This coming Saturday (17/1/04, 5-7pm) is the next Senior's evening class
at the nathan Dojo. The guest instructor will be Geoff Sweeting whom
practices & teaches the Chinese internal art Ba Gua Zhan. Geoff regularly
visits China learning from & living with the art's most senior instructor
& is one of only two people in Australia that has been given formal
permission to teach this art.

Ba Gua Zhang is one of three main martial arts styles from China that are
commonly referred to as ‚Internal Arts‚ (Xing Yi Quan, Ba Gua Zhang and
Tai Ji Quan). It is of special interest to Aikido practitioners as it has
been said that O'Sensei learned, & borrowed from, this art while on route
to Mongolia before he founded Aikido. It has very similar techniques to
Aikido but with devastating results that are designed to kill.

Ba gua zhang employs guerilla warfare- type tactics (movement tactics),
and the practice of circle walking helps engender the principle of
continuous movement. Due to it's positioning, circle walking forces the
opponent to be contained in the center while the practitioner remains on
the outside flank, facing the inside center, never offering a frontal
battle.

To learn more & have a play, please come along.

Simon