Steel Tiger
Senior Master
I thought someone might be interested in an unusual, but I think essential, aspect of bagua - the Nine Palaces. The Nine Palaces is an arrangement of nine posts in a special pattern. It is used to develop stability and speed of stepping.
It is an important and valuable training exercise as it first teaches speed and surety of movement, especially with the direction changing which is so important to bagua. It can also be usueful for gaining an understanding of a multiple person situation.
There are two ways of moving among the palaces. The basic pattern is called "The Sole Ultimate Technique of Walking the Nine Palaces" (Tai Yi Xing Jiu Gong Zhi Fa). The second pattern is simply the reverse of the first. So I guess the first isn't really sole or ultimate, but it sounds good.
This means if you follow the pattern of the Post-Heaven Bagua Trigram you start with Kan, then move to Kun, Zhen, Xun, Center, Qian, Dui, Gen, and finally Li to complete the cycle. This pattern is called "Following Through" (Shun Chuan). The reverse is called, oddly enough, "Reverse Through" (Ni Chuan).
I find the whole thing quite compelling as I move through the palaces first one way then back. It can be a very good way to train if you have no one to train with (which I frequently do) even with something other than posts representing the nine palaces.
Eight of the Nine Palaces are related to the Eight Trigrams. The Center Palace (Zhong Gong) is also called "Yin Yang Fish" (Yin Yang Yu), since from this center your strategy, movements or techniques can vary from Yin to Yang or vice-versa. To use the Nine Palaces, you walk swiftly around the posts, changing directions and striking the posts with various techniques. This practice is called "Nine Palaces Stepping" (Jiu Gong Bu), "Flying in Nine Palaces" (Fei Jiu Gong), or "Yin Bagua." - Liang Shou-Yu
It is an important and valuable training exercise as it first teaches speed and surety of movement, especially with the direction changing which is so important to bagua. It can also be usueful for gaining an understanding of a multiple person situation.
There are two ways of moving among the palaces. The basic pattern is called "The Sole Ultimate Technique of Walking the Nine Palaces" (Tai Yi Xing Jiu Gong Zhi Fa). The second pattern is simply the reverse of the first. So I guess the first isn't really sole or ultimate, but it sounds good.
Two and four are shoulders, left is three and right is seven, carry nine and stand on one, five is the center. - Xu Yue
This means if you follow the pattern of the Post-Heaven Bagua Trigram you start with Kan, then move to Kun, Zhen, Xun, Center, Qian, Dui, Gen, and finally Li to complete the cycle. This pattern is called "Following Through" (Shun Chuan). The reverse is called, oddly enough, "Reverse Through" (Ni Chuan).
I find the whole thing quite compelling as I move through the palaces first one way then back. It can be a very good way to train if you have no one to train with (which I frequently do) even with something other than posts representing the nine palaces.