The 8 Turning Palms of Cheng Baguazhang Explained
At Dragon Phoenix, the 8 Turning Palms are one of the first major forms students learn in Cheng Style Baguazhang. They are sometimes called the Old 8 Palms, and they are not just a pretty form or a set of arm movements. They are a way of teaching the body how Baguazhang works.
Baguazhang is an advanced internal martial art known for circle walking, spiraling power, changing direction, and moving in ways that can feel very different from other styles of Kung Fu. At Dragon Phoenix, the 8 Turning Palms are taught as foundational developmental training. They help students learn the stepping, waist turning, coordination, continuity, and body method needed for higher levels of Cheng Baguazhang. The form contains martial application, but its main purpose is to condition the body and mind to move according to Baguazhang principles.
What Are the 8 Turning Palms?
The 8 Turning Palms are a foundational Cheng Baguazhang form made of eight palm methods:
Sinking Palm
Double Holding Palm
Wrapping Palm
Seven Star Palm
Double Hitting Palm
Yin-Yang Palm
Open Palm
Pushing Palm
These palm names are simple, but the training inside them is deep. Each palm teaches a different way to organize the body, issue force, change direction, protect the center, and move with the whole body instead of just the arms.
In the beginning, students may think they are learning a form. Over time, they realize they are learning a method. The arms, waist, legs, eyes, breath, and intention must all begin to work together.
Why They Are Called “Turning” Palms
The word “turning” is important. Baguazhang is built around change. The body turns. The waist turns. The stepping changes. The mind changes. The practitioner learns not to meet force in a stiff, direct way, but to redirect, spiral, enter, evade, and transform.
In Cheng Baguazhang, the turning is not random. The body learns to move around a center while still keeping structure. This is one of the reasons circle walking is so important. When a student walks the circle correctly, the body begins to understand how to remain stable while constantly changing.
This kind of training is also one reason internal martial arts are often associated with balance, coordination, body awareness, and calm focus. Research on traditional Chinese movement arts such as Tai Chi and Qigong has found promising benefits for health, balance, and well-being, while martial arts training has also been studied for its potential benefits to attention, self-control, and cognitive flexibility.
1. Sinking Palm
Sinking Palm teaches the body to drop and root. This does not mean collapsing or becoming heavy in a dead way. It means learning how to let the weight settle through the body so the structure becomes more connected.
Many beginners hold tension in the shoulders, chest, or hips. Sinking Palm helps release some of that unnecessary tension. When the body sinks correctly, the feet become more alive, the legs become stronger, and the upper body becomes more relaxed.
Martially, sinking can help break an opponent’s structure or create stability when changing direction. Internally, it teaches calmness. Instead of rising up emotionally or physically, the practitioner learns to settle.
2. Double Holding Palm
Double Holding Palm teaches connection between both sides of the body. The name gives the feeling of holding or embracing something, but the training is not just in the hands. The whole body participates.
This palm helps students feel the relationship between the arms, back, waist, and stance. In Baguazhang, the arms should not move as disconnected pieces. The movement should come from the body, with the hands expressing what the waist and stepping are doing.
Double Holding Palm also begins to teach the feeling of containing space. In application, this can relate to controlling, receiving, redirecting, or entering. In personal development, it teaches patience and awareness.
3. Wrapping Palm
Wrapping Palm is one of the movements that really shows the spiraling nature of Baguazhang. Rather than moving in straight lines only, the body learns to coil and wrap.
Wrapping is useful because it teaches how to move around resistance. If something blocks the direct path, Baguazhang does not freeze. It changes. The waist, shoulders, elbows, and hands learn to coordinate in a spiral.
This palm helps develop the kind of movement that makes Baguazhang look fluid and unusual. It can also be challenging because students often want to use the arms too much. The real lesson is learning how the body wraps as one connected unit.
4. Seven Star Palm
Seven Star Palm teaches structure, alignment, and direction. In Chinese martial arts, “seven star” often refers to a connected arrangement or strategic positioning. In practice, this palm helps the student become more precise.
Precision matters in Baguazhang. A small mistake in the feet changes the waist. A small mistake in the waist changes the arms. A small mistake in the eyes changes the intention.
Seven Star Palm helps students organize the body so that the movement has clarity. It is not just about doing the posture. It is about understanding where the force is going and how the body supports it.
5. Double Hitting Palm
Double Hitting Palm introduces a more obvious martial feeling. The name sounds direct, and in many ways it is. But even here, Baguazhang does not become stiff or crude.
The lesson is not simply to strike with both hands. The lesson is how to issue through the body while maintaining footwork, turning, and connection. Power should not come from shoulder tension. It should come from coordination.
This palm can help students understand how application is hidden inside developmental training. At Dragon Phoenix, application is shown so students understand the meaning of the movements, because without application it is easy for a form to become empty exercise.
6. Yin-Yang Palm
Yin-Yang Palm teaches the relationship between opposites. Open and close. Rise and sink. Left and right. Advance and retreat. Soft and hard.
This is one of the deeper lessons in internal martial arts. The body should not be only relaxed or only strong. It should be both, changing as needed. The mind should not be passive, but it should also not be tense and aggressive.
Yin-Yang Palm helps students feel that one side of the body may be expressing while the other side is supporting. One hand may be drawing while the other is issuing. One part may be empty while another is full. This is not just philosophy. It is body mechanics.
7. Open Palm
Open Palm teaches expansion. After learning to sink, hold, wrap, align, hit, and change between opposites, the student learns how to open.
Opening does not mean becoming exposed. It means expanding from the center while keeping connection. The chest does not puff out. The shoulders do not rise. The body opens through structure, breath, and intention.
This palm can be very helpful for students who tend to close in on themselves. It encourages confidence without forcefulness. It teaches the feeling of taking up space while remaining calm and centered.
8. Pushing Palm
Pushing Palm teaches issuing force through the whole body. A good push in Baguazhang is not just an arm movement. It comes from the feet, is directed by the waist, supported by the back, and expressed through the palm.
This palm helps students understand how power travels. It also teaches listening. A push done with stiffness can easily be redirected. A push done with connection can feel rooted, alive, and difficult to resist.
Pushing Palm is a good reminder that the 8 Turning Palms are not separate tricks. They are eight ways of teaching one body method.
Why the 8 Turning Palms Matter
The 8 Turning Palms are important because they build the foundation for everything that comes later in Cheng Baguazhang. At Dragon Phoenix, students first learn the form in a simplified way, then add the circle, waist turning, eye coordination, and eventually both sides of the body. The goal is not to rush. The goal is to build the body correctly.
This matters because Baguazhang becomes much more difficult at higher levels. If the foundation is weak, the advanced material will not work correctly. The 8 Turning Palms prepare the student for the 8 Mother Palms, linking forms, weapons, and eventually more advanced combat training.
They also help develop qualities that are valuable outside of martial arts: balance, patience, focus, coordination, adaptability, and calmness under pressure. Research on Tai Chi has shown benefits for balance and fall prevention, and traditional Chinese movement practices have been studied for broader physical and mental health benefits. While Baguazhang-specific research is limited, these related studies help explain why slow, coordinated, mindful martial movement can be so valuable.
Learning Cheng Baguazhang at Dragon Phoenix
Cheng Baguazhang is not easy, but it is worth the effort. It asks students to slow down, pay attention, and become aware of details they may have never noticed before. How do you step? Where are your eyes looking? Is your waist actually turning? Are your shoulders relaxed? Are you connected from the ground to the hands?
This is the kind of training that changes a person over time.
At Dragon Phoenix, the 8 Turning Palms are taught step by step so students can be successful in their development. Even though Cheng Baguazhang is an advanced martial art, the training is broken down into clear pieces. Students build the foundation first, then gradually add complexity, fluidity, speed, and martial expression.
The 8 Turning Palms are not the end of the journey. They are the doorway.
For students who want to understand Cheng Baguazhang, this is where the body begins to learn the language of circles, spirals, turning, rooting, and change. With steady practice, the movements stop feeling like choreography and start becoming a living method.
That is when Baguazhang begins to reveal itself.