day 16: 8th palm change continued

concepts:

• combat applications
• line drill

forms:

• drills (1-hand and 2-hand, line)
• 8th palm change
• combat applications

today was a relatively straightforward day. things began simply enough with people slowly sauntering into class. i noticed the number of baji students was quite larger than usual (normally, i can count less than 4, but today there were 7), and we also had a new bagua student (he didn't give anybody his name, but he may have just been trying the class for a day).

Sifu arrived with the jian shu students, and ordered Phunsak and Lee to lead everyone through hand drills, with Phunsak leading 1-hand drills and Lee leading the 2-hand drills.

8th palm change

following the drills, Sifu had everybody line up to go over the 8th palm change, taking time to first observe everyone and then guiding us through the entire sequence of techniques. there were a number of nuances that had not been apparent from last week, and which became clear only after a description of the combat application for each technique. this resulted in some un-learning of parts of last class, since we had presumably spent the week practicing the form on our own. but the changes were good, in the sense that it made the palm change much easier to perform.

combat applications

Sifu made the following comments about the combat applications of the 8th palm change:

• initial swing--in the initial "paddle-wheel" swinging of the arms conducted as the lower body steps into the bow-and-arrow stance, the initial swing out by the lead arm is supposed to be a motion moving an opponent's arm out of the way, opening up the opponent for the subsequent step forward (again into bow-and-arrow) by the legs and swing forward of the rear arm, which can serve to be a strike or a grab (e.g., if you are starting in the initial big bird stance facing left, the initial lead arm will be your left hand, which moves the opponent's arm as you step forward into bow-and-arrow with your left foot, and the rear arm bringing the subsequent strike will be your right hand, which comes down as you step forward into bow-and-arrow with your right foot).
• initial push-and-pull--this is actually a pull of the opponent's limbs. the practitioner transitions out of the bow-and-arrow "paddle-wheel" stance to what appears to be 60-40 (but i am unsure of this) and brings the two hands together towards the side of the body away from the opponent at about (or slightly below) chest level, then brings more weight onto the forward leg and brings both hands forward and up towards the side facing the opponent before shifting weight to the back foot and bringing the hands back to the side away from the opponent (e.g., continuing the example from above, the forward leg is still the right leg, making the side facing the opponent the right side of the body). the point where the weight goes to the forward leg and then goes back again is the point the practitioner is supposed to be pulling an opponent's arm (or leg) back, setting up the next step.
• arc--this arc over the head, according to Sifu, is supposed to generate momentum as the practitioner's arms and torso follows a broad circle starting from the rear point above and finishing with the practitioner taking both hands and either pushing or striking forward into the opponent.
• step-out, backwards arch--this is supposed to be a combination block and strike forward into the opponent, with both arms acting in a way which interrupts the opponent's arms while simultaneously pushing forward into the torso.
• transition to finishing stance--the final part of the 8th palm change has the practitioner transition from "leaf covers flower" to the "big bird" stance. but the transition is actually a combat application, wherein the practitioner is supposed to be blocking an incoming strike with both arms together, stepping around into the opponent so that the practitioner's shoulder makes contact with the opponent's shoulder, and then spreading the arms out so that one arm follows the opponent's outstretched strike to the opponent's face. at this point, the practitioner is supposed to turn, using the hips, which is supposed to then result in the opponent falling towards their backside.

Sifu noted--and also demonstrate--that all these steps are somewhat exaggerated in the 8th palm change, since in actual combat the motions would be much more guarded so as to 1) reduce the extent to which the practitioner exposes the torso to the opponent, and 2) increase the speed of the movements (e.g., in the "arc" above, the practitioner wouldn't actually follow such a wide and open trajectory in the arc, but come out of the pull of the opponent's arm and go directly into the opponent's body). he commented that the exaggeration was common to all the palm changes, but that this was intentional since they were meant to help students become familiar with the movements and thereby learn better technique.

following this, he left us to repeat the 8th palm change on our own. we worked on this for a bit, but i also took some time with Phunsak and Kie-yon to ask them about combat applications for the 2nd and 3rd palm changes, since i was still somewhat unclear about them, particularly the 2nd palm change's connection of the wrists out of the initial turn (which is actually a block), and the 3rd palm change's use of "hawk chasing sparrow" and follow-up spin (which is actually a way of blocking an opponent's strike and then spinning towards the opponent and reaching into their torso).

line drill

after awhile, Sifu returned and had us all go through the line drill for the combat application of the final part of the 8th palm change. as in prior weeks, one person at the end of the line is the "defender" using the technique and the others in line are the "assailants." the "defender" is supposed to use the technique in successive sequential order against each "assailant" until the line is completed, whereupon the "defender" takes a place in line to become an "assailant" and the next person in line takes their turn as "defender."

apparently, this is a deceptively difficult step. i suspect this is why we took extra time to devote a drill to it. the final step of the 8th palm change involves the practitioner transitioning out of "leaf covers summer flower" into the "big bird" stance. but this proved maddeningly difficult to do. Sifu made it look very straightforward, but i found it very inconsistent and sometimes it didn't work at all. when it did work, it wasn't throwing them on their backside, but rather pushing them away (something not as desireable, since an opponent can recover more quickly from a push backwards than they can from having been thrown onto their back). too often i found myself having to exercise muscular effort to turn and throw people--something which is contrary to the general concepts of bagua.

Kie-yon made the comment to me that the spreading of the arms is supposed to force the opponent's head back, which induces them to go off balance backwards, making it much easier to throw them with a turn of the shoulders. this was consistent with something Sifu had said--the block shouldn't be a strong block, but just a slight one that is just enough to open space to reach towards the opponent's face with the practitioner's hand, which suggests the idea is to have the opponent be as upright as possible. this incidentally, was also consistent with what i saw happening to people who successfully resisted my throw--all they had to do was tighten their abdominals or slouch forward, and the throw became dramatically more difficult to conduct.

in addition, the turn isn't just with the shoulders, but originates from the hips. Sifu had said this, but it turned out to be an unnatural movement for me to do. for me, i still have to consciously think about moving my hips, and i am relatively not used to having them acting in coordination with other movements of the body.

towards the end, i think i realized what i was doing wrong--i was 1) slouching forward into the block, allowing the opponent to lean forward to resist the throw, and 2) attempting to turn with the hips about an axis that was in line with the slouch, rather than vertical, causing the turn to be a push into the opponent that was more easily resisted than a throw forcing them backwards. but the drill ended before i could confirm this. i'll have to test it next week to see.

following the drill, Sifu called class to an end, and we wrapped up and went for lunch.