Bagua - A Means To An End Paperback – July 2, 2014

Solid book covering the body mechanics, circle walking, applications in combat, and a huge section on the different principles involved that will make your Ba Gua stronger.The problem (which the author addresses) is that Ba Gua is a circular art, and it's near impossible to show the arcs of movement in still photos. So, I would absolutely recommend the DVDs. I've studied the DVDs, and the content is solid. It's obvious that the author is a highly competent instructor.If you are a student of the Jiang Rong Qiao school of Ba Gua, this book will be very useful. I've been practicing for a couple of decades, have pretty much every book on Ba Gua, and I learned several application from the form, that I hadn't thought of.If you are looking for a book about the history of the art, or you love reading esoteric explanations...this isn't the book for you. But if you are already practicing, this book will explain why you are doing...what you are doing.A solid effort that I highly recommend. My copy is heavily marked up with notes and yellow highlighting.The DVDs aren't expensive, and you'll get more (although different content) from them.Added later; I've gone through this book again. And I wanted to add a few thins. When showing the Ba Guag form, Patterson gives you the way to contract your intercostals and how to fold your Kua (the Inguinal fold, where the thighs meet the hips). This is a huge key to developing "internal power" for your strikes. You also get several types of Chi Kung that are useful for developing a strong core and developing an internal awareness of where power is coming from.His section on Mud Stepping, walking the circle is complete, including how to use mud stepping to make regular stepping faster and with more balance. Quite a lot went into this book. More than I realized on the first reading.

The book is not only thorough but places energy development into the whole of the repetoire required to develop internal energy as well as great drills. His instructions on the pole drills are awesome, not unlike Patterson's videos; clear, concise and to the point. I respect what Shr fu Mike Patterson is doing to preserve the arts of Ba Gua Chang and Hsing i. These are dying arts. There are many that practice, but few get the art. I am going to Get Shr Fu Patterson's hsing i book next. The price was well worth my expenditure, and it is right up my alley in the manner in which he teaches his arts. If you are experienced and open minded, invest in this book. I do not give my reccomendations lightly. But, I highly encourage those seeking what internal Ba Gua is with practical combat usage, NOT modern competition Wushu, is to get this book. You will not be disappointed.

I purchased this book in 2014. It still remains - bar-none, without doubt - the best English Baguazhang text I have, and among the top three I've ever owned (Jiang Rongqiao's and Sun Lutang's being the other two). Speaking of Jiang Rongqiao, part of what makes this book such a gem is its extensive, in-depth elucidation of his Original Form, which is probably one of - if not the - most widely practiced Baguazhang routines out there. It also goes into quality depth on the most important thing of all: Walking the Circle. In addition to all of the above, this book also has a wealth of indispensables, from Basics to Qigong to Serving Tea to Eight Trigrams Staff connectivity exercises to Applications.

Outstanding! In my 30+ years of practicing Internal Martial Arts; Srfu Patterson has hit this one out of the park with the quality and ease of understand of Pa Kua Zhang. He has also provided very juicy pre-heaven/component Pa Kua exercises that are hard to find in print. His no nonsense approach to explaining Pa Kua cuts through the hype to make Pa Kua a very practical art. Both his Xing-I and Bagua - A Means to An End are what I consider 'crown-jewels' in my internal martial arts book collection. If you're a serious practitioner, you won't be dissapointed with his works!

great

Mike Patterson is the real deal. I have both his Xing Yi and Bagua books. I also purchased several of his videos. What I like most about his work is there are no ancient riddles to figure out. If you truly practice his works will give you a remarkable insight from someone who is a very competent practitioner.

Da es in deutscher Sprache keine brauchbaren Bücher über Baguazhang gibt (und wenn Bagua beschrieben wird dann sehr kurz in einem Kapitel) bin ich immer wieder gezwungen auf englische Titel zurückzugreifen. Was mir an Bauga - A Means to an End besonders aufgefallen ist, ist dass es sich hier wirklich um das Kampfsystem handelt. Viele andere Bagua Bücher beschäftigen sich so intensiv mit der Philosopie dieser Kunst dass sie den Ursprünglichen Einsatzbereich (Kampfsystem für Leibwächter) fast völlig übergehen. Mike Patterson schreibt unverblümt und ohne philosophische Übertreibungen. Allerdings fehlen auf den Fotos zu den Formen und Anwendungen Pfeile die die Bewegung darstellen. Gerade in einer Kampfkunst die von ständiger Bewegung lebt ist dies meines Erachtens sehr wichtig. Des weiteren wird in diesem Buch nicht auf die vielen unterschiedlichen Waffenformen des Baguazhang eingegangen. Auf die Geschichte des Systems verschwendet er nur magere 2 Seiten. Es ist das erste Baguazhang-Buch in dem ich kein Bild von Dong Hai-Chuan finden konnte. Dies Mag nicht so schlimm sein denn Herr Patterson möchte ja auf die Anwendungen diese Kung Fu-Stils eingehen. Ich persönlich halte eine gewisse Einführung in die Geschichte des Systems für unerlässlich, vor allem wenn es jemand sich eben nicht mit der Philosophie und dem Ursprung des Baguazhang auskennt. Im letzten Drittel des Buches geht Herr Patterson wie schon in seinem Xingyiquan-Buch auf sein selbst kreiertes RSPCT-Kampfsystem ein. Dies ist sein gutes Recht, allerdings ist es etwas vermessen zu glauben, der Kampfstil der Leibwächter der Verbotenen Stadt hätte so eine Ergänzung nötig.Dieses Buch ist vor allem für Menschen geeignet die bereits eine Vorbildung in diesem Kung Fu-Stil haben. Interessierten Anfängern empfehle ich hingegen Baguazhang - Theory and Applications von Liang Shou-Yu und Yang Jwing-Ming.

Eccellente,veramente un libro che consiglio a tutti i praticanti ed esperti di arti marziali fatto molto bene con immagini e spiegazioni molto dettagliate.Shrfu Mike Patterson, è un esperto nelle arti marziali interne avendo avuto modo di conoscerlo e imparare da Lui anche se purtroppo per poco tempo posso dire che è il meglio che io ho visto in tutta la mia vita da quando mi sono appassionato nelle arti marziali in genere.Acquistate il libro non ve ne pentirete e per chi ha la possibilita' di farlo anche i suoi dvd, se poi avete modo di incontrarlo personalmente non esitate a prendere lezioni di arti interne direttamente dal Maestro Mike Patterson e vi posso garantire che imparerete cose che nessun altro maestro di arti interne potra' mai insegnarvi, qualsiasi stile di arti marziali voi praticate vi posso assicurare che rimarrete pienamente soddisfatti.Grazie Shrfu, che ancora oggi leggendo questo libro imparo qualcosa di nuovo e interessante!

I bought this book to get realistic application and tactics. Having training in Boxing and Luta Livre, I can tell you the presented solution wont work or much likely wont. For a jab/cross combination he blocks and steps to the outside (which will work). For the second punch he does the same. So he moves his body faster than the attacker his fists. His response to a Guillotine will leave you in a bad position if it would work. Although he claims to have a lot of experience in full contact sparring.The picture are small, black and white, which is a problem because he is wearing black trousers. The pictures are without direction arrows. Which he left internationally. But if you have problems figuring out how he moves, he advocates his online school on multiple occasions. ;)Fun Fact: For a book titled ‚Means to an end‘, you will spend a lot reading til or without the author coming to the Point.