What Is the 64 Palms Form of Cheng Baguazhang?
At Dragon Phoenix, the 64 Palms form is taught as the combat form of Cheng Style Baguazhang. It is not a beginner form, and it is not meant to be practiced as empty choreography. It is advanced training that brings together the body method, footwork, changing, and martial application of Cheng Baguazhang.
In our curriculum, students first build the foundation through the 8 Turning Palms and then continue into the 8 Mother Palms. The 64 Palms comes later, when the student is ready to study Baguazhang as a more complete fighting method. Dragon Phoenix describes the 64 Palm form as the focus of Level 3 Cheng Baguazhang training, where students work more deeply on application, speed, power, efficiency, uprooting, throwing, and martial proficiency.
The 64 Palms Comes from 24 Moves
One important thing to understand is that the 64 Palms form is based on 24 moves. In Sun Zhijun’s Cheng Baguazhang, this material is often referred to as the 24 Moves / 64 Palms, or the 64 Linked Palms. The Chinese name is often given as Youshen Bagua Lianhuan Ershisi Shi Liushisi Zhang, meaning something like “Swimming Body Bagua Linked 24 Forms, 64 Palms.”
This means the form is not simply a list of 64 unrelated techniques. It is a linked form built from 24 movements that contain 64 palm methods. Sun Zhijun emphasized that this was not a straight-line form, and not something to be understood like Xingyi. It is still pure Baguazhang: circular, changing, connected, and based on body transformation.
This is an important difference. If we think of the form only as “64 techniques,” we may miss the deeper purpose. The form is really a way to train how the palms connect, change, and continue without stopping.
Sun Zhijun and the Linking of the Form
Grandmaster Sun Zhijun was one of the most important modern representatives of Cheng Style Baguazhang. He was a disciple of Cheng Yousheng and became known for preserving and demonstrating traditional Cheng Bagua at a very high level. In 2004, when he was already over seventy years old, Sun performed the 64 Linked Palms at the World Traditional Wushu Championship and received gold medals for both the 64 Linked Palms and Bagua Saber.
Sun Zhijun linked the 24 movements and 64 palms into a cohesive form. This gives the student a way to train the combat ideas of Cheng Baguazhang as one continuous method. Instead of learning isolated applications, the practitioner learns how one method changes into the next.
This is very important in Baguazhang. In fighting, things do not happen one movement at a time. A strike may become a throw. A step may become an entry. A turn may become an escape. A change of angle may become the moment the opponent loses balance. The 64 Palms teaches this kind of continuous transformation.
Why It Is Called a Combat Form
At Dragon Phoenix, the 64 Palms is called the combat form of Cheng Style Baguazhang because it teaches the rest of the combat applications for the style. By this level, the student is no longer only learning the outer shape of Baguazhang. The student is learning how Baguazhang fights.
Cheng Style Baguazhang is known for turning, entering, throwing, uprooting, and using unusual angles. Because Cheng Tinghua had a background in Chinese wrestling, Cheng Baguazhang is often associated with close-range control and throwing. The 64 Palms form gives the student a structured way to practice these ideas while still keeping the circular, spiraling nature of Bagua.
The form trains how to:
enter without crashing directly into force
change angles while staying rooted
use the waist to direct the hands
connect striking, turning, and throwing
uproot the opponent while maintaining one’s own center
keep moving instead of stopping after one technique
This is why the form should not be rushed. Without foundation, the 64 Palms can become a long series of movements. With foundation, it becomes a living map of Cheng Baguazhang application.
The Relationship to the 8 Turning Palms and 8 Mother Palms
The 64 Palms form does not replace the earlier training. It depends on it.
The 8 Turning Palms teach the body how to move according to Baguazhang principles. They build stepping, turning, alignment, rooting, and basic body coordination.
The 8 Mother Palms begin to teach more advanced changes. They show how the body can link movements together and begin to express the martial flavor of Cheng Baguazhang.
The 64 Palms takes those lessons into a more complete combat form. At Dragon Phoenix, even in the Level 3 class, students continue working on the 8 Turning Palms and refine the 8 Mother Palms so that they can move with more speed, power, detail, and efficiency.
This is good Kung Fu training. The basics are not left behind. They are deepened.
What the 64 Palms Trains in the Body
The 64 Palms form trains the student to move in a way that is very different from ordinary fighting movement. Instead of standing in front of the opponent and trading techniques, Baguazhang uses turning, angling, spiraling, and changes in distance.
Dragon Phoenix describes Baguazhang movement as being “like a Dragon riding on the Wind.” It is fluid, uses negative space, and relies on physics to uproot and throw while the practitioner maintains their own center of gravity.
The 64 Palms develops this by training the body to stay connected while changing quickly. The feet, waist, hands, eyes, and intention all have to work together. If the feet move but the waist does not, the form loses power. If the hands move without the body, the application becomes weak. If the mind is tense, the movement becomes stiff.
This is why the form is both physical and mental training. It requires balance, coordination, awareness, and calm under pressure. Research on martial arts training has found positive effects on well-being and internalizing mental health symptoms, and research on related Chinese internal practices such as Tai Chi and Qigong has also found evidence for benefits in balance, physical function, and psychological health.
Learning the 64 Palms at Dragon Phoenix
The 64 Palms is one of the advanced empty-hand treasures of Cheng Style Baguazhang. It is built from the 24 moves and 64 palm methods, linked together by Sun Zhijun into a continuous form that preserves the changing, circular, martial nature of Cheng Bagua.
For students, the form is a bridge. It connects solo practice to application. It connects movement to meaning. It connects the earlier palms to the deeper fighting method of the system.
At Dragon Phoenix, the 64 Palms is taught carefully and progressively. Students continue to refine the foundation while learning how Baguazhang enters, changes, uproots, throws, and flows from one movement into the next.
The 8 Turning Palms teach the body how to move.
The 8 Mother Palms teach the body how to change.
The 64 Palms teach the body how to apply those changes.
That is why this form is so important. It is not just longer or more advanced. It is where Cheng Baguazhang begins to reveal how all of its pieces work together.