Hua Wu Fan §1

I feel like Sherlock Holmes. Working from an image of the names in Chinese (below), a (somewhat loosely translated) English list, the voiceover of a video, Google translate, and the MDBG online dictionary (which allows me to draw a character if I can get the order of the brushstrokes right), I have arrived at a list of the first eight moves.

section1

Section 1:

  1. 起勢 Qǐ Shì:  Commencing form
  2. 懒扎衣 Lǎn Zā Yī: Lazily Tying the Robe
  3. 丹凤朝阳 Dān Fèng Cháoyáng: Red Phoenix Greets the Sun
  4. 推波助澜  Tuī  Bō Zhù Lán: Push the Waves Even Higher
  5. 飞雁斜落  Fēi Yàn Xié Luò: Wild Goose Swoops Down
  6. 转身打虎  Zhuǎn Shēn Dǎ Hǔ: Turn Around Hit the Tiger
  7. 叶底采莲 Yè Dǐ Cǎi Lián: Pluck the Lotus Leaf
  8. 孔雀开屏 Kǒngquè kāipíng: Peacock Spreads its Tail

I was puzzling over the meaning of lanzayi. You would tie up a long robe to prepare for a fight. The laziness in this case might have the sense of casualness. Unhurried. Like, confident and unafraid. Maybe even to preserve an element of surprise.

Interesting: Tui Bo Zhu Lan, Push the Waves Even Higher, is a saying that means something like the English “Add fuel to the fire.”

Anyway, here are grabs of these first eight moves, from this video:

1.huawu1  2.huawu2 3. huawu3 4.huawu4 5.huawu5 6.huawu6 7.huawu7 8.huawu8

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