Bagua - A Means To An End

Mike Patterson has released his second offering in the internal martial arts genre. This time the spotlight is on the art of Baguazhang. This second book is again focused on covering the tactical theories, training methods and philosophy, this time of Baguazhang, as a martial art. A bit more information on the health/vitality and cultivation methods found within these disciplines has been included as well due to popular request. Shrfu Patterson is widely considered to be one of the foremost experts in the world on the internal martial arts. With over 42 years experience (at time of writing) as a successful fighter, coach and teacher, he has authored another masterpiece covering a broad range of the Baguazhang discipline. Relating once again viewpoints gained from immense experience gleaned from the crucible of continuous and true testing of internal martial arts tenets within full contact fighting venues. Shrfu Patterson has become known for in-depth knowledge of the mechanics, physics and kinetics that make these arts viable within real combat. And once again, he writes from his strengths with emphasis placed on opening/closing phases of core power generation within isolate exercises, moving form and partner training of Baguazhang. Perspectives on training, skill development, conditioning, meditation/energetics/Taoist alchemy, partner drilling, strategy, tactics and cultivation are all discussed thoroughly. This is a work once again designed to, this time, present Bagua in a plain English, straightforward manner. Great lengths are taken to explain concept with science while offering simple physical "proofs" to test the veracity of the methods. The author again avoids subject matter that has been done to death in other books, with only a cursory nod to history and any "songs" devoid of explanation, to instead put forth concrete methodology allowing practitioners to "marry" traditional practice to real world application. To this end, the book also covers R.S.P.C.T. (Realistically Structured Progressive Combat Training) for Baguazhang. Those familiar with the author's book on Xingy will recognize that RSPCT is a contemporary methodology of translating traditional concepts and tactics into viable combat skills through specific partner training. And in this book the methods designed for Bagua are included to train effective fighting for either competition or street environments. All such Bagua training methods, drills and exercises are discussed in depth. The