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Braden
03-05-2001, 12:23 AM
I'm wondering if the footwork of the single palm change is universal across bagua styles.

I practice jiang rong qiao's original form, and ours goes like this (ccw):

From circlewalking with left foot forward and empty go into pigeontoed stance facing inside, left foot empty except briefly in transition. Turn left foot out, follow into pigeontoed stance facing outside with right foot empty. Turn right foot in and extend into CW circlewalking.

Braden
03-05-2001, 12:45 AM
Allright, maybe it might be a more exciting topic if we talk about applications too. I think apps come pretty spontaneously from an understanding of SPC, so here's one that "happened" the other day; what do you think?

BaguaMan and Assailant face each other, neutral stances. BaguaMan blocks or attacks using basic circlewalking posture, say with #4/thunder palms (sink into right leg; left leg kicks out or jams or simply steps; left arm goes out and forward into a peng or backhand; right arm supports energetically/guards). His left arm blocks or is blocked by Assailants left arm such that they are now in the basic bagua joining arms/circlepush hands posture. From here, BaguaMan's right/supporting arm takes over the block as he steps into the first pigeontoe stance, moving forward and taking Assailant's outside door to BaguaMan's right (Assailant's left); BaguaMan's arms cross in typical bagua fashion, presenting a good opportunity to pull with the right and strike chin or throat with the left palm. Striking/left hand continues forward to control Assailant's head as Baguaman begins to swivel out of the pigeontoe; Baguaman's right palm still controls Assailant's left arm. As Baguaman comes out of pigeon toed, he pulls that arm in a circle down then towards Assailant's back (in front of Baguaman's chest), while pushing Assailant's head down. This motion continues as Baguaman slips into the second pigeontoe, tossing Assailant over his foot, or alternately ending up with Baguaman directly behind Assailant who is bent over in an arm lock.

Try it out, it really flows! :)

Waidan
03-05-2001, 01:53 AM
The scary thing is, I actually made sense of that :)

Describing footwork and applications can be somewhat difficult, particularly due to the differences in terminology from school to school.

While there are no doubt minor variations, I think the single and double palm change should be fundamentally the same from school to school. I've always understood these maneuvers to be central to bagua movement theory. Your description seems to match the way we execute our spc, and it also matches (more or less) the method of the Emei branch (from Dr. Yang's book and video, if that's indicative of the style).

wujidude
03-05-2001, 05:45 AM
The double palm change in Sun Xikun's method is different than what I've seen in other schools in the Cheng Tinghua lineage (e.g., Gao, Nine Palaces). I don't particularly care for it . . . nor do I have the time right now to describe it. ;- )

The single palm change definitely seems similar across different styles of baguazhang, but the double palm change may differ.

Sun Xikun's single palm change differs a little bit from what you describe for Jiang's, Braden, but the essential movements and energies--and application--are the same.