The contents of Luo laoshis seminars in Paris in June this year are here!  

Luo is exceptionally clear and no nonsense in his teaching style. His explanations make the the mysterious aspects of Chinese martial arts not only understandable, but directly practical as well. He is also extremely hands on in his style so you can learn as you watch, listen and feel how he moves.

Whether or not you practise Gao style Bagua the principles that Luo laoshi demonstrates can be applied to any martial art. His quality of movement is superb, with a bewildering mix of light nimble movement, control and convincingly heavy impact.

If you want to learn a skill it is advisable to find the best example of that skill to learn from, and in martial arts Luo is a excellent model.

There are five sessions open to everyone, with a 6th by invitation only. The days can be divided into morning and afternoon sessions. Every session will have a mix of form/solo practise and application.    

Friday June 18th, 19H00-22H00, 單換掌 Single Palm Change and circle walking

These two activities form the basis for Bagua practise – we will go over the most important points in practise and use. Whether you have seen Luo laoshi teach this before you will find new material to work on. This session will be the easiest for people who have little experience of Bagua

Saturday 19th June 10H-17H30, Circular Bagua, 八大掌  Big Eight Palms

Last year we covered the first 2 of these palms. This year we will review the snake and dragon palms, then continue with the next palm changes as time allows.

1. 蛇形順勢掌 Snake form smooth force palm

2. 龍形穿手掌 Dragon form piercing hand palm

3. 回身打虎掌 Returning body, strike the tiger palm

4. 燕翻蓋手掌 Swallow overturning covering hand palm

5. 轉身反背掌 Turn the body over the back palm

6. 擰身探馬掌 Twist the body searching horse palm

7. 翻身背插掌 Overturn the body, through the back palm

8. 停身搬扣掌 Stop the body, move and hook palm

Sunday 20th June 10H-17H30 2nd set of linear Bagua:  坎八式 kan gua

These straight line forms contain many techniques for striking with the hands, and also other parts of the body.

   1. 截肋掌, chui, intercepting ribs palm

   2. 葉下藏花掌 cang, flower hidden beneath the leaf

   3. 內砍掌 kan, inside chopping

   4. 外削掌 xiao, outside cutting

   5. 二仙傳道 er, two sages preach the way

   6. 惡虎撲羊 hu, ferocious tiger pounces on shoulder

   7. 鳳凰奪窩 duo, phoenix robs the nest

   8. 進退連環 huan, advancing and retreating continuing

Monday 21st June 19H-22H00 – sanshou -sticky hands

The sanshou (sometimes called roushou) of our school is a refined skill to link and integrate different techniques. This session is invitation only.    

The seminar will take place at  la Maison du Taiji, 57 rue Jules Ferry, 93170 Bagnolet on the East side of Paris. Prices: 1 session €60, 2 sessions €110, 3 sessions €150, Full weekend €190, Weekend+ Friday €230. Discounts for regular students, students, the unemployed and teachers who bring their students, call or e-mail me to qualify.   

To reserve your place please send deposit of €50 then cash on day. Make and send cheques to Edward Hines, 111 rue Caulaincourt, 75018 Paris until May 25th 2010, and then to 15 quai de la Gironde, Paris 75019.

The dates for Luo laoshi's seminars in Europe and the US are confirmed. It will be a little time before the contents of the seminars are decided, but in most places you can expect a long weekend of teaching that will cover an interesting mix of Bagua and Xingyi.

For people new to Luo laoshi's teaching there are usually sessions that are easy entry points for people without much previous experience.

Paris 17-23rd June

Switzerland 23rd-30th June

Brittany/Rennes 30th June-7th July

Manchester England, 7th-14th July

London England, 17th-21st July

Israel 21st-28th July 

then off to the US

DC 29th July-7th August

Denver 14th-21st August

SF 21st-30th August

then back to Taipei on the 30th.

I will post more information as soon as I have it, including contact details for seminar organisers.

My schedule will probably let me join in with Switzerland and London – as well as Paris, naturally.

Luo laoshi will teach a seminar in Paris towards the end of June this year. I will keep you updated as we decide what Luo laoshi will cover and exactly when he will be here.

You know that whatever he teaches it will there will be an immense amount to learn.

I'll find some more video to post here as a teaser…

Luo laoshi teaching the form fan

Luo laoshi’s paris seminars were a big success. Martial artists from within the school came from around France, along with people discovering Luo teaching for the first time. I take my hat off to all of you who travelled some way to train with us, Adrian driving from Romania, Olaf from Germany, Paulina from Finland and the laughing Swiss Contingent.

Luo laoshi was on good form, sharing his considerable knowledge with clarity and humour. Very few people are as convincing as him when it comes to martial arts in general, and internal martial arts in particular. He tosses people around like children, sets up situations and angles so that even when you know something is coming you cannot get away. Then he explains how he does it and helps the students along the way to be able to do it themselves. He does nothing magical, just clear principles skillfully applied, and the results are impressive enough.

One aspect of the seminar that I especially appreciated was his overview of training and development in Bagua. I have always admired Luo for his capacity to explain in simple terms what most teachers turn into esoteric concepts. This year he seemed to get even simpler, without losing any the core of the subject.

One of my students e-mailed me at the last minute asking if he could join the final part of the seminar, but worried that his skill would not be enough to learn anything. In my reply I told him to come along and ignored his comment about ‘not skilled enough to learn.’  Fifteen minutes into the session after he arrived I went up to my student and teased ‘So are you learning anything…?’ his wide shining eyes and broad smile were all the answer I needed.

If you are considering going to Luo’s seminars in Manchester, London, Israel or the united states, stop hesitating and get yourself along. You will thank me afterwards. I’ll be going to London so join in and thank me in person!

For the London seminars go to Palmchange or download a booking form directly here, and Dave Bolton can set you for Manchester.

Enjoy the photos, taken by Huguette Simjee, and I’ll post some video of Luo here soon.

application from the form 'ting'

hands on teaching

Try translating and being hit simultaneously...