This footage was taken in 2017 following a large demo put on by the greater Tiantan Gungfu community. Uncle Cao, the Shirfu I am sparring, was pretty happy with how his day had gone and decided to top it off with a friendly round. He was unbothered by the fact that this I was 22 days into my training trip with no days off :)

Tai Chi Walking is suddenly everywhere—but is it actually a traditional Tai Chi practice? In this video, I explain the difference between Tai Chi stepping and Bagua walking, then teach you a traditional internal martial arts practice specifically built around walking: Bagua Circle Walking.

Circle walking may look simple, but slowing down each step while continuously turning around a circle challenges your balance, stability, coordination, mobility, and whole-body awareness in a completely different way from ordinary walking.

You’ll learn how to coordinate the lifting and landing of each foot, keep the legs connected, press downward through the palms, elongate and twist the spine, and gradually make the circle smaller as your practice develops.

As you become more comfortable, the practice goes beyond simply walking in a circle. You can slow everything down, reduce unnecessary tension, deepen your awareness, and begin exploring stillness within motion—one of the internal qualities developed through Bagua practice.

If you’ve been seeing “Tai Chi Walking” all over social media, try this traditional Bagua walking practice and experience the difference for yourself.

00:00 Introduction
00:40 Is Tai Chi Walking Real?
01:38 What Is Bagua Circle Walking?
03:47 Bagua Circle Walking Basics
08:41 Spinal Twisting & Mobility
12:37 Breathing & Important Details
15:23 From the Circle to Your Center
17:17 Finding Stillness in Motion

#Bagua #Baguazhang #TaiChi #TaiChiWalking #Qigong #CircleWalking #BalanceTraining #MobilityTraining #MindBody #ChiBody

Hello everyone! 

We are looking for martial artists interested in learning and competing in short- and long-weapon sparring using traditional Chinese martial arts techniques. 

To help participants prepare, we will be hosting two rule-explanation and drill seminars, along with an ongoing weekly class that everyone is welcome to join. 

We encourage practitioners of all styles and backgrounds to participate. Learn the official ruleset, take it back to your school, and train competitors using your own lineage’s skills and methods. 

Check out the video for full details, or leave a comment/message below with any questions.

Let's exchange skills, elevate our practice, and grow traditional Chinese Martial Arts together ! 

So this is a big one. Im sure that for many of you, like me, its been a constant search for good kung fu shoes. I tried indoor soccer shoes for a time, but they run too narrow for my wide feet. Of course there are Feiyues, but they fall apart fairly quickly and are a bit too sticky for my liking. My shifu recommended some wushu style shoes that I really liked, but the quality has gone way downhill and the last pair I bought were garbage. I know there are the slipper type, but those are cheap and horrible as well with no ankle support. I recently tried out Xero barefoot shoes, which have good durability, but too much grip and too much room for my foot to move around in the toe box (they are designed this way to let the toes spread out). Training on wood floors i can get away with stickier shoes, but when I go to tournamnets they're usually on carpet and it messes me up because they are like velcro. I had some students recommended Astrals and Vivos that im thinking of trying out. I need something flat and lightweight for a wider foot that I can destroy and gives the right balance between slide and grip. Personally I like the color black and dont care for leather shoes. Im sure some people might mention masters in the past training in Penny loafers. I hear you, but there are a lot more and better options these days and I don't want to torture my feet.