Crossing Over

I had to go to Berkeley to East Wind Books of Berkeley to pick up books for my Tai Chi class...kool thing was I got to go across the new span of the Bay Bridge....

Coming out of the Treasure Island tunnel.....it took nearly 45 minutes to get to this point....

traffic is incredibly slow...too many gawkers!

Coming out of the tunnel you can see the old span of the bridge...the new span is wide and

spacious...you don't even feel like you are on a bridge.  Where's the traffic??

Once I got this far traffic was sparse and quick....what is going on?? Trip time total ! hour each way!!

On the way back...took just as long,,,,,

Got my books....and found some interesting Bagua books....two volume set on Zhang Gong Bagua Zhang.....a style I had not heard of.  Cheng Style Bagua is very well known in Beijing and concentrates of being fluid, Zhang Gong Bagua is from the South Districts of Beijing is is an off shoot of Cheng Style and instead concentrates on static postures and incorporates a lot of Xing-i elements.  Also if you haven't seen the movie Grandmasters, check it out a nice rendition of Bagua......it's not a movie about fighting , but about the tradition and philosophy of Bagua and Martial Arts.  In the credits....Coach Wu, is listed as the Martial Arts Consultant......which would account for the heavy emphasis on understanding the importance of Wu De in Martial Arts. Without Wu De you are just a thug......you might be physically strong, but you can't reach higher levels of understanding without transforming your outlook on life.....you must live Bagua, not just do Bagua.  Which the books on Zhang Gong Bagua spend a few chapters translating and explaining what that means.  Good readings!

Well I am going to have to crossover again as Calwushu begins today hope it's faster!!