Join me in the woods for a long weekend of fitness, meditation and martial arts August 13-15th

This is for you if:

• you want to get away from the city 
  
• You want to develop your body, balance and coordination 
  
• you need reflection time 
  
• you enjoy intelligent company that goes beyond superficial social trivia
  

We will stay on a green, wooded property which we share with deer, foxes, wild boar, rabbits, hare owls and many other animals.

Each day we will practise:

• Meditation – seated or standing 
  
• Qigong – for health and body conditioning 
  
• Bagua circular and linear forms 
  
• Partner exercises – to understand angle, distance and application of power and sparring
  
• Natural movement – awaken your animal vitality 
  
• Sensory awareness exercises – clean your city blunted senses 
  

and have time to just enjoy the woods. None of these activities is obligatory – if you need to simply rest, or concentrate one one of these areas you have that option.

You can come for just one day, or for all three days: The price for a single day is €70, and for €180 for all three.

Accomodation: 
There is a large house with a number of bedrooms on the property. I will sleep in the woods, and people are welcome to join me (if you are not used to camping I have some spare equipment and can help you set up).

Food: 
We will eat simply. Cooking and cleaning will be communal. Some cooking will be in the kitchen, but we will also use a campfire. I will supply vegetarian food. If you have special dietary requirements please let me know, you are welcome to bring your own food and treats too (in moderation). Remember this is a retreat so this is not about luxurious food, or alcohol

There will also be some good wild foraging, and ripening fruit on the trees in August.

You responsibilities: 
This will take place in a private property. While we are there it is our job to look after it and clean up after ourselves.

Getting there: 
The property is near the village of Betz in Picardie about one hour from Paris. The closest train station is Crepy-en-valois, from which you can take a taxi. there are regular trains to Crepy-en-valois from gare du nord. Train tickets cost about €40 return, and taxi is about €20. We can arrange taxi sharing if you arrive at the same time. I can send a map in case you want to come by car.

You can arrive on Thursday 12th, set up and settle in so that we can start on Friday morning.

If you have any questions you can call me 06 80 28 86 39.  Call or e-mail to book your place.

I will be in the woods before and after the retreat, so I may not be contactable by e-mail.

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…

On Saturday April 24th I will teach a day of Bagua in Lyons at the centre of Jean-Philippe Gams who was an extremely gracious host to me when I visited Beijing in 2007.

Since JP already practises and teaches Liang style Bagua I will concentrate on general principles and practise methods rather than the specific forms of Gao style Bagua, though I will use these as teaching tools. We will cover solo training to develop your body, balance, control, rhythm and power and also partner work to develop distance, timing, sensitivity and angle. The fee for the day is €50.

In the evening we can carry on with some open mat type training and then the traditional eating and drinking

Depending on train times and weather the same is likely to be true on Sunday, along with sightseeing.

If you want to come along then send me an email or go directly to JP at www.wugong.fr

Friday, 19th, 7 – 10pm: Bagua Sanshou – also known as roushou we will concentrate on fluid use of prototype techniques.

Saturday, 20th – 10 – 1pm : 2.30 – 5.30pm: Xingyi linked fists, partner exercises applications concepts and drills.

Sunday, 21st, 11.30 – 2pm : 3 – 5.30: Gao style bagua kicking methods – we will cover a mix of forms, along with setups from different ranges and drills to make the techniques applicable on a reflex level.

messing around with Matt on Hampstead Heath

I just came back from a weekend teaching bagua for at the Shen Yi school in Valencia. It was my first time there, and whenever I come to teach somewhere new there is a degree of uncertainty… What kind of people will I find? Will they have any skill? What kind of attitude will they have? Spacey and new age, or edgy and aggressive?

What I found were an enthusiastic and welcoming group of people who supported each other in their training, worked hard and laughed. The school and the atmosphere is carefully supervised by Johan Duquet. Johan is a dedicated practitioner of Shaolin and Chen Taiji who really cares for the people who come to train with him. He was also a wonderful host to me. Johan’s Taiji teacher is Fu Nengbin, a younger brother of Alan’s teacher Wang Haijun.

I am especially glad to have spent time after the seminar exchanging with Johan. It was fascinating to see some of the similarities between his Shaolin, Chen Taiji along with the Xingyi and Bagua that I am more familiar with. The differences were equally fascinating to both of us. I think we both enjoyed the opportunity to engage in some playful push hands with someone else more interested in learning than saving face!

If you are near Valencia and you want to learn something that is both ‘traditional’ and intelligent, testing but friendly go and visit Shenyi.

Johan is seeking official recognition as the Belgium beer ambassador to Valencia, another reason to visit. I believe he deserves to be recognised as such by the Belgiian government, and varoious monastic brewing establishments soon. To support him in this worthy goal you can write to the Belgian embassy for Spain, and the Belgian chambers of Commerce in for Spain and Catalonia.

Johan is also not bad ambassador for sangria and Paella…

Does Halloween Bagua mean that you will be expected to come in full costume? Or will I be teaching the Bagua pitchfork, scythe and broom forms?

Dress code is always flexible in my classes, so skull make up is welcome but not obligatory.

We will cover a variety of training methods – sanshou, the use of multiple angles of force in applications as well as more direct use of force.

I am looking forward to it.

If it appeals to you then get in touch with Danny. We will start on Friday evening and finish on Sunday afternoon, with plenty of tricks and treats through the weekend.

This October Luo laoshi will teach two weekend seminars on the 10th-11th October in Nimes and 16th-18th October in Rennes. Check out the links, sign up and have a great bagua experience.