The form opens with Jin Gang Dao Dui, Lan Zha Yi, Liu Feng Si Bi, and Danbian. All four movements are (deceptively) simple versions, compared to what we did in the Chen 38. In the Bing video, these four moves bring us to 1:23 (out of 3:20).

Chen Bing: Protect the Heart

Hu Xin Quan (Protect the Heart) has three parts: (1) a 180-degree leap followed by a right back fist; (2) advance left and grab for an elbow-strike; and (3) a right knee-up onto the left leg, left hand up.

From the du li, he lands (right, left) in position for Xie Xing, with left foot in advance of the right. He pushes from left to right with the left hand, and from right to left with the right hand, before opening up to the final position of Oblique Form at 1:32.

Begin Hui Tou Jin Gang Dao Dui (Hui Tou (回头) is turn around): He chambers up as if to punch, strikes with the palm, then strikes back with the elbow, before turning all the way around to the right for the second Buddha stamp at 1:37. He pivots on the right heel, steps around with, then pivots on, his left foot, sweeping the right around and up for the stamp. From the point shown below, it’s a lot like Hui Tou Jin Gang Dao Dui in the 38.

Turn around Buddha stamp – Chen Bing

There is no pause between this move and the next, which is Pie Shen Quan, which we call Draping the Fist and/or Lean the Back (different names for the same move). From the Chen 38, we know this one as a twisting move with fists pulling right (fist) to left, left (fist) to right, and right fist to the left, ending in the leaning position shown below.

Lean the back – Chen Bing

This form has an unfamiliar (to me) detail at the beginning: He steps out to the right, opens up and crosses his hands before beginning the “drape” with the left hand over to the right, then with the right hand over to the left. Despite the “quan” in the name, there’s no fist until the final leaning position. The hands are open, palms up.

This position follows the second Buddha stamp, just before draping the fist and leaning the back.

From Lean the Back, he winds up in a Hit the Tiger-type position, then opens the arms diagonally:

He then steps left (or maybe pivots on the left heel), then steps right to left cross behind and punches down. He jumps 360-degrees (turning to his left), punching to groin (Zhi Dang).

He finishes the jump here (above). You can tell he just landed because his jacket has flown up. From here, he does a ball change to switch the feet so the left is in advance. Chamber the right fist and punch.

Step around 180 degrees to the left with the right foot, pivoting on the left, advance left and throw the right elbow. We are at 1:50 in the video, and we are ready to slow down. Whew!

I usually figure that 30 seconds of new material is a reasonable bite-size, but this 30 seconds has me reeling. Tough class. Without this video, recorded in Chenjiagou in 2001, I would be L-O-S-T. This last grab says it: Can I do this?!?