day 13: 6th palm change

concepts:

• sinking
• hooking
• signals

forms:

• 6th palm change
• combat applications (kick-toe, arm-twist, bear stance, dragon gate, tiger gate)

today was somewhat uneventful. the class began with stances, and Ching-Tzsieh introduced some new friends (James-sp? and Olivia). after Sifu showed up, we proceeded to warm-ups with the hand drills (single and double-hand). following this, we took a few minutes following the hand drills to rest and catch up on events over the break, as well as make some introductions to the new members.

6th palm change

Sifu Jason gave everyone a pause, and then had everyone line up to learn the 6th palm change. he demonstrated it slowly, and then counted out the steps as he had the class follow along with him.

the 6th palm change begins in a position called dragon (which strangely enough is different from the dragon stance, which raises a question to be posed to Sifu later). from there, it involves a turn initiated by a bai (out) step with one arm simultaneously circling over the head, after which the practitioner proceeds into the bear stance and then to a what appears to be the same 1-legged hand strike in the 5th palm change. this 1-legged position turns into a kick, then becomes an extension of the leg and pointing of the toe accompanied by a backwards torso lean to maintain balance.

from there, the palm change continues into the bear stance, a 1-legged turn matching the one from the 3rd palm change, another entry into the bear stance, and then transitioning into circular movements of the arms and hands before finally finishing with a change back into the starting position.

the 6th palm change is shorter than the 5th palm change--or at least it seems that way. however, there's a lot of nuances in terms of changes in weight between feet, as well as in terms of rising and falling of the torso, arms, and legs. as a result, it proved almost as complex as the 5th palm change in terms of things to track, even if it did involve fewer components.

i did okay learning it from a right-handed perspective, but became lost when i tried to do it from a left-handed perspective. i ended up having to think each movement through, comparing the left-handed side to the right-handed one. thankfully, everybody was having as much difficulty as i was and i was able to follow the others. the prescription, of course, for this situation is the usual: practice.

combat applications

Sifu took extensive time going through combat applications of the 6th palm change:

1. kick-to-pointed toe (i didn't get the name of this technique)
2. arm twist (i didn't get the name of this either)
3. bear stance
4. circular hands (yet again, i didn't get the name of this)

i'll summarize what we covered as follows:

kick-to-pointed toe

beginning with the kick-to-pointed toe, he said that it was meant to be a way of countering an opponent who has grabbed your foot to stop your kick. in such an event, it's possible to throw the opponent off-balance by extending the leg and pointing the toe. in the 6th palm change, this is also combined with a lean of the torso backward which is meant to help the practitioner maintain balance. it is also accompanied by a forward hand that is supposed to distract the opponent and cause them to lean backwards, enhancing the likelihood of them losing balance and falling over.

Jason made a note that this is something that is not used very often, but is still useful to know.

arm twist

next came an exercise involving an arm twist. i wasn't clear as to the connection with the 6th palm change, and it appeared to be more of a separate technique. it wasn't really an arm twist either--it basically utilizes a blocking arm that redirects an attacker's arm strike upwards, then stepping underneath the upraised attacker's arm while simultaneously using the non-blocking arm to lock the attacker's elbow to prevent them from escaping the move. from here, the defender has their back to the attacker's view, and has the option of lowering the hold and using the shoulder as a leverage point to place pressure on the attacker's elbow, or continuing the turn to twist the attacker's arm and shifting pressure to the shoulder joint.

Sifu made some points on this:

• you should not bend or duck your body underneath the opponent's upraised arm. it is not a dance move. the goal is to raise the opponent's arm so that they have less control.
• the practitioner blocks with a twisting motion upwards (remember: this is bagua) to redirect the opponent's arm.
• when stepping underneath the opponent's upraised arm, the practitioner places the non-blocking hand against the opponent's elbow to lock it, preventing the opponent from bending the arm and applying their biceps strength to break the joint lock.
• when the practitioner does the complete turn, they should bring their hands down and step forward, since this will bend the opponent's arm backwards and multiply the pressure on the opponent's shoulder joint and also throw the opponent off-balance backwards.
• if the opponent rotates or steps through the arm twist, the practitioner has the option to just keep going in the same motion to repeat the joint lock attempt.
  

bear stance

he then took time to have us practice the bear stance, which is also meant to cause an opponent to lose balance. he had us form a line, with a person at the end serving as an "assailant." the next person in line was supposed to act as the "defender" to apply the bear stance against the assailant and cause them to fall backwards. the "assailant" would then go to the back of the line, and the "defender" would then become the "assailant" with the next person in line taking their turn as "defender."

in demonstrating the combat application of the bear stance, Sifu said that a practitioner should line up with an opponent, with a knee roughly behind the opponent's knee and the back of the upper arm in contact with the opponent's torso. from this position, the practitioner is supposed to sink, forcing the opponent to lean back and throw their weight off their center.

Sifu gave some comments regarding the bear stance:

• the bear stance should be effective without having to use the arms. Jason commented that sinking into the stance alone should be enough to cause the opponent to lose balance and fall backwards. essentially, the application of the stance should be effortless.
• it is critical to "sink" into the bear stance. Sifu noted that the goal isn't to turn the arms into the assailant, or to push with the arms, but rather to remain loose and sink down.
• it is equally critical to keep the knees in. Sifu emphasized, and then demonstrated, how much more effective and how much easier the bear stance is if the practitioner keeps their knees in--he was right, as it was rendered almost entirely ineffectual with the knees pointing out.
• both the upper body and lower body should be loose, but the practitioner should feel energy being contained within the cavities created by the positioning of the arms and the positioning of the legs. according to Jason, this is the energy that should be felt sinking in the stance, and is the energy that pushes the opponent off-balance.

circular hands

after a number of minutes, Sifu then had us break off into pairs to practice the combat actions of the circular arm and hand movements.

the most illustrative description i can give to these movements is that they are reminiscent of eddies created in the wake of objects moving in viscous fluids. watching the arm and hand motions, i keep seeing a person standing in water moving their arms and hands to create trailing vortices in the liquid.

these movements, while looking like ethereal motions stirring imaginary liquid, are actually hooking motions meant to alternatively grab an opponent's arm or head/neck region in such a way as to cause them to fall forwards or backwards. essentially, if one hand hooks the opponent's arm, the other will hook their head or neck. regardless of which hands contact which body part, the end result is that the opponent's center of balance is thrown off, causing them to fall.

we performed this technique from 2 different positions: the first with each partner facing with their respective right legs leading or left legs leading, and the second with one partner facing with a right leg leading while the other partner has their left leg leading or vice versa. the difference is that with the first position the "hooking" motions involve catching the attacker's arm strike from the inside of their wrist then out, catching the side of the attacker's head/neck facing away from you, and then forcing the attacker to fall to their outside backwards. in contrast, with the second position, the "hooking" motions involve catching the attacker's arm strike from the outside of their wrist then in, catching the side of the attacker's head/neck, and then forcing the attacker to fall to their inside forwards.

Jason said the first position was called "dragon gate" and the second was called "tiger gate." the "dragon gate" refers to the idea that the motions are conducted facing the outside of the attacker's stance, and so can be remembered in terms of an attack on a dragon's scaly back. the "tiger gate" refers to the idea that the motions are conducted facing the inside of the attacker's stance, and so can be remembered in terms of an attack on a tiger's soft underbelly. in addition, since people tend be more tanned on their back than on their front, their backs resemble the darker color of the dragon's back and their fronts resemble the lighter color of the tiger's belly.

on this technique, Sifu provided the following comments:

• it is important to have each hand follow a path that reaches out and then comes in close to the practitioner's body. this makes it easier to "hook" the assailant without using too much strength.
• it is important to shift weight from one leg to another as the practitioner alternates the circular motions of their hands, since this induces the practitioner to use their entire body to throw the opponent rather than just their arms, making it significantly easier to perform the movements.
• if the attacker manages to avoid the "hooking" motions, the practitioner can simply just keep moving their arms and hands in the same circular patterns to trap and throw the attacker in a different direction.

final comments

near the end of class, Sifu made some general comments about the combat applications we had practiced. he noted that it was important to remember that the techniques, if properly performed, did not involve exertion or conscious force. if they did, or if we felt that we were having to apply effort in the movements, then we were likely doing them wrong.

Sifu reminded everyone that the use of force is a signal to the opponent as to your intention, and enables them to respond and counter your actions. Mike had said this to me earlier in the class, and i recall that Sifu had mentioned this in prior sessions. but Sifu made it a point of emphasis this time.

this was all consistent with a comment Art had made to me earlier in class on the fact that bagua was about things being easy and effortless. he noted that this was why it was an "internal" art and viewed as something that could be practiced by the elderly while still providing effective self-defense--because it didn't require raw strength or require the direct confrontation of force with force, but rather the skillful application of technique.

with that Sifu stated that we'd try to hold extended classes over the next few weeks to make up for the vacation days, and then dismissed us all for the day.