Someone on my facebook posted this video of some elderly gents demo-ing some Bagua forms. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOFV4XBjTLc"]Very Rare Bagua Old Masters Demonstration. - YouTube[/ame] Is anyone familiar with which style uses the dives, rolls, and springs as seen in this clip? I was thinking maybe Cheng style, due to the Chinese Wrestling connection. Thoughts?
Just my opinion, I have not heard or seen any Baguazhang styles performing those type of jump kicks, hand springs on the floor. It seems in my opinion, to be the opposite of Baguazhang principles as in why would you deliberately put yourself in a vulnerable position even for a second when you do not have to? Maybe what he was showing was something he learned else where or he wanted to add that to show how flexible he is. Without knowing the style, the context of why he did this all I can do is compare it to the Baguazhang I do and others I have seen and no classical ones I have seen have this. But I invite the idea that I could be wrong in this as well.
That's not a real Bagua form. Just some old guy showing off a bit during a demo by mixing that stuff in with his form which happens quite often in forms demos.
The starting part of the form came from the Gong Li system. In the north China, it's very common to mix styles in the same form demonstration. This way when you demo 1 form, people will know your cross training experience. A friend of mine love to start with slow Yang Taiji. When he almost bores the audience to death, he suddently jumps in the air and connect with fast speed longfist. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTczMzUzNzI4.html
