day 14: 7th palm change (shock the monkey!)

concepts:

• variations in palm changes
• combat applications (7th palm change, end of 6th palm change)
• circle walking (monkey)
• mix-and-match
  

forms:

• review (palm changes 1-6)
• 7th palm change
• mother palm

it appears we had some guests this morning. not prospective students (although it appears one of Sifu's former students from 1995 has returned to study baji), but rather visitors--a rather elderly couple stopped to watch us as we went through stances, and soon gathered a crowd of onlookers around them. they appeared to be aficionados of kung fu, although i wasn't close enough to hear them talk. i am curious, though. for all i know, they could be long lost grandmasters of some secret style seeking refuge from the godless Communists of the PRC.

they spoke to Ching-Tzsieh and Sifu for awhile, presumably to ask questions about the class and what we were studying (and i suspect, as is likely common for practitioners greeting one another, to ask about lineage). we may be gathering a saturday morning congregation at the rate things are going.

review (palm changes 1-6)

following stances and conversations with the visitors, Sifu instructed everyone to review palm changes 1-6. we went through the palm changes in straightforward progression.

the review was somewhat fortuitous, as a practice session mid-week with John and Ronald had generated some debate over several of the techniques. the debates revolved around nuances in technique (particularly in hand movements during the turn out of the initial stances in the 5th and 6th palm changes) as well as fundamentals (such as the starting position for the 3rd and 4th palm changes). going through the palm changes in class (and taking a few moments to observe during the points that had produced debate) managed to resolve the questions i believe we had.

in the course of the review, Sifu noted that there was an alternate way of doing the 4th palm change. rather than going from the starting position into a "sinking" twisting motion into a dragon stance, he pointed out (and then had us practice) stepping out and back into the dragon stance. the difference is that with the first, the practitioner ends up in the dragon stance with the feet in the same locations (albeit different orientation) they were when the leading arm was extended, whereas with the second, the practitioner steps with the leading foot back (away from the opponent) to go into dragon stance with the feet in different locations.

Sifu commented that this was just an alternate way of doing the 4th palm change, and that some people prefer this more than the other. he also added that one wasn't necessarily better or worse than the other, but just something to note and a variation we can use--a theme that would be echoed later in class.

we continued reviewing the palm changes (including the variation of the 4th palm change) while Sifu went to work with the baji students.

7th palm change

after some time, Jason returned and ordered us into line to learn the 7th palm change.

the 7th palm change is tied to the monkey, which apparently has an "open" position and a "closed" position. the open position involves the practitioner raising the hands vertically in the air above the head, with hands and arms parallel and facing each other (just like a NFL referee indicating a successful field goal). the closed position involves the practitioner bringing the arms into the chest, with hands together forming a cup just under the chin and elbows together at the navel. both the open and closed positions are involved in the palm change.

the 7th palm change begins with the practitioner in the "open" monkey position, hands in the air and legs in the usual starting position. from there, the leading leg goes into bai (out) position. the practitioner is then supposed to turn, with the leading leg serving as a pivot and the rear leg coming forward into ko (in) position. concomitant to this, the practitioner lowers the hands and has one hand chase the other across the chest (similar to the motion during the 2-hand drill going to the rear), where the leading arm is the same side as the pivot leg and goes in the same direction as the turn (e.g., if the left leg is the pivot and the right leg is coming forward, this means you are turning counter-clockwise, making the leading arm the left arm and the chasing arm the right arm).

from there, the practitioner continues the turn, lifting the ko (in) foot to make a step in the direction of the turn (and so become the new "leading" foot), and simultaneously bringing the hands together so that they cross at the wrists with the leading hand crossing on top (e.g., continuing from the parentheses above, the right foot goes from "ko" to follow the leading arm so that the student steps with the right foot and the left wrist crosses over the top of the right wrist). at this point, the student is to lean over slightly in the direction of the new leading foot (e.g., continuing the parentheses, leaning to the right) and then perform a very complicated turn in the same direction as the previous (e.g., here, this means going counter-clockwise) wherein the hands are brought over the head and then back into the chest in the "closed" monkey position, while at the same time the "trailing" foot (the foot that was the original "leading" foot at the start of the palm change) is raised to kick the opponent (e.g., holding to the example, here this would the left leg, with the right leg being the axis of the counter-clockwise turn).

the palm change ends with the practitioner bringing the kicking foot down, leaning forward, and then stepping forward with the non-kicking foot while raising the arms into the "open" monkey position to return to the starting stance (albeit in the opposite direction from the starting position before).

Sifu made some notes about the 7th palm change:

• the turn can be any range--180 degrees, 270 degrees, 360 degrees, 540 degrees, etc. he said the most common is 270 degrees, but that we should practice a range to get comfortable with the technique.
• the turn has to be initiated with the lean of the torso, as this helps to maintain balance and orient the target of the rotation.
• as we go through the turn, we have to bring the palms and arms into the "closed" monkey position as the kicking leg is rising, and it helps to imagine it as a "contraction" into the chest.

combat applications

after going through the 7th palm change, Sifu guided us in the combat applications. he made the following points:

• the cupping of the palms and contraction of the arms into "closed" monkey position is supposed to be an action of catching an opponent's reach or strike. as a result, bring the wrists together and over the head at the start of the turn is supposed to be a lifting of the opponent's arm over our head.
• the kick during the turn can go to the opponent's torso, groin, knee, or leg. you can do this in a combination.
• as we come out of the turn, the cupped palms are supposed to come out at the same time the kicking foot is coming down, so that the result is a short lunging motion of the palms that is supposed to be hitting an opponent's chin.

Sifu had us practice in pairs for a short while, taking turns as assailant and defender to get a feel for the mechanics of the turn.

following this, we went immediately into combat applications of the final move from the 6th palm change--the one that closes what i term the "trailing-edge vortices" hand movement (refer to day 13: 6th palm change). the final move involves one hand coming up to the shoulder and the other hand going down to point towards the ground.

Sifu showed us that this is actually a push using the forearm and elbow of the downward arm to drive into and through the shoulder joint of the opponent. basically the arm that comes up (starting as the lead arm) would actually have started by pushing an assailant's arm aside (remember: vortex motion of the hand and arm), then come forward under the assailant's arm and shoulder to reach the shoulder blade. the practitioner is supposed to then pull so that the opponent's chest opens up. at this point, the downward-driving arm (starting as the back arm) comes down as the practitioner turns and steps into the opponent. the force of the arm going down and the rotational force of the turn and step combine to be transmitted through the practitioner's forearm and elbow to push or throw the assailant back.

Sifu made additional points about this move:

• the action to open the opponent's chest is important, as it prepares a surface against which the practitioner will be able to drive their arm down and across.
• the driving action down and across must be in conjunction with the step, otherwise it requires significantly more upper body strength to be successful.
• the practitioner doesn't have to engage the opponent with the entire sequence of movements, but can abort the technique at the start, so that instead of beginning by pushing the assailant's arm aside the practitioner can seize the assailant's hand to force a joint lock on the opponent's wrist. in this event, the downward arm motion becomes "miniaturized" into a downward motion of the palm edge to strengthen the joint lock. this is an available variation we can choose to do.
• in the event the opponent uses their non-reaching arm in an attempt to counter-strike or grab your downward drive (this was my concern), it is important to remember that the downward drive is supposed to be going down and across the opponent's shoulder joint at the point the pectoral muscle joins the joint. this either intercepts the opponent's off-arm or closes the approach so that the opponent's off-arm goes outside the practitioner's thrust.
  

we broke off into pairs again to practice this move. i was paired with Phunsak, which was good, since he seemed willing to work through the various permutations of this technique, and also to think about my concerns and possible counter-moves that we could use.

mix-and-match

after observing us for a while, Sifu appeared to pause for discussion. he gathered all the bagua students together, and told us that it was important to understand that the palm changes were just forms, and that we shouldn't get too enamored with doing them as the sole form of training. he said that they were useful as training tools, in terms of building coordination, flexibility, strength, proper technique, and memorizing movements. but beyond this, there were a poor substitute for combat application, and should never be seen as the only components (or "essence") of bagua.

to truly learn a martial art, Sifu said it was important to learn and practice both forms and sparring. he said that spending time exclusively performing only forms (such as 64 palms, "push hands," etc.) would mean that a student is only learning part of the style, and wasn't really mastering it. this is why sparring is important.

as part of this, Sifu said that we needed to understand how forms such as 64 palms are meant to be used as training tools. he said we needed to be careful in viewing them as "formulas" to be applied in combat. instead, we need to just see them as devices to learn techniques, and that the techniques themselves are things which we should feel comfortable applying freely in different combinations and in response to specific combat conditions. he stressed this, emphasizing that mastery of a martial art involves:

1. developing an intuitive and creative feel to deploy techniques to match a given situation or any changes in such a situation. conditions will always be different, they will always change. sometimes in ways you don't expect. you have to be able to read and react using any number or combination of techniques that are appropriate.
2. understanding that while it is important to learn all techniques so that you can use them, that you will invariably find some techniques that match your body. this is fine. this is the act of "adapting" a martial arts style to match you as a person, which is something all martial masters have done. Sifu described Gong Bao Tien, who was very small and quick, and gravitated towards use of the monkey technique (i.e., the turn we're studying in the th palm change) because it matched his stature and explosive speed.
3. recognizing that there is no one single "right" technique or combination of techniques for a given situation or a given body type. there are different solutions for every situation and body. the issue is knowing which solutions are effective.
4. making sure that we learn all techniques, so that we fully learn a martial arts style, and also that we have the full array of techniques that we can turn to in the event we need them.
   

Sifu and John both made the point that we need to view techniques like we view words in sentences. we construct different sentences to communicate different things in different situations, and we construct them in ways that are distinctively our own. but we use the same words, and we all know the same words.

this is something i've been thinking about for awhile, and it's analogous in a way to music or sports. i believe it fundamentally revolves around intent and communication. we all internally have intentions to achieve certain results, and we then communicate those intentions by performing actions to express them. the issue is just what is the form of expression--for language, it's words; for music, it's notes; for sports, it's plays; for martial arts, the expression is physical movement in the form of techniques.

mother palms

Sifu left us to work with his baji students, with the expectation that we would continue practicing the palm changes and combat applications.

i took the time to ask Phunsak to help me with Mother Palms. John showed me the basics of these in our practice sessions, but i wanted Phunsak to help me get the proper technique down.

Mother Palms is actually a precursor to 64 Palms, and students of bagua are supposed to learn Mother Palms first. this is because it focuses on the more fundamental elements of the 8 basic bagua stances, and allows students to work in simplified form circle walking, turns (inside and outside), and transitions (from one palm to another). it is, in essence, a transitory step from the very basic drills and stances to the more complex movements of later bagua forms.

i started the course after Sifu had taught Mother Palms, and went direct from the really basic stuff (walking the square, fire and water, etc.) directly into 64 palms (hey, don't look at me, Sifu said i could do it). as a result, i am essentially learning bagua backwards. i wouldn't recommend it to everybody. it's a bit of a challenge.

there are 8 stances involved in Mother Palms, which are supposed to performed in progression as the practitioner walks the circle:

1. lion
2. snake
3. bear
4. hawk
5. unicorn
6. dragon
7. big bird
8. monkey
   

from what i can tell, the practitioner walks the circle holding each stance facing inwards, then alternates walking either clockwise or counter-clockwise by performing inward or outward turns. the transitions from one stance to another are apparently also done using the turns.

it's kind of weird learning Mother Palms after having gone through so much of 64 palms. i can see how 64 palms incorporates the stances in Mother Palms. but Mother Palms is so much more basic compared to 64 palms. it's like learning how to play Beethoven and then going back and learning scales. it's useful, but it's not the same, and nowhere near as meaningful. still, i figure it's part of the curricula, and i really should learn it to catch up with the schedule.

finishing up

Sifu returned and had us continue with circle walking in pairs performing the "closed" and "open" monkey positions. essentially, 2 partners are supposed to walk in circle, with the forearms of their inner-facing arm in contact with their partner's. i continued working with Phunsak, and Sifu had us switch back and forth between the "closed" and "open" monkey positions, as well as switch directions, according to his commands. this was relatively straightforward, and we went through this pretty expeditiously.

after walking the circle, Sifu finished class by telling us that next week we would go through the 8th palm change, after which he would then show us the "B" side of the palm changes. apparently, what we've been learning is the "A" side, and to get to the "64" in "64 palms" (just how there's 64, i still have not been able to figure out) we need to know both the "A" and "B" sides.

with that, we all wrapped up class and went to lunch.