I have trained Bagua stepping with Luo Dexiu since 2000, eight of those years in Taipei, and I have taught it since 2006. Luo says the fighting steps are four. I use more than that in the training. This is the list, with the Chinese names.

The four Luo counts

  • Half-step forward — 進半步 (jìn bàn bù)
  • Half-step back — 退半步 (tuì bàn bù)
  • Seven-star step, left — 左七星步 (zuǒ qī xīng bù)
  • Seven-star step, right — 右七星步 (yòu qī xīng bù)

His remark on seven-star stepping is left and right. Those two, with the half step forward and the half step back, are the four.

The step is 七星步 (qī xīng bù). The stance is 七星式 (qī xīng shì), a post-heaven standing posture in the same family as san ti (三體, sān tǐ). I keep those two names apart.

The walk and the turn

Circle walking is 走圈 (zǒu quān). On the Pre-Heaven palms I teach three ways the foot meets the ground:

  • Mud stepping — 趟泥步 (tāng ní bù). A heavy step, the foot rubbing along the ground.
  • Chicken — 雞行步 (jī xíng bù). The foot lifts and places, level, in an ordinary smooth motion.
  • Crane — 鶴步 (hè bù). The leg lifts, the foot extends, and the weight stays on one leg.

The turns I use:

  • Hook step — 扣步 (kòu bù). I use it inside and outside: 裡扣步 (lǐ kòu bù) and 外扣步 (wài kòu bù).
  • Swing step — 擺步 (bǎi bù). The toes open outward. It pairs with 扣步 (kòu bù), where the toes turn in.
  • Smooth step — 順步 (shùn bù). The foot goes straight, and the hand that leads is on the same side as the foot that leads. Right foot with the right hand. Left foot with the left hand.

順步 (shùn bù) and 扣步 (kòu bù) are not two versions of one step. 順步 (shùn bù) says which side is leading, and that the step is straight. 扣步 (kòu bù) says the toes turn in, to the inside (裡扣步, lǐ kòu bù) or the outside (外扣步, wài kòu bù). A same-side step can still hook. A hook step can still be same-side or opposite-side.

The opposite of 順步 (shùn bù) is the reverse step, 凹步 (āo bù), further down this list. There the leading hand and the leading foot are on opposite sides.

半步 (bàn bù) is the short step. Luo’s four use it forward, 進半步 (jìn bàn bù), and back, 退半步 (tuì bàn bù). 順步 (shùn bù) is the same-side step, and it has no length of its own. That same-side step is short when it is 半步 (bàn bù), and long when it is a full step, 進步 (jìn bù). 進步 is the long step forward. It can be same-side, 順步 (shùn bù), or opposite-side, 凹步 (āo bù).

The other steps I know

These are the rest of the steps in the work I do. George Wood, who also trains under Luo, prints most of these characters in his class glossary. Where his page gives only English, the character below is the ordinary written name.

  • Half step — 半步 (bàn bù). How far the foot goes: a short step forward, 進半步 (jìn bàn bù), or back, 退半步 (tuì bàn bù). This is the forward and back in Luo’s four. 順步 (shùn bù), above, is which side leads.
  • Full step — 進步 (jìn bù). A long step forward. 順步 (shùn bù) is which side leads, so a full step is 順步 (shùn bù) when the same side leads.
  • Following step — 跟步 (gēn bù).
  • T step — 丁字步 (dīng zì bù).
  • Bow step — 弓步 (gōng bù).
  • Cross step — 倒叉步 (dào chā bù).
  • Reverse step — 凹步 (āo bù). An opposite-side step.
  • Switching step — 換步 (huàn bù).
  • Spin step. The front leg stays weighted and fixed. The back leg swings around it, about a quarter of a circle. I have not settled a character for this one. 擺步 (bǎi bù), above, is the stride with the toes opening outward.

In the sixty-four Post-Heaven palms, line 7 is the stepping line: Post-Heaven line 7.

Shuffle, knee, and the leap

Two more steps sit outside that list.

Shuffle, or skipping step — 墊步 (diàn bù). I sometimes combine it with a knee.

Leaping step — 躍步 (yuè bù). It leaves the ground, and it stamps down at the end. The stamp is 震腳 (zhèn jiǎo).

Where the characters are written

  • Luo Dexiu, oral teaching: the four fighting steps above.
  • The Moral Dragon, Pre-Heaven palms: mud, chicken, and crane in English. 趟泥步 (tāng ní bù), 雞行步 (jī xíng bù), and 鶴步 (hè bù) are the written names.
  • George Wood, Zong Wu Men, a student of Luo: glossary and footwork in the curriculum. His curriculum gives full step, spin steps, and switching steps in English only.
  • Gao Ziying’s notes on the sixty-four hands use 震腳 (zhèn jiǎo) for the stamp of the foot, in the verse for Crouching Tiger Leaps the Ravine (臥虎跳澗, wò hǔ tiào jiàn). Tom Bisio publishes that annotation. The leaping step I use is not that posture. The character for the stamp is the same.
  • 郭古民 (Guō Gǔmín), 八卦掌術集成 (bā guà zhǎng shù jí chéng), on 擺步 (bǎi bù): the foot lifts, then strides, and the toes open outward. Tom Bisio’s translation.