Ep 26: Rikard Elofsson and Miika Wikberg: A deep dive into Nordic Bajiquan

Baguazhang misconceptions with Edward Hines My guest for episode 35 is Edward Hines, a long time Baguazhang student of Lou Dexiu. Ed started training Bagua in Taiwan way back in 1991, and has continued ever since. He now teaches online at I-bagua.com and has books about Baguazhang you can find on Amazon. To frame our chat we decided to cast around for the most common misconceptions you hear about Baguazhang, and address each of them, one at a time. Links: www.i-bagua.com thetaichinotebook.com

This episode of The Tai Chi Notebook podcast is slightly different to a regular episode. There isn't a guest, but that doesn't mean I'm alone... This episode is brought to you using the power of AI. I fed a recent blog post from The Tai Chi Notebook into Google's NotebookLM, an AI that produces a podcast based on your article, just to see what would happen and the result was so good that I decided to put it out as a real episode! See what you think. Original blog post: https://thetaichinotebook.com/2024/09/16/how-to-do-takedowns-and-throws-in-tai-chi-xing-yi-baguazhang-or-any-martial-art/

My guest for the latest episode of The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast is Tina Faulkner Elders, chief instructor of the RuYi School of Taijiquan and Qigong in Aberdeenshire. We talk about Tina’s training in qigong, first with her father, then in Beijing, China, and then on Wudang mountain itself, the legendary home of Taoism. Links: RuYi School of Taijiquan and Qigong https://ruyischool.com/ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RuyiAberdeenshire/ Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsfluLjYWYdD7T8HhJ7BZOQ The Tai Chi Notebook http://thetaichinotebook.com

In episode 32 of The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast, I’m joined by Augustus John Roe, who is an author and martial artist living and working in Vietnam. In our interview I get a chance to ask Gus about what traditional martial arts are like in Vietnam, how the MMA scene there developed and how popular Tai Chi is, not to mention the surprising involvement of Ho Chi Minh in the early development of the 24-Step Tai Chi form. Links: Augustus John Roe: https://www.augustusjohnroe.com/ Ho Chi Minh Tai Chi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfIl0dKrP0c https://thetaichinotebook.com/

Randy Brown is a Mantis Boxing and BJJ black belt coach teaching in the USA. In this podcast we explore how Randy has reworked his Mantis Boxing to explore the grappling potential hidden in its forms and how they can interact with his Brazilian Jiujitsu. We talk about a range of subjects including self defence vs sport, weapons vs barehand and how to turn dead systems into living arts again. Links: https://randybrownmantisboxing.com/

Nabil Ranné is a Chen style teacher living in Berlin who offers classes and online training at CTN Academy https://www.ctn.academy/ Nabil is a student of Chen Yu who is the only son of Chen ZhaoKui and grandson of the famous Chen Fake. Here’s what we talk about: Timestamps: 1.00: Nabil’s background in martial arts and what attracted him to Chen style Tai Chi 3.40: What is Jin in Tai Chi? 7.30: What makes Tai Chi different to other marital arts? 11.15: What is the strategy for Tai Chi? 16.00: What is the function of Tai Chi push hands? 17.55: Competition push hands vs Tai Chi push hands 22.20: The Xin Yi podcast and how do you train applications in Tai Chi 28.00: Real life self defence situations 36.00: Martial arts vs marital sports 44.02: Zhan Zhuang: Standing pillar practice 46.55: Chen style FaJin methods and their purpose 55.00: Nabil’s book and getting in touch Links: ——— Nabil’s website: https://www.ctn.academy/ Nabil’s training history: https://www.ctn.academy/blog/learning-taijiquan-with-chen-yu-nabil-ranne Nabil’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taijigongfu/ Find out more about The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast at: www.thetaichinotebook.com

This month's guest is Richard Johnson a long-time student of Joseph Chen of Chen Style Practical Method. As well as a Tai Chi practitioner and teacher, Richard is a full time movement coach working with athletes, so he brings an appreciation of athletic movement to his views on Tai Chi. In our discussion Richard delves deeply into the internal workings of the Chen Style Practical Method and we talk a lot some interesting movement principles based around rotation. We also talk about how the Practical Method is different to the Chen Village style of Tai Chi. You can get in touch with Richard using his email address trukinetix at gmail.com Find out more about this podcast at www.thetaichinotebook.com

Jess O’Brien is the author of the book Neijiaquan and co host of the Neijiaquan podcast, which he runs with Isaac Kamins. Since 1999, Jess has studied extensively under BK Frantzis. Over the years, he has also trained with other, preeminent internal martial artists like Luo De Xiu. He has been active in martial arts since his teens. In this episode we discuss what drew Jess to the internal arts and how he trained with various different teachers before becoming a student of Bruce Kumar Frantzis. Links: Neijiqaun podcast: http://www.theneijiaquanpodcast.com/ Water Tradition Internal Arts: http://www.watertradition.net/ Find out more about this podcast at: www.thetaichinotebook.com

Bruce Lee will be no stranger to anybody listening to The Tai Chi Notebook Podcast - even 50 years after his death he remains the most famous martial artist in the world. But could he actually fight? World Champions in karate competition have gone on record to point out that he never once competed in tournaments. So, were his martial abilities simply a trick of the camera? My guest for this episode is Bruce Lee authority and bestselling author John Little. John has a new book out called Wrath of the Dragon: The real fights of Bruce Lee, in which he takes a hard look at Bruce Lee’s real-life fights to definitively answer these questions To get these first hand accounts John has tracked down over 30 witnesses to the real fights of Bruce Lee as well as those who were present at his many sparring sessions. There are over 30 years of research in this book that took him thousands of miles around the globe. Find out more about Bruce Lee's fights in: WRATH OF THE DRAON The Real Fights of Bruce Lee by John Little Pub date: September 5, 2023 ISBN: 9781770417427 SPORTS & RECREATION / Martial Arts $28.95 CDN / $21.95 U.S. Paper, 8.5 x 5.5", 352 pp 22 photographs, black and white DISTRIBUTION: Baker & Taylor Publisher Services (US), Jaguar Book Group (Canada) Find out more about this podcast at www.thetaichinotebook.com

Bājíquán (八極拳) or shorter just Baji, is commonly known as “the martial art of bodyguards”. It emphasises the use of attacks that close down the distance as well as explosive close combat techniques such as combinations of elbow, knee and takedown techniques. Both Rikard Elofsson and Miika Wikberg are senior Baji students of Lü Baochun, based in Finland who has over 40 years’ experience in the training and practice of baji. He has trained under many of the famous martial artists who used the style, such as Han Longquan and Zhang Xuchun. Timestamps: 0.40: - Rikard - Introduce yourself/how did you meet your teacher Master Lü Baochun? 3.15: - Miika - Introduce yourself/how did you meet your teacher Master Lü Baochun? 7.15: What makes Baji different to other martial arts? 8.30: Old Baji and new Baji 9.20: Trademark techniques of Baji 10.15: How is Baji power different? Training methods and the 3 stepping methods. 12.40: The forms and sets in the Baji system 19.20: The history of Baji 25.15: The mixing of Baji and Pigua 26.09: Baji and body guarding 29.41: Is Baji hard to practice? 31.29: Baji and stamping/stomping 34.34: Baji and Tai Chi being taught together 36.25: How to train with Master Lü Baochun 38.00: Do you spar? 40.15: Can you add Baji to an existing skill set? 41.05 Is there a Baji Qigong? 42.18 Are there Baji conditioning exercises? 43.54 Iron Body and Baji 44.35 How do you integrate Baji with other arts? 47.24: Baji standing exercises 51.00: Wrap up and the Muhammad Ali influence Links: The Baji Association (English): https://www.baji.info/en/ Bajiquan Wasa https://www.facebook.com/bajiquanwasa/ https://www.instagram.com/bajiwasa/ Baji Kung Fu Stockholm: https://www.facebook.com/kungfusthlm/ Video: https://www.youtube.com/@Jumfer https://www.youtube.com/@bajiwasa8400