Baguazhang: Lion & Heaven by Kevin Wikse.
The quality of Heaven or Qian trigram is that of pinnacle "yang," with all attributions in its purest concentrate. These pinnacle qualities, or associations, are uncompromising strength, courage, power, creativity, and audacity. These traits culminate in the Lion in the physical dimension and in the Chinese cultural context. The Lion is a fearless animal who fully expects victory in every conflict. His commanding personality is one of absolute righteousness, albeit wrathful and sometimes short-tempered. The Lion funnels anger into his martial prowess.
The Heaven or Qian trigram of the I-Ching is represented by three yang lines. It brims with raw power and unlimited potential. If we break down the three lines to express a human's mind and upper and lower body, we see someone who is fully committed and oozing confidence. Their upper and lower bodies are primed for action. Ready to conquer whatever comes their way.
This is the expression of the Lion.
The military strategy of the Lion is uncomplicated. He believes "might makes right." The Lion is without peers regarding physical strength and tenacity. His martial methodology is simple: utter domination of the enemy. Lion seeks to hook, catch, or seize to brutalize his enemy. Breaking bones, dislocating joints, separating muscle from bone, and tearing the skin. Lion invades and occupies his enemy's space. He controls their balance, giving them no quarter and no time for rest or recompose themselves. Lion is ruthless and relentless.
The Lion is extremely heavy-handed. He employs low kicks and crushing stomps to pulverize the opponent's structure, dismantle their knees, and injure their feet. He utilizes headbutts, elbows, and knees to punish his adversaries further at close range. Lion likes quick, powerful sweep kicks, hooking his enemy's ankle and bringing them to the floor. He is prone to wrestling, throws, and slams. While grappling, the Lion is not hunting for submissions but rather incapacitation. Snap, not tap. Enemies are rattled by his ferocity. Tough guy agonists quickly assume quivering fetal positions to survive Lion's incredible and appalling talent for violence.
If the above did not fully encapsulate the Lion's aggressiveness, his fondness for grasping and manipulating his enemy's head might be the Lion's most fearsome application. The Lion is frequently depicted demonstrating stewardship of a ball. The ball is, in a sense, the entire world. In martial application, a person's head is essentially their whole world. Their senses become scattered through the violent and sudden grasping, seizing, or turning of a person's head. Their strategies are lost in a jumble of confusion and fear as their world is, quite literally, turned upside down.
Holding the Lion's upper body shape while integrating it with circle walking creates a heady blood-oxygen mix, forcing circulation into the elevated hands from the legs (placed under duress) and stimulating all major energy channels. Energy is cycled up and down through the central channel (macrocosmic orbit), resulting in denser bones, stronger muscles, and more durable tendons.
The Lion shape, also known as "holding the ball" (mimics holding a ball between both hands), produces a remarkable energetic effect. A field within a field. A person's body emits an aura surrounding the physical body. The bigger and brighter a person's aura, the healthier the person tends to be. Holding the Ball shape creates another condensed field (inside the primary area) between the person's palms. A yin/yang energy construct. In the Lion shape, because the hands are held near or above the chest and head, the person's brain, heart, and lungs fall within the radius of the energetic ball. Therefore, all areas mentioned above gain even further health enhancements.
Within the Daoist belief structure, it is believed that:
Within the spiritual dimension, practicing the Lion calls his immensely protective and fortuitous attention to yourself. The upper body shape is both a specific frequency and transmitter. At the same time, the duress in the legs acts as the power to broadcast said particular frequency. Daoist circle walking creates an energy portal by defining the radius of the wuji or void within the physical world. Holding the Lion shape while meditating on its qualities entices the Lion spirit to draw near, making it aware of you and placing yourself in its beneficent purvey.
Those who have found Lion's favor (through sustained and committed practice) will discover that evil despises their presence, and their fortunes improve. Both ghosts and demons bow to their authority.
Kevin Wikse is a 30+ year martial arts student specializing in Baguazhang. He has successfully employed this ferocious martial art to protect himself and others from elements of southern California's 1990s gang culture as well as early the 2000's Neo-Conservative jackoffs during the post-9-11 (inside job) Bush/Cheney-era nightmare. Most recently, Kevin Wikse brought Baguazhang to bear against the mentally ill agents of the radical Communist Left by unapologetically crippling members of ANTIFA and BLM on the streets of Portland, Seattle, Boise, and Tuscon as they engaged in flagrant acts of domestic terrorism against this great country in both 2016 and 2020.
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