The most fundamental (and important) practice in Ba Gua Quan is circle walking. Circle walking help us to develop a step that is agile but also stable, swift but also rooted.
In other branches of Bagua the method varies a bit but the goal is the same. I have even encountered different ways of walking the circle within the Sun style of Ba Gua so what is presented here is the circle walking method as i learned it from Sun Jian Yun and Di Zhao Long (who both studied with Sun Lu Tang).
- When lifting the foot off the ground, the primary source of power is from pulling the legs together, not from pushing with the foot pad
- When putting the foot down on the ground, the heel goes first but only ever so slightly.
Taken together this gives the impression of “lifting and settling the the foot flat”.
When lifting the foot the toes of that foot lifts up. When landing the foot the toes grasp the ground.
Taken together this gives the impression of “stepping like a rooster”
Each step is on the circle and each foot is aligned with the tangent of the circle. This mean that the outer foot makes a slight kou bu (inward step) and the inner foot makes a slight bai bu (outward step).
Knees and hips
The kneecaps should not extend behind the heel or beyond the toes when walking and the knees never twist – instead you should lower your balance point and use the opening and closing of the hips.