
Practice holding the palm structures in a horse stance to get used to wrapping and coiling the body before you step around the circle. Deep breathing helps your body learn to engage the breath and roll it up the spine while holding each posture.
Lion Rolls Ball combines the roundness of Lion Plays with Ball with spiralling to add an expanded dimension that trains both reaching into the fingers - much like Giant Eagle - with a modified parry that trains the top of hide flower under leaf.
Yin Yang Fish - or Rooster as it is sometimes referred to - trains structural expansion through the use of spiralling both forearms and the opening and gathering structure of each hand. This particular palm engages the fascia in the body from one hand through the body to the other hand, when the forearms are spiralled and engaged properly.
Deep coiling in front and behind the body allows a person to train deep breathing into their lungs and back while learning the palm structure. The first progression, coiling from side to side, allows a person to learn how to feel deep fascia engagement in their arms and shoulders while massaging all of the internal organs.
Green Dragon Plays with Pearl of Wisdom trains a person to use the same kind of roundness as Bear Palm and Lion Plays with Ball and turns it inside out. With palms facing each other and the arms expanded out to the side, you will learn to feel the deeper subtleties of spiralling the forearms even while in a horse stance.
Understanding how to feel the fascia and tendon engagements while performing small, short movements as you progress through each palm structure will help gain an understanding of short power and jin with each shape.
Concluding thoughts and training notes.
Continuing with discussion and practical applications of the remaining four Jiang Baguazhang Qigong palm structures to understand and practice coiling and wrapping of the body. Training tips for learning and practicing short power and jin using the palm structures are also included. A short review is provided in the introduction video.
Specific movements identified by the instructor that will help refine a student's movements in order for them to move more efficiently with Bagua and develop power. With follow-along instruction and discussion of concepts, these exercises assist a student to refine their Bagua practice, further develop body structure, and whole body power.
Baguazhang is a unique whole body art the teaches a person to be completely aware of their body from head to toe. The slow steady movements develop a profound level of awareness, both physically and mentally. Much like Taichi/Taijiquan, the gentle movements slow down the brain and allow a person to connect with themselves in a way unlike any other physical discipline.
Baguazhang is classified as an advanced form of Qigong conditioning, using both structural alignment and breath work to amplify and deepen the cultivation of Qi. QI/Chi is the energy that fills and surrounds the body, that allows our bodies to move and function and is similar to the rays of light that we receive from the sun every day. Through the use of spiralling movements that open and close the joints and body cavities, much like modern day somatic therapy, a person can rewire their nervous system and change their body chemistry down to their cellular function.
This change in the body is supported by recent studies that have shown a person can change their DNA by the wayt they simply think. In much the same weay Qi is cultivated to both strengthen and heal the body by using the focus of our minds to step out of our Monkey Mind chatter and enter in a Zen like state of Flow unique to the art of Baguazhang.