Rating: 
Summary: My students really liked this book
Review: As a teacher of Bagua Chang I have to commend Mr. Bracy for doing an excellent job in presenting some rather complex material in an easy to undesrstand manner. I enjoyed the material presented and felt the history lesson was quite good. It was very clear that Mr. Bracy has a greater knowledge and understanding of metaphysical internal arts than he choses to reveal. And based upon some of his reviews, this is probably a wise choice. It will be interesting to see what his next book will be like:-)However, the best praise I can give is that my students found the book very informative and helpful in their practice. It added more depth to their circle walking and the definition of a Yogic internal art suited their nature. They enjoyed the pictures of Master Liu walking the circle. (That alone, is a good reason to own this book) Bagua has produced more magical masters per capita than any other internal art. To only view this art as a martial one is a tremendous disservice and insult to its creators and first level masters. Mr. Bracy should be applauded for not creating another technical "how to do it" manual.
Rating: 
Summary: Really great history of the origins of ba gua
Review: Books about ba gua are rare, so I snapped this up as soon as I saw it. I liked the history aspect of the book which tells how ba gua was developed, the purpose of walking in a circle, etc. But aside from that, it's clear that the author has reached a refined degree of practice and understanding about this profound art. It inspired me to resume learning ba gua, and much more seriously than before. It's a great book for anyone interested in tai chi, chi gung, and other internal martial arts.
Rating:
Summary: A well done introduction to the are of ba gua
Review: Bracy and Liu's book is a great introduction to the art of ba gua. While I have studied tai chi, I have had very little experience with ba gua, and I found that this book answered many of my questions. It is not a training manual, but provides a taste of the flavor of the practices, drills, and martial techniques of the art. The text is well written and clear, and there are many pictures to illustrate the authors' points. Its discussion of the history of ba gua was especially interesting. My only complaint with the book is that the photos used to explain some of the two person techniques are hard to follow because they switch models at different points in the sequence of illustrations.
Rating:
Summary: A necessary book for every library.
Review: I am a former student of Master John Bracy, and a T'ai Chi instructor at the Kapiolani Women's Center and 24Hour Fitness in Hawaii. I studied T'ai Chi Ch'uan at Hsing Chen School of Internal Healing Arts and had the opportunity to observe private classes with my Sifu and his Ba Gua students. I remember hearing the shared laughter between teacher and student as they challenged each other using this mysterious and beautiful art. I found this book on Ba Gua to be informative and inspiring. I now incorporate the chapter on Ba Gua Qigong in my classes and my life and have made his book "required" reading for every student. They tell me that reading "Ba Gua" helped them achieve a deeper and clearer understanding of T'ai Chi as well as stimulate interest in learning more about Ba Gua. I hope that all students of the internal arts get a chance to read this well written work. It's like getting private lessons with the Grand Masters!
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Review: I got a hold of this book - as I do with all internal martial art books - thinking that this is another history book. It definitely is not just another history book. Authors Liu Xing-Han and John Bracy have delved deeper into the art with the inclusion of the alchemy of taoists of old, explaining their methods and motivations, bagua training sets, different models of ch'i cultivation with special notations and diagrams from Robert Becker's "The Body Electric," Baguazhang chi gung and more. Well written, with compassion and excellence! 5 - stars!
Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic book by a FANTASTIC Teacher
Review: I have had the privilege of studying under Sifu Bracy a number of times in the 1990s. The man is a storehouse of knowledge in BOTH Bagua AND Hsing-I. His Hebei Hsing-I IS as smooth and flawless as his Baguazhang. To those who have written snippy little comments about this fine man, and about his wonderful treatise on this fascinating subject, I say: Shame On YOU! It is very safe to make snide comments about someone you have never laid eyes on in real life, and that shows the low level of attainment you have reached thusfar in life. The content of the manual is just a minor glimpse into the wider scope of things in the wide world of Baguazhang and internal martial arts. One cannot hope to catch the entire sum of the teaching in a short tome such as this one; but one can gather the beginnings
of greatness, and can aspire to reach the level of mastery that John Bracy has achieved in his personal quest. I highly recommend this book to anyone, novice or expert, as this book provides a nice amount of content for a small price. I hope that Sifu Bracy will grace the reading public with a meatier volume in the near future, and I also hope that the next volume will prvide a deeper insight into the [ractice and application of his life's work. I sincerely thank him for his efforts thus far, and welcome the day that I hear he has produced another fine manual for all the martial arts world to enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Reduce internal friction, thats what everyone says.....
Review: I have to agree with Victor K. Lin on this one.
I see people going 'oh yah' this is great, quite a few in fact.
Popularity is not an importance when it comes to real information.
I had the chance to read it at the book store, and it had information you could find anywhere. What people often dont tell you is that Bagua has many levels. If it is just elementary knowledge you seek, get this book.
Overview: I thought the book was really great at first, but then when I started skimming for the real information, or deeper information, I didnt find any. Basically the concept that was re-emphasised within the book was when moving or making transition reduce internal friction, or learn how to by practice. I am sure glad I didn't waste money on it. If you really want more information on pa kua chang, or bagua zhang, find a teacher or go to china.
Sometimes it is best to go to the roots of ba gua to learn more.
Bagua was created by Dong Hai-chuan and combined internal elements of taijiquan (tai chi), hsing-i, and taoist circle walking. Do research on these: ...
Rating: 
Summary: a book about internal art and NOT internal martial art
Review: I skimmed through this book at a local bookstore. The following is my first impressions and if after second skimming if I feel I should retract, modify or supplement what I say now, I will do so later. I own sifu Park Bok Nam's two volumed "Fundamentals" plus Zhang Lie's Yin style Ba Gua translated by Crandall. I considerr myself lucky that those three are the very first three books about Ba Gua that I purchased. Glancing through "Ba Gua : Hidden Knowledge ... ", I could not help thinking that this is the sort of thing which happens when something becomes fashonable and people see the opportunity to make money pretending to disclose THE SECRET KNOWLEDGE. I wo'nt argue about the validity of 'qi', etc. since everybody seems to have different opinions about it. Yet, the authors could've done away with it by relegating it to a potential private instruction topic to be discussed outside of the book, and tried not to waste too much pages by it. This is precisely why sifu Park's book far excells this book. Whatever concrete drills or practices and applications presented in the book is so minimal that one suspects that the authors deliberately chose only enough to whet the readers' appetite and recruit them for their private lessons. Forms presented could come from any qigong books. Applications presented cannot be called uniquely Ba Gua, it could be from Aikido, Jujutsu, you name it. In one word, truely unispiring book, if you are not an ardent follower of the mystical 'qi'. It's not a book about internal martial art, it's about internal arts(esoterica, New Age belief, etc.).
Rating:
Summary: Great history, superficial mechanics
Review: I was mixed on this book. It presented a wonderful history and philosophical background for Hsing-Han Liu's Ba Gua, but the palms shown were the simplest levels (predominately qi gung), the applications were rudimentary (perhaps even watered down), and the mechanics simplistic. For a book that started to emphasize energy, proceeded to walking qi gung palms, a more appropriate finale would have been more sophisticated energy applications and/or development. Real insights from this incredibly experienced Ba Gua master would have been nice, and invaluable.
Rating:
Summary: Lacks forms but has good theory. All in all, pretty decent
Review: This book is obviously not intended for the beginning Baguazhang student. Then again, there comes the argument as to whether there is anything as a beginning Baguazhang student, since it is a style generally analogized as "graduate school" for martial artists. The authors are quite knowledgeable and clear with their content matter. While I distinctly dislike the use of the phrase "Taoist yoga/yogic," the outlining of the qigong exercises were quite clear. The two-man drills were not so clear, but for someone with experience in reading martial arts texts, they were clear enough. There's also some esoterica and history that is nice to see. The outlining and use of the generational names of the Tung Hai-Chuan lineage was especially interesting to me, as an "historical" martial artist. It's not the best book I've seen on Baguazhang, but it certainly beats most others. For fundamental drilling and body development work, I would suggest Sifu Park Bok Nam's "The Fundamentals of Baguazhang" vols. I and II. For more translations and mediocre form delineation, I would suggest Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming and Liang, Shou-Yu's "Emei Baguazhang." Having all three texts, I feel that Mr. Bracy and his sifu's book is a fine complement to my Baguazhang and internal Chinese arts library.
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