Bow and Hold the Feet

The classical verse

低头攀足频

This form belongs to the verse line above, from the classical seated routine. Quoting it is how you can tell whether a version of this movement you find elsewhere is the same one.

The traditional commentary describes the movement as stretching the sinews and the lower back. The classical instructions call for the head to bow down and the chin to be tucked on the way up, with the neck worked in two directions in between.

How to do it

The official form is practised sitting cross-legged on a firm wedge-shaped cushion with the front edge lower than the back. Every step below also says what to do if you are sitting in a chair — the two are the same movement, only the seat differs, so there is no separate version to choose between.

1. Continuing from the previous form, separate the palms and raise both arms straight up, palms facing each other; relax the ankles and let the toes point upward; look straight ahead.
2. Without stopping, bend the torso forward no further than 45 degrees and reach both hands forward to grasp the soles of the feet, the thumbs pressing on the tops of the feet and the other four fingers holding the front of each foot. The spine curls forward one vertebra at a time, from the neck down through the chest, the waist, the sacrum and the tailbone, like a carpet being rolled from the top; the knees stay straight. Look at the toes. In a chair: if your hands cannot reach the feet, rest them on the shins or ankles and simply hold the spine long there; keep reaching and do not give up the toe hook. The knees may stay slightly bent on a chair — the official cushion version folds forward to the feet with the knees straight.
3. Keeping the legs and the whole spine in that stretched position, draw the chin in and lengthen the back of the neck. Hold briefly; look toward the knees.
4. Draw both hands back, hook the toes firmly, and at the same time straighten the knees, sink the waist and lift the head, the chin pressing up on its own. Hold briefly; look up.
5. Keeping the legs and the whole spine in that stretched position, draw the chin in and lengthen the back of the neck. Hold briefly; look toward the knees.
6. Bring the torso upright with the neck vertical, the spine straightening one vertebra at a time from the bottom up until the whole back runs through as one continuous line. At the same time release the hands, turn the palms down and draw them up along the legs with the elbows bending; pass the waist and extend both arms straight back, palms facing backward; look straight ahead. In a chair: the same return is used, and because the seat is higher the arms come back level with the chair rather than reaching past it — there is no floor to push away from.
7. Continue opening both arms back until they are level with the shoulders, then turn the arms so the palms face down and the fingertips point outward; look at the toes.
8. Without stopping, bend the torso forward no further than 45 degrees and at the same time draw both arms forward, carrying the palms in an arc to grasp the soles of the feet, thumbs pressing on the tops of the feet; look at the toes.
9. Flare the feet outward, lift the head, draw the chin in and lengthen the back of the neck. Repeat this cycle four times.
10. After repeating the foot-grasping action six times, bring the torso upright with the neck vertical; at the same time release the hands and rest them on the knee joints; look down and forward.
11. Rotate the left arm outward, turn the left palm upward and sweep it in a level arc to the right. At the same time, with the right palm facing down, sweep it in a level arc to the left above the left arm, until the two palms meet in front of the abdomen as if holding a ball; look at the right palm.
12. Without stopping, rotate the left arm inward and press the left palm on the top of the left thigh near the hip. At the same time bend the torso forward, rotate the right arm inward and reach the right palm forward, the hand turned over, to take hold of the outside of the left foot; look at the left foot. In a chair: do not try to carry a foot under the opposite thigh — keep the ball-holding shape without the carry, then hug one knee with both hands and draw it gently toward the chest, hold for a breath or two, lower the foot and repeat on the other side, once each.
13. Bring the torso upright and bend the right knee slightly; at the same time bend the left knee, carry the left foot with the right palm and place it underneath the right thigh; look down.
14. Rotate the right arm outward, turn the right palm upward and sweep it in an arc to the left. At the same time sweep the left palm in a level arc to the right above the right arm, until the two palms meet in front of the abdomen as if holding a ball; look at the left palm.
15. Rotate the right arm inward and press the right palm on the top of the right thigh near the hip. At the same time bend the torso forward, rotate the left arm inward and reach the left palm forward, the hand turned over, to take hold of the outside of the right foot; look at the right foot.
16. Bring the torso upright and lift the left knee slightly upward; at the same time bend the right knee, carry the right foot with the left hand around the outside of the left knee and place it underneath the left thigh; look down and to the left. In a chair: as on the left, hug the knee with both hands instead of carrying the foot under the thigh.
17. Return to an upright seated posture and draw the left palm back to the top of the left thigh near the hip; look down and forward.
18. Set the head and neck upright and look straight ahead.

Breathing and intention

The official instructions give no breathing pattern for this form, so keep the breath normal and continuous through the fold, the two neck holds and the return. Do not hold the breath at the bottom of the fold.

Common mistakes

• Bending the knees to reach the feet. The cushion version folds forward to the feet with the knees straight; if the legs are not flexible enough to touch the toes, reach the palms as far forward as they will go rather than bending the knees.
• Curling into the fold all at once from the hips. The spine folds one vertebra at a time from the neck down, like a carpet rolling from the top, and comes back up from the bottom up.
• Sliding the hands along the legs without ever grasping the soles, with the thumbs on the tops of the feet and the other four fingers on the front of each foot.
• Folding deeper than 45 degrees, or rounding the back to make up the distance.
• Skipping the three-part neck work in the wrong order: chin drawn in and held, then the hands pulled back with the head lifted and held, then the chin drawn in once more.
• Releasing the stretch during the chin tuck instead of keeping the legs and spine fully extended.
• Meeting the hands in front of the abdomen without the ball-holding shape, or taking hold of the foot with the palm rather than with the hand turned over to the outside of the foot.
• Leaving out the single-leg foot carries at the end, which are half the form.
• Sitting up too quickly on the return instead of stacking the spine up from the bottom.

Where it comes from

The last of the eight named figures in the Ming set, recorded as "hooking and grasping" — reaching forward with both hands to hold the soles of the feet.

The Twelve-Section Brocade is the modern official form of the seated Eight-Section Brocade, also called the literary eight-section brocade (wen baduanjin), which the Ming dynasty texts record in eight figures. Its name appears in the eighteenth-century Shoushi Chuanzhen, and the version in most circulation today comes from the Neigong Tushuo. It was standardised as an official routine in 2010 by the General Administration of Sport of China.