The Art of Appropriateness

Everyone knows that Bagua is an art of change.  But why are we changing?  Is changing always better than status quo? Can changing be WORST than status quo !?  Does it matter how we change ?  Of course,  common sense would tell you that changing is actually neutral.  It is neither good or bad.  Changing is only good when you are changing for the better.  Hence, changing is only a mean to an end, which is appropriateness.  Baguazhang is an art of doing the right thing at the right moment.

While practicing the form, you should know its appropriateness(what does the opponent do to force you to change into this position?   How strong is his force?  What is the direction? ).  This ,by all mean, is not a small task.  However, I believe that if you want to truly progress in fighting skill, it is crucial that you know what each move in each form is appropriate for.  Without this kind of intention, your form practice is not a lot better than a calligraphic dance!

Making sense of forms

Knowing exactly what each form means and what they are trying to teach us in fighting is crutial.  It is said by Dr. Xie that all traditional martial art must contain the concept of Rising, Shifting, Falling, Reversing, Advancing, Retreating, Defense preparation.  If you looking at the 8 animal in HJB lineage and its characteristic, you will notice that each animal contain those concepts mentioned above.

1. Lion -       Interlocking palm       ** Characterized by Continuously advancing
2. Snake -    Moving with the Force palm  ** Characterized by Moving with opponent force
3. Bear -     Turning the back palm  ** Characterized by turning the back to gain better position when in a losing position
4. Dragon -  Holding and Lifting palm  ** Characterized by it's long upward movement
5. Phoenix - Windmill palm  ** Characterized by its fast rotational type of force
6. Rooster - Lying step palm  ** Characterized by its shifting of the body while attacking
7. Unicorn - Reversing the body palm  ** Characterized by reversing the body to gain better position when in a losing position
8. Monkey - Enfolding palm  ** Characterized by its downward movement.

These animals sys. , in my opinion, also contains a directional meaning.
1. Lion - Forward
2. Snake - Yielding (any direction that's the same with the opponent line of force)
3. Bear - Backward , Backward rotation
4. Dragon - Upward
5. Phoenix - Rotation
6. Rooster - Shifting side to side
7. Unicorn - Backward rotation
8. Monkey - Downward

What does this mean then? It means when you practice, you should have a practical directional usage of the form in your mind. I usually interpret each form as follow

Lion Sweep Holding and Lifting   =  Advancing sweeping strike upwardly

Lion Smatch Enfolding                = Advancing smachting strike downwardly

Lion Chop Windmill                  = Advancing chopping strike in a rotational fashion.

Lion Shock Turning the back     = Advancing with Shocking strike while you are in losing position and turning around.
etc...