By tradition and orthodoxal acceptance Baguazhang is one of the three traditional - neijia - internal martial arts of China. The other two are Taiqiquan (or Tai Chi for short) and Xingyiquan. With the 'internal' meaning that the style had its roots in Taoism (within China) instead of Shaolin Buddhist practices (coming from outside China i.e. India).

Overtime, internal has also come to mean that the style can be used as a form of physical meditation, and trains one's inner wellbeing and reality first, before improving one's external ability to fight.

My own journey along the martial arts way, started long before I actually did my first palm change, when at the age of fifteen - in a moment of darkest gloom - I stumbled upon the I-Ching.

The martial art of Baguazhang through its founder Master Dong Haichuan 董海川師傅 of the late Qing Dynasty is only around 150 to 200 years old, compared to the 易經 I-Ching, that is said to be more than 5,000 years old and in essence is the seed of what can be regarded as culturally Chinese.

Since picking up a copy of the book at my local bookstore, it has been a guiding light along my path, the way, that has led me to 圍碁 Weiqi, 兵法 Bingfa, 茶禪 Chazen and then on to 八卦掌 Baguazhang and 氣功 Qigong. Of which, I have been doing baguazhang continuously in Sydney, Australia since 2003.

My experiences along the path, shared with the world, are available as a free podcast at https://anchor.fm/peter-hainzl-baguazhang

One man's internal story along the way to Bagua Shan 八卦山.

Along with writing and publishing regular podcasts at https://anchor.fm/peter-hainzl-baguazhang, I do baguazhang everyday.

I run twice-weekly Qigong classes at my local community centre, where we are dedicated to pushing the envelope on what's possible in Qigong.

Going beyond breathing and meditation, to experiencing Qigong as a physical sensation that can be transmuted because a lot of my students are wanting to become healers and so much more.

I have more than sixteen years experience in the way of tea, through operating my own tea business and practicing Chazen. Being less formally ridget than the Japanese Cha-no-yu ceremony, Chazen is a simple daily ritual that allows martial artists to get more deeply in touch with their spiritual side or practice an easy form of mindfulness.

Because certain martial art nuances can only be truly understood, when a person 'marries' into the culture of their respective martial art, I advise and counsel a lot of men on how to live in a mixed cultural household. And how to integrate the seemingly two separate strands of wanting to be a martial artist outside of the dojo and the everyday world we all must live in, into one coherent life.

If you want to know about me and my journey along the martial arts path, and are a bit reserved in contacting me or are just unable to because I am in Australia and you are somewhere else, then you can but my books: The Baguazhang Art of War series from Amazon and all good online book retailers.