Initially, the Single Palm Change is a very short, five-step bagua form, and is contained within all other palm changes or forms within bagua. The purpose of the Single Palm is to upgrade and amplify all the benefits of Circle Walking, take the twisting and spiraling of the soft tissues deeper into the body to give access to more profound layers of stagnancies, tension and contraction, produce light energy within, and add the possibility of martial applications.

Once you have learned the Single Palm Change, you can learn any of the Eight Mother Palms, with each being associated with the Eight Energies of the I Ching. Whether you learn all eight palms (bagua zhang, the younger, martial tradition), or stick with only the Single Palm Change and its variations (as originally practised in monastic bagua), you can develop your body, mind and qi to a very high degree. These palm changes are designed to go directly into your core: opening, balancing, healing and bring more coherency to your system as you practise.

Since the palm changes (also called “forms” or “palms”) are very short and concise, they never take more than 20 seconds to one minute to complete, even at the slowest speeds. They can be completed in a matter of a few seconds at high speeds. The palms are practised equally on both sides of the body in a left-right-left continuum, creating and maintaining balance as you practise.

This course is the second in a series of bagua courses whereby you can learn all eight bagua zhang palm changes.

"It is with gratitude to my teacher, Taoist Master Bruce Frantzis — and all the lineage holders before him, most especially his teacher, Grandmaster Liu Hung Chieh — that I fulfill my teacher’s wishes of me by sharing these teachings with you".

— Paul Cavel

Paul recommends starting with the Single Palm Change, but does not require it. The Double Palm Change is much longer, more physically demanding and more complex than the SPC.

With this in mind, Paul designed this 12-module curriculum to teach the choreography and internal (neigong) techniques in layers to build your bagua skillset.

1) Circle Walking & Energy Postures

This stream forms the foundation of bagua, where you learn how to Walk the Circle — the engine of bagua — with many refinements while holding ever-more demanding postures in a sequence to open up the body and generate qi.

• In year one (see the Single Palm Change), Paul taught three- and two-part stepping techniques along with five energy postures. 

• In year two, he teaches four-part stepping and adds four new postures for a total of nine — including Posture Zero and the eight symmetrical postures classically used to open up the subtle energy anatomy of the practitioner.

You will deepen and refine the three- and two-part stepping along with the postures covered in year one to release deeper layers of tension and hone your skillset.

2) Single Palm Change: Earth Version

There are eight primary versions for practising the Single Palm Change, with each corresponding and adhering to the specific qualities of one of the eight trigrams.

• In year one, Paul presented the Heaven Version of the Single Palm Change (SPC): the pure SPC corresponding to the first Heaven trigram of the I Ching.

• In year two, Paul presents the SPC as influenced by the Earth gua, the second of the eight guas in the Pre-Heaven sequence. This version of the SPC maintains the same stepping and turning sequence as the Heaven Palm, but the arm movements are morphed to emphasise different neigong. Practising in this way yields a completely different quality of qi.

3) The Double Palm Change

Paul works through 12 distinct layers for generating a deep, strong and effective Double Palm Change over the course of the year. The training will start with a very loose and relaxed form and, working from the outside in, help you grow health, vitality, strength and flexibility — both externally and internally.

This is a comprehensive course to learn the choreography and internal techniques that power bagua palms in a concise, 12-module curriculum.

“Super job, exceedingly clear. Your engineering education has served you well… excellent presentation skills… Thanks”!

—Will C, UK

Three streams of lessons seamlessly join together into one, integrated practice in each module:

Stream 1 - Circle Walking and Energy Postures

Stream 2 - The Earth Version of the Single Palm Change

Stream 3 - The Double (or Earth) Palm Change.

When you sign up, you’ll also receive instant access to:

• Paul's Taoist Breathing & Meditation Series — 23 guided practices on whole-body breathing and Outer Dissolving to stream 24/7.

• Q&A Forum, where Paul answers questions 1 x week.

Subscription
If you choose to pay per module, you will automatically be enrolled in Bagua Membership, allowing you to maintain your course rate.

Paul's Bagua Wind & Thunder Palms online course follows the 12-module Double Palm course and will start after your 13th billing, unless you cancel (in "Settings", or email us and we'll do it for you).

A personal library will be created for you at paulcavel.com, which you will be directed to after checkout. Stream and download MP4 videos 24/7.

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