Nine Dragon Baguazhang

Spiral Path Arts offers the traditional, internal Chinese martial art of Jiulong Baguazhang. Jiulong is Chinese for "Nine Dragon" and the art is often referred to as Nine Dragon Baguazhang. The art is an authentic internal martial art, designed for self-defense in street combat situations. The art was used by Imperial Guards of China since the early 1900's. It is a favored art for bodyguards, and Dr. Painter, the art's current lineage holder, used it sucessfully for many years in his role as a bodyguard in life and death situations. In addition, there is a separate branch of the art that is specific to health concerns. Both forms of the art are good for general fitness.

Martial Art

As a martial art, Baguazhang is specifically designed to address the concern of multiple opponenets. This is accomplished through specific tactics and strategies that involve developing a strong moving root, issuing power with every step, and the signature turning and twisting that allows the Baguazhang player to avoid attacks, get behind an opponent and counter attack all in the same movement.

The development of internal power cultivates the mind-body connection, utilizes the inherent strength of the proper bio-mechanical strucutre of the body, recruits underutilized stabilizer muscles, and improves the neurological response through specifc engram entrainment. These effects work synergistically to generate whole body power that allows the Baguazhang player to generate tremendous striking force from almost any position. When combined with the rapid footwork of Baguazhang, this makes for an elusive and effective martial art.

Health Art

Qigong is a vital part of Nine Dragon Baguazhang. Flying Dragon Qigong is a powerful method of internal energy development. Yi Xin Gong is a new, detailed Qigong for training internal power. While the martial form of Jiulong Baguazhang will lead to many profound health benefits, these other specific health forms will generate even more powerful results. In the near term, the main focus of Jiulong Baguazhang training at Spiral Path Arts will be on the martial application. I look forward to offerng the health arts during yearly seminars and as regular classes in the future as demand warrants. Please be sure to contact me if you are interested in this form of the art.

Dragon Rolling the Pearl

The basic curriculum of Jiulong Baguazhang is called Dragon Rolling the Pearl. This is a 12 to 18 month program that takes the student through the methods of creating internal power step by step. The student starts with seated and standing Qigong exercies to generate the proper bio-mechanical alignments and to start the process of generating internal power. These lessons progress into basic shifting exercies, then into linear walking exercises and finally circle walking, a unique training method of Baguazhang. The Dragon Rolling the Pearl curriculum is broken down into small, testable steps so that the student always knows where they are at and where they are going. It is one of the most efficient ways to quickly learn powerful internal martial arts in the world today. Two partner games such as Willow Bends are introduced early in the curriculum to allow the student to feel how the internal stucture and power are applied against an opponent. These exercises progress from very simple, static exercises to moving with a partner while walking in a circle. By the end of the Dragon Rolls the Pearl curriculum, the Jiulong Baguazhang player will engage in free-form sparring at moderate speeds, involving striking, throwing and joint lock techniques.

New students are welecome to join in the Dragon Rolling the Pearl class at any time. This will create a mix of more and less experienced students and give students of different levels the opportunity to learn and explore the arts with each other.

After finishing the Dragon Rolling the Pearl basics course, we will start an intermediate level class. These classes will teach the Eight Palms of Jiulong Baguazhang over a two year time frame. This is a powerful way to integrate the body and mind and take the arts to a higher level. Refer to the website below for more information on the Eight Palms of Jiulong Baguazhang.

For More Information

For more information about Jiulong Baguazhang please peruse the wealth of information at the Jiulong Baguazhang website at www.ninedragonbaguazhang.com/welcome. This is the main website for the arts of DaoQiQuan and Jiulong Baguazhang. You can find information on the history of the DaoQiQuan arts, the use of Jiulong Baguazhang as a martial art and a healing art, how Jiulong Baguazhang relates to the I-Ching, and information on the Jiulong Baguazhang Assocation and how to study Jiulong Baguzhang.