Baguazhang Jiulong: Basic Circle Walking Turns 

1. I breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, generally. In Jiulong Baguazhang, we do not try to match the breath to the movement because, with multiple opponents, one cannot be so artificial. We try to breathe naturally, as the body requires according to the exertion and action. 2. Song, or release/relaxation, implies the appropriate amount of muscular contraction required to maintain the shape/posture you want. This is not loosey-goosey, amoeba-like limpness, but rather a goldilocks, al dente, just right amount and intensity of contraction in the muscles. Tension, as a word, can be used to indicate merely muscular contraction or too much contraction; it is often unclear. We cannot move without muscular contraction, so we always need some tesion, but never too much contraction. 3. Jiulong Baguazhang teaches students to focus on several different linear walking drills before circle walking is ever touched. This produces higher footwork skill. The fundamental stepping pattern we use is the Strolling Immortal Step, or rolling step, rather than the Sliding Mud Step. After developing good linear walking skills, I recommend students spend a lot of time circle walking with twin postures before adding too many turns. Then add simple turns with lots of perfection practice. The fancy turns are generally just made up out of combos of the simple turns, anyways, so to skip the simple stuff means the fancy stuff will never become functional. Best, Dr. Yancy Orchard

Sorry for the very slow reply! Give Mike Leach a shout at TheGompa@aol.com and he can tell you about the bed and breakfast training programs offered there. Many students make significant progress by coming for lessons a few times per year and practicing at home in the intervening time. Best, Dr. Yancy Orchard