Baguazhang Saved My Life

A moment when I suddenly, truly, really understood the training

I debated whether to title this post with such a grandiose statement. But the event described here is factual and is one of the reasons I’ve stayed with Nine Dragon Baguazhang as my chosen martial and health for over 20 years. This little story will show you why.

This occurred over 10 years ago. But the moment of “life saved” is still vivid for me.

I was walking on a main street in downtown Toronto on a relaxing summer day around 5pm. As in most cities, this time of day is rush hour so every street was jammed with cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians all trying to get home. The phrase “rush hour” is ironic since no one is really rushing as much as they’d like. Some people react to this concentration of vehicles with impatience, frustration and in some cases, anger.

I came to an intersection and had a green light. So started walking across towards the opposite side of the street. To my left was a large van with his right turn signal flashing. He was waiting for his chance to make that turn and as soon as he saw an opening in the traffic, in his impatience, he hit the gas. I was still walking and was directly in line with the front of driver’s side of the van. He did not see me due I assume to his watching for cars, not pedestrians.

My peripheral vision caught the movement of the van as it lurched forward and my body automatically pressed my rear foot into the ground causing me to practically leap forward. The van missed me by inches and I found myself standing on the opposite street corner. I knew what had happened and thanked the Baguazhang gods for my standing there. 🙂

So what happened?

One of the things Nine Dragon Baguazhang is known for is its footwork. In our classes we practiced walking with a method called the Dragon Step. It’s a technique whereby the weight is kept on the rear foot during each step, rather than falling onto the front foot. I had become habitually back-weighted when I walked. This meant that regardless of which foot I was on at any given moment, it would be the one from which I can push in any direction.

We also worked with our peripheral vision regularly. This aspect of vision is suited to seeing movement “out of the corner of the eye”. So when movement is detected, the body can respond very quickly.

So the overall process was 1. seeing the movement of the van peripherally, 2. realizing the threat, and 3. pressing the foot into the ground to launch the body forward. All this happened so quickly that it seemed simultaneous.

It’s important to understand that “I” did not do this. It was a survival instinct that is built in. Nor did I consciously do a Dragon Step at that crucial moment. My body did it automatically in response to the survival impulse. It all happened fast enough to get me out of the way of that van. The reason was that I had been practicing Dragon Stepping long enough for it to be a habit. It was the habit of using the Dragon Step that saved me.

The key to internalizing this step is to walk that way all the time. It takes some time to develop the Dragon Step as one’s natural way of walking but as you can imagine, I’m pretty dedicated to it.

Up until that moment, I had never thought a martial art was a life-saving skill other than self-defence. Yet my feeling about the training was never the same after that day. I realized there were unknowable situations for which martial skills could potentially keep me alive.

To this day, I am deeply grateful.