8 animals - yin style (taught by Park Bok Nam) I'm a student of Park Bok Nam (www.pa-kua.com, his method is a yin style. We use 8 animals (aka 8 mother palms, 8 single palms) which are used in the following ways: - as static postures (just holding the poses, and the transitions between them left-right etc) - this is just to train the body for using them on the circle - as we walk the circle (with a simple changing pose between animals, then a more direct transition, directly from one animal to another, then from any animal to another) Clearly from any animal there are always 8 options - 7 other animals and the current animal on opposite side of body. Thus 8x8=64, your first move has 8 possibilities, the following another 8. The animals don't need to used in isolation from other pa kua techniques (kicks, palm strikes, elbows etc.). Thus they can be utilised with either circular or linear footwork depending on the situation. Each animal may have its own form, but I haven't progressed that far yet. However you're right that each does represent a different attack/defence approach. Initially 8 animals are trained for chi cultivation/circulation, eventually they are used for combat. We train them in a sequence (below), which is designed to train body alignments, internal mechanics and organs. The 8 animals are: - lion - unicorn/giraffe - snake - swallow - dragon flying - bear - phoenix - monkey The palms down dragon pose is the standard circle walking and guard stance, thus isn't considered one of the 8 animals. The basic transition pose we use is another animal, panther. The 8 animal circle walking sequence is covered in Park's first book/video (Fundamentals of Pa Kua Chang). Hope that helps
