Bagua: Pulling Up the Roots of Physical & Emotional Pain (Part 2 of 2)

By Paul Cavel

In Part 1, we looked at how Circle Walking is the minimalist’s paradise. Once you have some understanding of and become proficient in Circle Walking, you can progress to the Single Palm Change, the core of both the monastic bagua and bagua zhang taditions.

The Single Palm Change & the Eight Mother Palms

Initially, the Single Palm Change is a very short, five-step bagua form, and is contained within all other palm changes or forms within bagua. The purpose of the Single Palm is to upgrade and amplify all the benefits of Circle Walking, take the twisting and spiraling of the soft tissues deeper into the body to give access to more profound layers of stagnancies, tension and contraction, produce light energy within, and add the possibility of martial applications.

Once you have learned the Single Palm Change, you can learn any of the Eight Mother Palms, with each being associated with the Eight Energies of the I Ching. Whether you learn all eight palms (bagua zhang, the younger, martial tradition), or stick with only the Single Palm Change and its variations (as originally practised in monastic bagua), you can develop your body, mind and qi to a very high degree. These palm changes are designed to go directly into your core: opening, balancing, healing and bring more coherency to your system as you practise.

Since the palm changes (also called “forms” or “palms”) are very short and concise, they never take more than 20 seconds to one minute to complete, even at the slowest speeds. They can be completed in a matter of a few seconds at high speeds. The palms are practised equally on both sides of the body in a left-right-left continuum, creating and maintaining balance as you practise.

With a regular exercise regime and walking at a reasonably fast pace, it is possible to practise the same palms tens or even hundreds of times in a single practice session. You refine and hone the effectiveness of your practice while following a dictum of Old Taoism,

“Doing a little really well yields far more than doing a lot poorly”.

Circle Walking initially opens up the body, increases blood flow, and gets your metaphorical qi generator engaged and running. The Single Palm and other palms delve deeper into your body, accessing deeper and deeper layers of stuck tissue and condensed energies. This is why bagua reaches the parts that other movement practices cannot touch.

Spontaneity: Move Like the Mythical Dragon

When a particular palm change or neigong technique starts to open up something inside you, you are free to practise that particular palm or technique again and again, unwinding bound qi. (Traditional Chinese medicine and Taoists view illness, dysfunction and injury as the result of blocked qi.)

With bagua, you are not restricted by a particular sequence of moves or number of repetitions, as in tai chi or qigong. You can go into your body using whatever is working for you in the moment and open up that condensed energy to free yourself from it. This is one of many design features within bagua that gives you the ability to quickly and efficiently bring up old traumas and/or conditioning, accept them for what they are, let go of them and move on.

For several days or weeks you may have the same practice model while: learning and developing a new palm or aspect of neigon; or opening up a specific place in your body. At some point, everything gels or changes inside you and your practice changes with it. 

Once that space is opened up or the particular aspect of neigong is integrated, it’s time to move on to another aspect. It could be that your practice changes on a daily basis for a while: some days slow walking, some fast or both. You may practise one palm after the other or totally randomly. As the thought of a palm change comes into your mind, you are already beginning that palm as your body reacts to your intent. This part of the practice obliterates inertia. You find yourself moving unrestricted without any sudden jerks and smoothly flowing through the well-oiled and practised palms.

You move like a mythical dragon turning and twisting its way along its path.

This kind of spontaneous practice, of highly refined and developed techniques, allows you to use, in the moment, whatever tools are available to you to achieve the desired results, pulling up the roots of physical and emotional pain, not to mention spiritual malaise. 

Bagua & Inner Dissolving

Traditionally, the Inner Dissolving process would be brought into play to move the dedicated practitioner further along the continuum, initially through sitting and, later, with Circle Walking practice. The Inner Dissolving process is a progressive and highly sophisticated Taoist practice by which you can release all blockages in your body, mind and qi.

The more you practise, the deeper access you can get to your body-mind in order clear out the residue of all past illnesses, injuries and traumas. Delving in, layer by layer, you loosen and release the root causes of pain and discomfort. It is through Inner Dissolving that you can fully resolve past traumas and truly work on emotional maturity and spirituality.

Again, this is not done by changing the forms or learning a new set, but rather by adding essential new components to your foundational practice. All of these practices are only possible through actualising the Taoist principle for learning any high-level practice: Separate and Combine.

Whatever aspects of the game for which you choose to engage, bagua offers the possibility of getting down to the real developmental work – directly. It allows you the space to change and grow with your practice, spontaneously, as your life unfolds. Bagua offers you a certain je ne sais quoi – an edge in bringing you back to your centre – balancing the competing demands of the modern world and your inner world. Bagua grounds you in your body and draws your mind into your core.

Bagua is a gift from the immortal ones, an answer to the question:

“How can I maintain stability, balance, and an open mind and body in a world full of stress and madness”?!

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