The Foundation of Jiulong Baguazhang

The Four Virtues are the cornerstone upon which the art rests.  They are so important that they are recited at the end of every class.  There are many reasons for this; here are a few of them:

The arts that we teach tries to develop the three essences within the person; body, mind, and spirit.  This is very similar to the old Greek axiom of a healthy mind in a healthy body.  If we develop just the body or just the mind, there will be something missing from our totality of being; our spirit.  By studying and living these four virtues, we begin to enter this exploration of our spirit.  Most people barely recognize that virtues exist, but they do and being able to truly integrate them into yourself is essential.

It would be irresponsible to teach someone a martial art, where one could hurt, maim, or even kill someone else, without a concurrent and balanced teaching of the virtues, which act to develop our abilities to control the use of such knowledge.  For me as a teacher, if I do not sense within a student an equal growth of knowledge of the physical art with the growth of internal personal virtue, then that person will almost surely hit the "glass ceiling" as far as the deeper aspects of the art go, physical or otherwise.

The development of Qi has the removal of blockages caused by tensions of various kinds.  Mental/Emotional tensions are anchors that often impede our progress in its development.  Lying, fears, doubts, anxiousness all create emotional tensions.  By integrating and living the four virtues, we eliminate many of the blockages that we create by "un-virtuous" living.  Once free from many of these anchors, we are able to make progress unimpeded.

These virtues allow us to become better persons; someone to be admired and respected.  They are not always easy to follow, and the journey of following them is life-long, but the personal pursuit of them will create an honorable, noble spirit.

-Shifu Andrew Garza, Jiulong Baguazhang

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I honor the masters that came before me and seek to develop the four virtues:

Honesty, with myself and to others at all times.

Humility, to all people in thought, word, and deed.

Patience, I serve others according to their needs.

Sincerity, is the foundation of my every action.