The Archive of Steven Smith

Steven Smith whirls in circles, surrounding dreams and visions with the Natural World. Sky, Clouds, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, and Earth Nature inform his art.

Universal Bagua Nomenclature: Cloud

Bagua-Word-Images

Words and images offer clearer connections to Bagua Elements. An Earth Palm makes more sense & feeling than #2 Palm… for martial arts Palm Changes.


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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 [...]


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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. [...]


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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 [...]


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Earth Palms in Baguazhang

Soil

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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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 [...]


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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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Teaching Abstractions

VanGogh-Starry-Night

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 [...]


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