3. Third dragon change: Following palm change

2.3 One of the basic ideas of baguazhang is to never use force against force. The following change trains the techniques of following along, leading, and using smoothness to beat brute strength. The variations train folding and returning, duck splits the water, and swallow skims the water. This palm change emphasizes koubu and baibu once again. Later changes emphasize body work more.

Movement Names: Stab To Heaven And Earth, Gaizhang, Hide a Flower Under a Leaf, Dragon Turns Its Head.

Description: starting in dragon form with the left hand up.

Action One: Koubu the left foot to point away from the centre, settling firmly into the left leg. Stab the left hand up until the upper arm is at the head, and stab the right hand to place the back of the hand at the hip. The left arm is straight up at the left ear.

Action Two: Baibu the right foot, keeping the weight back and the arms in the same position. Look through the upper arm. The back will now face the centre of the circle.

Action Three: Large koubu the left foot, coming around to gaizhang the left hand along the line of the circle. The chest will now angle towards the centre of the circle.

Action Four: Hook the hand left hand, settle into a drop stance, and thread the right hand along inside the leg, palm rolled over to face up. Keep the body straight. If you cannot do a full drop stance, do a really clean half mabu.

Action Five: Shift forward and move into Hide the Flower Under a Leaf. Set into the back leg as you come up, to arrive in a centered half mabu stance, stretching out the arms fully. Then Dragon Turns its Head. You have not changed sides. To change sides, do the single palm change.

The variations of the change are not in any specific order. They are numbered for convenience and this order may be adjusted later.



Website organized and written by Andrea Falk, interpreting the teaching of Li Baohua. The website of the international association is www.maguibagua.com.