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Eight Trigram Dragon Heart Palm (Wudang Bagua Long Xin Zhang)
The Eight Step Heavenly Big Dipper Palm
(commonly refereed to as BABU – the Eight Step)
Similar to what is popularly known as Ba Gua Zhang, the 8 Step is a very old style of circle walking. It is completely intertwined with Daoist theory and principles of the Eight Trigrams. The patterns the practitioner walks are ancient symbols which mimic the cycles of the Earth, the moon, the sun, and the stars. By maintaining his place within these patterns and unifying the body with universal principles, the practitioner is able to harness a great intrinsic power.This practice is divided into yin-yang 8 steps and three parts: Heaven, Earth and Man. The Wudang Chun Yang Sect has been passed down by the Daoist Patriarch Lü Dong Bin. It has already existed for a thousand years. The master said: “In Wudang there is one Yellow Court Scripture,
Chun Yang has three kinds of skill.” Chun Yang’s Kung Fu transmission has three parts to it. One of its skills is the Wudang Chun Yang’s Fist method, the second is the Wudang Chun Yang’s sword method, the third is the Wudang Chun Yang’s gong (skill) method. The Wudang Chun Yang fist method (the Eight Step Big Dipper Palm) is a unique, precious and rare form (taolu) of internal martial arts of Mount Wudang Kung Fu, passed on within the sect. It originates from a Daoist high priest, a greatly respected master of Wudang’s martial arts’ studies. It was transmitted and imparted by 100 year-old Daoist Immortal Master Liu Li Hang. This form (taolu) resembles Tai Ji Quan however it is not Tai Ji Quan. It resembles Tai Ji Quan’s initial form.
It resembles Eight Trigram Palm (ba gua zhang), however it is not Eight Trigram Palm. Its foundational patterns can be likened to Eight Trigram Palm.
It also resembles Xing Yi, however it is not Xing Yi. “The Eight Step Heavenly Big Dipper Palm is ancient and unadorned,
refined and rare,
transcending the mundane,
and casting off the conventional.” The Essentials: The Wudang Chun Yang Fist method regards the cultivation of the body and nourishing one’s nature as its purpose. Transmissions outside the sect view the three circles, the six parts, and the ‘Nine Characters Returning to the One’ as their guiding principle.
The three circles are:
Circles of crossing and linking the hands, circles of bending the legs and stepping, circles of rotating and twisting the waist.
The six parts:
Hands and feet, knees and elbows, shoulders and hip.
The nine characters returning to the One are:
Spirit, Intent, Qi, Strength, Patterns, Dynamics, Softness, Empty and Soul”
It regards the” three swiftnesses and the five unifications” as its aim.
The three swiftnesses are:
Hand swiftness, body swiftness and stepping swiftness.
The five unification’s are: “The Spirit unifies with the Intent;
The Intent unifies with Qi;
The Qi unifies with Force;
The Force unifies with the Postures;
The Postures unify with the Sparring.”
Style:
“The wind blows the lotus flowers, swaying them left and right.Floating clouds and flowing water, continuously moving without interruption;
Treading steps and suspending the feet.
The Qi is circulated and one’s nature is nourished.
Slow movement and fast striking, circular forms and eight methods”. Furthermore the waist resembles dragons and snakes, coiling left and right. Crossing, linking winding and stepping, twirling naturally and at will. Qi is circulated, unimpeded and harmonious. the power emissions are fast, attacks happen in a flash of lightning, the execution of gong (skill) is light and quick as if a whirlwind.
The eight methods are:
Whirling and rotation, piercing and crossing over, winding and coiling, rolling and transforming.
Emptiness, spirit, circularity and dynamics are its gist and main aim.
In its strength are contained:
Methods of lifting, leaning, rolling of palm, elbows, chopping, cutting, bursting, flicking, pushing, pressing, pulling and subduing, embracing, propping, clashing, colliding, charging, stances and postures, transverse movements, and blocking. Special points: Passing through, connecting and winding movements, yin and yang mutually exchanging, the eight trigrams turn; The dragon swims in the ocean and the heaven. As if a swallow sweeps past the waters, it resembles an ape’s vertical climb. The body and the stepping are light and graceful. Its stepping method has a route, treading on the Tai Ji Yin-Yang five elements eight trigrams diagram. Its shape and pattern is elegant and floating, its appearance likened to a flying immortal.
Effects:
“When one practices this fist method, the qi feels strong.Within a very brief period one is able to perceive
the Cinnabar Field’s Qi becoming vigorous and abundant.
When Qi circulates in the entire body,
the body is light and the feet grounded。
The state of mind is joyful and jovial.
Detached from the worldly realm
one is able to have a sensation of the body being high in the clouds.” One can achieve the refinement of Qi, longevity, getting rid of diseases and prolonging one’s life. It is also effective for protecting life, sparring and fighting as well as repelling enemies. Furthermore its content contains secrets that are not passed on outside of the sect. It would be inappropriate to expound on these principles here. For more information regarding the origins of this unique system (click here).
