The Archive of Steven Smith
Universal Bagua Nomenclature: Cloud
Words and images offer clearer connections to Bagua Elements. An Earth Palm makes more sense & feeling than #2 Palm… for martial arts Palm Changes.
How Your 8 Diagrams Are Arranged
Before we dig in to dual palm arrangements, consider 2 different Bagua arrangements: Primal Temporal The idea goes something like this: The Primal Diagram When you’re born, your elements are arranged in a Primal Fashion: Yeah, so… Sky and Earth (top and bottom) are opposite one another. Fire’s opposite Water (left and right)… Clouds oppose [...]
Primal Bagua Diagram
Before digging down into the study of Palm Changes, it helps to know the 8 Trigrams of Baguazhang. The static Qigong Postures and flowing Palm Changes of Baguazhang build upon the trigrams. Let’s examine one simple arrangement: From Yang to Yin, in the Primal Arrangement, the trigrams flow as follows… Sky (a.k.a. Heaven) Cloud (a.k.a. [...]
Inspirational Bagua Theme
For a little bit of inspiration… I built a new theme to make writing slicker and more fun. My other website, RealTaiji.com, shows a similar theme, and I describe some intentions more fully over at minimalist taiji theme. The differences between this bagua theme and that taiji theme are subtle. Here a UBagua.com the theme [...]
Earth Palms in Baguazhang
Digging In: Earth Soles Before we see how Earth Palms work…let’s feel Earthy Soles. It’s best if you can go barefoot and find some good, grip-worthy soil. Sand will do; maybe you can find a garden or a good lawn. Otherwise, if your ground is frozen or your feet are fragile, then push your imagination [...]
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Tags: Earth/Earth, Qigong, Receptive
Sky Palms in Baguazhang
Sky Palms Try this… See the Sky: notice its colors; see the sun or stars or moon. Hold your palms up. Notice the weight (even in your room) of Sky. Soften your focus and imagine: holding it. It—pressing down. Feel it. Resist the weight of the Sky. Hold it up…really. Lighten up. Relax, and let [...]
Big Changes
I stopped publishing for a bit. You may have read the last article, published in February, right after the great Dreaming Workshop. I continued to teach, but moving was inevitable. I sought to provide my son, who’s 2 now, with fresh air. So my family and I moved to Montana. We live in Hamilton right [...]
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Tags: Outside, Revolutions
Teaching Abstractions
Thank you: all those who attended the First Baguazhang Dreaming Workshop. I appreciate your support and the powerful roles each of you played in capturing your dreams. Let me tell you a few things. I typically prefer teaching specific and peculiar details about form or about partner drills or about proper anatomical movements. I can [...]