Outskirts Press, INC.

Ba Gua Zhang: Art of Transformation And Change

Ba Gua Zhang (Eight Diagram Palm) is an art of unparalleled sophistication and depth. Rooted in Daoist meditation and longevity practices, and Chinese medical and martial art traditions, Ba Gua Zhang provides the practitioner with a powerful and comprehensive method of actualizing his or her own inherent internal potential.

In this unique book on the Art of Ba Gua Zhang, Ba Gua instructor Tom Bisio discusses the many facets of this fascinating art:

•What is Ba Gua Zhang?
•The Relationship of Ba Gua Zhang to the Yi Jing (Book of Changes)
•Ba Gua Zhang and Daoism
•Ba Gua Zhang for Exercise and Physical Fitness
•Ba Gua Zhang as a Method of Physical Therapy
•Suitability of Ba Gua for Different Ages and Professions
•Ba Gua Zhang as Method of Promoting Health and Longevity
•Health Studies on Ba Gua Zhang
•Ba Gua Zhang as a Martial Art
•Ba Gua Zhang as a Psycho-Spiritual Path

The Art of Ba Gua Zhang is not a how-to book. It is a fascinating meditation on the art of Ba Gua Zhang and its many applications to life and living.

The Art of Ba Gua Zhang reveals how practicing Ba Gua Zhang can create change in all facets of one’s life, physical mental and spiritual. Philosophy, life cultivation and self-defense are seamlessly combined into Ba Gua Zhang’s theories and training methods, so that both the inside and outside of a person are cultivated simultaneously. The foundational training, circular walking, and changing palms strengthen muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones, while simultaneously harmonizing the functions of the internal organs, stimulating the brain and nervous system, unblocking the meridians and fostering the development of an indomitable spirit.

At its core, Ba Gua Zhang is an embodied expression of the laws of change and transformation that govern the world in which we live. In The Art of Ba Gua Zhang, Bisio explains how practicing Ba Gua Zhang not only promotes health and fitness, but also allows us to deeply and directly experience and appreciate the natural forces that act upon us from moment to moment and form our experience of the world around us.

The Art of Ba Gua Zhang gives the reader a deep understanding and appreciation for Ba Gua Zhang’s core practice: Circle Walking Nei Gong. Walking the circle is the foundation of Ba Gua as a martial art, health science and method of transforming life and consciousness. Walking and turning, while cultivating the mind and the breath, has many profound effects on the human body, mind and nervous system. With every step, walking the circle, recharges our internal energy matrix and activates a process of internal transformation that engenders a full engagement with life and living.