Side Gate Bajiquan

Chinese New Year 2024 demo in Houston, TX.

SPC George Yin training 降龍 Xiang Long (Ascending Dragon). This technique teaches how to release power in a diagonal movement by contracting and expanding the spine.

in town, we had a impromptu video session at 's school. Here I am explaining off-angle stepping and give a scenario I specifically encountered while working a protection detail for a (hot) reporter during the Astro's parade in 2022, when a drunk guy reached for my (hot) protectee's ass while she was filming.

In Side Gate, footwork is divided into two categories. Straight line attacks for self defense, and as a bodyguard art, learning to move off line to deal with a threat in third party protection.

[Repost from personal FB]

I've posted video of two guys I trained (George and JJ) doing the same movement the past few days. I've reiterated on this in my posts about Bajiquan on the importance of this "Coiling Blast" movement constantly. My own Sifu had me work this move every day for three months straight, as it is a signature concept as well as technique in our system, before we worked on anything else.

As a Bodyguard system, the tactical approach in combat is to counter assault the threat. Imagine a football player or a grappler tackling his opponent. Baji's game plan is to explode into the opponents body as you are ambushing the space they occupy (Bodyguard mindset, enter territory and finish). The concept of sniping your opponents center with a ballistic attack, contracting and expanding, etc. are all contained in this seed technique. The more I train the more I go back to refining this movement. According to lore, Xing Yi Quan's Guo Yun Shen defeated his challengers with his version of this same movement.

The two videos from before I posted of my students were "update" videos (since both of them are out of state) sent to me so I could gauge where they are overall conceptually and power generation mechanics. I don't ask for forms or anything of that nature, as the objective of my teaching and the sector of martial artists I train is very specific for immediate (but refined) application. My boys will get all my "hands", but Coiling Blast is all I need to see.

Below is a snip of a video I posted before where I performed at Houston's World Star tournament doing the same Coiling Blast.

SPC George Yin, US Army, training Coiling Blast.

SPC George Yin, US Army, working his "Coiling Blast".

World Star Chinese Martial Arts Tournament 2022, Houston, TX.

Side Gate Bajiquan Ba Da Zhao (Eight Great Movements) 偏門八極八大招 impromptu performance at the end of 2021 Michigan seminar.

Blessings truly do come at odd times. I am proud to announce that Side Gate Bajiquan will be working with active operators in the US Military and training them in our system as soon as this quarantine season is over.

Video:
Sergeant Jason Jackson practicing Chan Si Beng (Coiling Blast).

When the world goes into chaos, warriors settle and train harder. Fierce Tiger Climbs the Mountain.

Jin Gang Ba Shi 金剛八勢 translates to "Diamond Warrior 8 Movements" “8 Invincible Movements”, etc. As history goes, our great-grandteacher Li Shu Wen exchanged his Bajiquan with Li Rui D**g, a master of Shaolin‘s “Inner Courtyard Boxing” Jin Gang Ba Shi. Other masters of Bajiquan throughout history oddly also had ties to the system. As a result, JGBS has been implemented into many curriculums for different purposes, with some lines calling their basic 8 seeds JGBS.

At Side Gate Bajiquan, following the Liu lineage train of thought, JGBS is a more advanced set of movements. While Ba Da Zhao 8 Great Movements are the “seeds” to combat and exploding the centerline, JGBS at Side Gate is trained as “options” for angling attacks from off center situations. Here is the sequence practice for the first of 8 movements, Xiang Long 降龍, Ascending Dragon aka “Shoryuken” in the Street Fighter series. It trains contraction and expansion, coiling of the body, and exploding from a cross body diagonal manner.

Fierce Tiger Climbs Mountain explanation and application.

A version of Bajiquan's famed finishing move, "Fierce Tiger Climbs the Mountain". This became famous due to Li Shu Wen's usage of it in duels, where he would quickly finish off his opponents. It is important to note however, that "Fierce Tiger" is a concept that can be translated to different permutations, and is a combat mentality concept rather than "a move". Application videos will be filmed soon and posted.

Pi Gua was initially a part of the same system as Bajiquan with emphasis on loosening the upper body and transferring energy "through the back and arms". It was later separated and practiced as a school of combat on its own. Li Shu Wen and other adepts of Bajiquan however, continued it's practice as it was highly essential to activating Bajiquan's "hard frame" for combat. The Pi Gua as passed down from Li Shu Wen to my Grandmaster Liu Yun Qiao is based on four movements: Chopping, Embrace, Expanding, Drilling Through Mountain (Body Checking). Here is a video of me teaching one of the movements (Embrace) to one of my students last year.