Baguazhang

Baguazhang (Pa Kua Chang) or in English, Eight Patterns Palm, is well known for it’s circular patterns and turning, spinning movements. Like other Chinese martial arts, the Eight Palms have many different practice methods and have been developed through many styles.

The basic practice methods for the Eight Palms include various patterns of walking the circle, changes in direction, and a core set of eight palm changes. The movements for these changes may be more simple or more complex, depending on the style. Each palm change has correspondence with one of the trigrams that reference the eight directions.

The way in which the trigrams are arranged is quite specific, following either the Earlier Heaven or Later Heaven pattern. The illustration below shows the Earlier Heaven Pattern.