The Single Palm Change: Baguazhang's Fundamental Movement
by Mark Jensen -- Student

Introduction
Since I have been practicing Baguazhang (Eight Trigram Palm) at Lam Kwoon, I have had other students come up to me and ask "What the heck are you doing?" They see me walking around in a circle, making a few movements, and then walking in the other direction. What is it? Surely it's not Hung Gar or Shaolin. Is it Tai Chi? I guess I have to laugh when I think of it from their viewpoint. At least from what I have seen there are not a lot of other Lam Kwoon students practicing Bagua. After years of training in Hung Gar, my body told me it was time for something softer. Years ago, Sifu taught me Tai Chi (but I never practiced it), so I had some first hand knowledge of what Tai Chi was about; Bagua on the other hand was mysterious and fascinating. At first I decided to study Sun Style Tai Chi but then, all of a sudden, there I was walking around and around in a circle. So for all those who want to know a little bit about Baguazhang, in the following article I will try to explain the most important movement in the system: the Sing Palm Change.

Overview
The principle training method used by the Baguazhang system is walking the circle. The student holds a static posture from the waist up, facing the center of the circle, while from the waist down they walk around in a circle. A practice session will start off by walking the circle in either the clockwise or the counterclockwise direction. Whichever direction is used, there must exist a way to change that direction and walk the other way. This is where the Single Palm Change comes into use. It is the fundamental movement of the Baguazhang system of Kung Fu. The size of the circle can be very small or very large. It depends on the amount of room that you have. Sometimes it is very crowed on the practice floor at our school and I am constantly adjusting the size of my circle to avoid the various punches, kicks and sword thrust coming my direction. Sometimes I am the only student on the floor and my circle can then be as large as I want it to be.

Wuji and Taiji
Although the subject of this article is the Single Palm Change, I must first briefly describe the two prerequisite static postures, Wuji and Taiji, and what they contribute to the circle walking practice. They form the basics without any confusion from hand movements, used to understand the internal principle of linking the whole body together. The student will first start with the Wuji posture. This is a standing meditative kind of posture that is used as a method to gather the Qi in the Tan Tian and set up the body position that is maintained while walking the circle. The student should hold this posture for as long as it takes to feel the accumulation of Qi. This feeling should be fullness or thickening in the waist. The beginning student will need to hold this posture longer than the experienced student to get the Qi build up but, like most things, with time and practice the student will be able to gain the feeling fairly quickly. For me this seemed easy to do and at first I kind of just did it and then went on. It was only after months of practicing (with Sifu's guidance) that I realized that there was something missing and so I went back and gave it the time and study that it requires.

When the student has the correct posture and the feeling of Qi built up, they will then move to the Taiji posture. The taiji posture is the is the signature posture of the Baguazhang system. It is used as a time to check the key points before walking the circle. In this posture, the whole body is twisting from the waist up, the body is facing the inside of the circle, while from the waist down the body is facing the outside of the circle. The Taiji posture was, at first, very hard for me. I was not very loose in the waist area and had a hard time making and holding the twist correctly. In time, of course, I improved. So my advice is not to push it. Do a little at a time and soon you will see a difference. You and your body both must understand the concepts and requirements of the stillness stage before moving to the motion stage of circle walking.

Walking the circle

What could be easier than walking around in a circle? How is Baguazhang circle walking different from normal walking? These are both good questions. If we try to apply and maintain the concepts we learned in the practice of both Wuji and Taiji while walking the circle, then we can begin to understand the difference. There exist a few different stepping methods you can use to walk the circle, but whichever one is used, the feeling that you want to cultivate is a sense of gliding around the circle. It is almost like a floating sensation, but the body always remains at the same height. Beginning students will walk at a height almost equal to their normal standing height (upper basin). In the beginning, students will have a hard time keeping their balance and pace. Over time, as the student's legs get stronger, they will start to walk lower (medium basin) and smoother with a more consistent pace. Advanced students can walk at a very low height (lower basin), but this is only used for leg training and is not done all the time. Most advanced students will walk at a medium basin height to maintain the flow of Qi and to keep the movements smooth and even.

Single Palm Change

With the prerequisites complete, we will now move to the Single Palm Change itself. The Single Palm Change, at its most fundamental application, is a method used for changing direction while walking the circle. With extended practice, instructor correction, and trial and error, the student will begin to realize the defensive and offensive aspects of this palm change. What is most important however, is that both the body and the mind understand the execution of the movements. Initially, this is not the case. Compared to the mind, it takes the body much longer to understand and perform movements. The mind can understand the movements, but the student's skill will begin to increase dramatically after the body learns what the correct movements feel like.

If this is true when what does the movement of the Single Palm Change feel like? We must start with the feet, which is where the rooting is initiated. As Sifu says: "The posture is like a tree. Even if the tree is very large and strong, if the rooting is not there, then the tree can be pushed over easily." I obtained first hand knowledge of this when Sifu was able to push me over in any direction (I am 6'4" and 200 lbs.) I however, was unable to uproot him at all. When the student decides to execute the Single Palm Change, the first move that needs to be done is Green Dragon Contracts its Tail. The foot on the outside of the circle will "toe in" to the inside foot. The student is now (only for a brief second) in what we will call the triangle stance. As you move into Green Dragon Contracts its Tail, the body should feel like there is an energy contraction going on in the waist. This is a sinking feeling as the outside foot toes in. This posture is only a reference point as it is not really held. It is a transition into the next movement Green Dragon Turns it's Head.

As the student steps out in the reverse direction into Green Dragon Turns it's Head, the energy contraction in the waist should be maintained and the body should feel the twisting of the movement in the waist. If done incorrectly, this posture can lead the student to feel that they must lean forward. If it is done correctly and the energy contraction in the waist is maintained, there is no leaning forward, and only the upper body balance that was first set in the Wuji posture will still be felt. If the student were to have a partner push or pull on them, they would not be able to be moved or uprooted. I seemed to learn this the hard way. Every time I arrived at this point Sifu always seemed to be able to cause me to lose my balance. It drove me crazy! However, it was this physical interaction with Sifu that made me realize why I was off balance and helped me correct it. This is why it helps to practice the application of the movements on a real person.

From here the student moves into the Black Tiger Leaves the Cave posture. The transition into this posture begins the same way as when the student first moves into the Single Palm Change--with the toe in front of the foot. The same triangle stance is used with the same feeling in the waist as what was felt with the Green Dragon Contracts its Tail move. As both hands and arms twist into their respective positions, the general feeling should be that the chest is empty (there is no muscle tension in the chest) and contracted so that the shoulders feel like they are trying to come together.

From this position the student will now complete the movement and transition back into the Taiji posture on the other side. The feeling the student should have during this movement is a contraction sensation in the waist as the arms move towards Taiji, similar to twisting a rope beyond its normal limits. When it starts to knot, it contracts. As the arms are moving into Taiji, the waist, maintaining the Wuji feeling, will start to rotate, helping to bring the arms into position. The key feeling here is to maintain the Wuji posture as you turn. The head and the eyes turn to look at the center of the circle and, as the arms go to where the eyes are looking, the front leg steps out. The student is now in the Taiji posture but from the other side, thus completing the Single Palm Change movement. The student can now start to walk the circle on the other direction. Simple huh? I know what you are thinking but with practice it really can be quite simple and a lot of fun.

As a general note, Baguazhang is a system of continuous transition. When done correctly there should be no way to tell where a movement begins or ends except at the end of the Single or Double Palm changes. At this point the student stops, holds the Taiji posture and takes enough time to check all the key points before they continue walking in the other direction. For an in-depth technical description of all the movements of the Single Palm Change, please refer to Sifu's instructional video tape "Introduction to Dragon Bagua" (VTC09).

Conclusion
To walk the circle correctly for at least 20 minutes or more requires a great amount of constant concentration. It is far easier to accomplish this concentration when you practice in a quiet area that is free from the mental and physical distractions of everyday life. I like to think of this effort of concentration as entering my "Bagua room." In this "room" you think only of what you are trying to feel, understand, accomplish or perfect within your practice time. At the end of your practice session, when you come out of your "room," stop for a minute and take a look around you. What do you hear? What do you feel? Do you feel the same as you did before you started your practice? Do you see your surroundings the same as before? Do you seem to notice things that you did not notice before? Your answers to these questions are the results of the meditative aspects of Baguazhang and are the first steps on your circle walk to enlightenment.

Mark Jensen is a long-time student at Lam Kwoon. After a break of several years to finish his education, he has returned to the school and is training in the Baguazhang system.