chinese Shaolin Center.... Happy Hunting.....

Thanks for that, but the moderator has taken out the url in their usual irritating way. If you could kind of describe it without typing it out in full and I'll put the necessary www bits in myself - that would be great.

I think that Atlanta is a bit far for me, just the small matter of the Atlantic Ocean - but you never know, maybe one day one of his students may step over this way.

Cheers!

If there's anything in the Sheffield area, I'd love to have a go. I came across a very brief description of this art a couple of years ago, and this is the first mention of it I've seen since.

Please could you post the address of that site. If you leave off the www and put (dot) instead of . that should satisfy the moderators, I think.

Hi Bez

Since posting that query I have joined a Cheng Man Ching style Tai Chi class, and my instructor has done quite a bit of Pa Kua. He's shown me a very little bit - it looks fascinating. I've yet to learn any, though. Interestingly, he says that most decent Tai Chi teachers should have studied Pa Kua along the way - so there's a possible avenue for you.

You can post urls now, and you can check out the association I train with here - http://www.zhong-ding.com/ - there doesn't seem to be anything in Sheffield, sadly, the only Yorkshire clubs are Huddersfield way. You might be able to get pointed in the right direction by ringing one of the instructors, though.

The best place to find inforamtion on this is at www.pa-kua.com the website of Park Bok Nam one of the lineage holders of the style. He does have some disciples that teach in England but I'm afraid I've been unable to locate them. I'll make enquiries about it to my teacher (one of Park Bok Nam's senior students) and see what he comes up with.

I would be dubious about learning the style from anyone who claims to have touched upon it. It is a very involved style and takes around a year of regular practice just to develop the basics. However when learnt correctly it is amazingly effective.

All the best.

Thanks,

I've got a numbr of pals in Huddersfield, so I go there quite regularly. It's strange, but there seems a lot more martial arts available there than in Sheffield, despite Sheffield being a fair bit bigger (5th largest city vs. largest town).

I'll check it out.

If anyone has seen 'The One' starring Jet Li, Pa Kua is used in this. Without giving away too much of the story, Jet Li has to fight another version of himself. The 'Good' Jet Li has a circular philosphy to life, and uses Pa Kua, he is even seen walking the circle in one scene. The 'Evil' Jet Li uses a very linear Kung Fu, cant remember what it is called, but the combination produces some amazing fight scenes,

Not seen that - I shall have to look out for it.

There are some mad effects in it too...

Hi,

Pa Kua and Ba Gua are both valid translations of the same Chinese name (it's like Wing Chun and Ving Tsun, different translations of the same Chinese characters).

As for preference, I think that would depend on the school. I've seen practioners with "Ba Gua", "Pa Kua", "Paqua" just to name a few. Ba Gua seems to be the most common.

Cheers,

WT

Hi,

Regarding the kung fu used in "The One", Jet Li had to train and learn two styles, Ba Gua and Hsin Yi (pronounced "Shin Yee").

Hsin Yi, along with Tai Chi and Ba Gua, are the three biggest Chinese internal martial arts. Hsin Yi, used by the "evil" Jet Li in the movie, makes use of explosive linear "jin" (force or energy) in contrast to the circular movements of Ba Gua.

Interestingly, when the "good" Jet Li trains in the movie, you can see a little Ba Gua diagram (the word Ba Gua in Chinese literally means eight diagrams) on the wall. It's a bronze coloured, octagonal (i.e. eight sides) metallic looking plate on the wall. If your eyes are fast enough (or if you use pause on your DVD!) you can even make out the diagrams.

Cheers,

WT

Still not caught the movie, but I've just found a Hsing I teacher - I'm starting training with him next week. I've done 18 months of Tai Chi, enough to learn the form and the basic outline of the body dynamics involved, but I wanted to sample this. My core art is karate, I know I can't do everything, but I like to see what others have to offer.

I've actually discovered (or my mate has, to be accurate) a teacher of Ba Gua only 45 minutes drive away, but I'm postponing it for now - I want to get a basic grounding in Hsing I first.

It doesn't matter which you use - Pa Kua is the old Wade-Giles system of transliteration, Ba Gua is the more modern Pin Yin. It's all the same thing.

Pa Kua and Hsing-I were taught together in China - they are considered to to be be different sides of the same coin and it was considered that one who had mastered both could frightened even demons!

If you're interested in studying with Park Bok Nam, you'll find details on our new website - http://www.pa-kua.co.uk

He's coming to the UK for a seminar 12-13th October 2007

If you're interested in studying with Park Bok Nam, there is a student group in the UK now - you'll find details on our new website - http://www.pa-kua.co.uk

He's coming to the UK for a seminar 12-13th October 2007

So, has anyone managed to find a Pa Kua class in the Manchester area?

I have recently moved to central Manchester and, for reasons relating to my own personal philsophy and situation, I find myself looking for a class in Pa Kua.

I practiced martial arts some years ago and now want to return.