Open the stance and round the arms in front of the abdomen. Interlace the hands, lift and turn the palms overhead, then separate and lower them to either side. Return with palms up. The opening’s rounded hands and this return have different palm directions.
Which version and directions does this lesson use?
This lesson follows standing Health Qigong Baduanjin. The Chinese source edition checked the continuous General Administration of Sport demonstration against the Health Qigong Administrative Center’s technical corrections. The movement is Two Hands Hold Up the Heavens (Liang Shou Tuo Tian). Left and right mean your own left and right; a front-facing demonstrator’s left is on the right of your screen.
The official demonstration page contains the opening at about 01:40 and the first movement at about 02:00. Timestamps locate the sequence, not a required personal pace. Relevant injuries or limits on arm lifting and knee bending need consideration before starting. Stop for pain, dizziness or marked discomfort.
Opening: move from feet together to a side step
- Stand with feet together: arms rest naturally at the sides, body and gaze facing forward.
- Step left to the side: first place weight on the right leg, then move the left foot left into a roughly shoulder-width, parallel stance. The toes face forward rather than turning outward into a V.
- Settle before the arm movement: this is not a forward step or an immediate wide horse stance. Avoid swaying while looking down to locate the feet.
The original corrections specifically identify lowering the gaze and turning the feet outward during the opening. Study the step before coordinating it with the gaze.
Opening: swing out, then round the arms in front
- Swing both palms out to the sides: rotate the arms and move the hands outward to about hip height, palms facing back. Do not scoop directly from the thighs to the chest.
- Rotate the arms back and bring them forward: bend the knees slightly as the arms round in front of the abdomen. Palms face the body, fingers towards one another.
- Settle the position: hands are around navel height and elbows hang naturally. Avoid stiff fingers slanting down or holding the shape at chest height.
“Holding a ball” describes the rounded space between the arms and hands. You do not need to grip an object or tense the fingers. The hands are not yet interlaced.
First movement: interlace, lift and turn the palms
Fingers interlaced in front of the abdomen, palms up
Palms turned up, arms straight overhead
Hands apart, palms up in front of the abdomen
- Change from rounded hands to interlacing: rotate and slightly lower the arms, interlacing the fingers in front of the abdomen with palms up. Distinguish this from the opening, where palms face the body.
- Lift towards the chest: the joined hands travel up in front as the legs gradually straighten. Bring the gaze to the hands; do not tilt the head back before they rise.
- Turn the palms and continue overhead: the palms turn upward as the arms extend. The fingers remain interlaced during this turn; do not separate and rejoin them.
- Return the head upright: once the hands reach overhead, draw the chin in and look forward while continuing the upward extension. Keep the feet in place; no heel lift is added here.
The technical corrections link hand and gaze timing and keep the rising route close to the body rather than far forward. They do not require every reader to force the same shoulder angle. Do not arch the lower back to compensate for an uncomfortable arm lift.
Separate the hands, then lower at the sides
- Release the interlacing overhead: relax the shoulders and bend the elbows slightly before gradually separating the fingers. Do not pull the hands sharply apart.
- Lower the hands to either side: the arms arc left and right, with palms turning as the arms move. Do not keep the hands joined and press them down in front of the face.
- Bend the knees and return palms up: as the hands lower, the legs gradually bend slightly. Finish with palms cupped upward in front of the abdomen, fingertips towards one another. The overhead position alone is not a complete repetition.
For review, identify three parts: interlace and rise—turn and lift—separate and lower. These are learning labels for the demonstrated sequence, not a new movement count or breathing pattern.
The hands return to the abdomen—but in which position?
| Point in the sequence | Hand position | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| End of the opening | Hands separate, palms towards the body, arms rounded. | Lower slightly, turn palms and interlace. |
| Before the overhead lift | Fingers interlaced, palms up. | Rise past the chest and turn into the lift. |
| End of one repetition | Hands separate, palms cupped upward. | Interlace again to repeat, or continue into the next movement. |
The last row is easy to miss: returning to the abdomen does not mean repeating the entire opening. Do not bring the left foot in and step out again on every repetition. The stance remains in place.
Repeating the lift or moving into Drawing the Bow
The continuous demonstration shows six repetitions. This is its arrangement, not a research-based minimum dose. When reviewing one part, understand its entry and end before trying to match a repetition count.
To repeat, interlace again from the palms-up return. To enter Drawing the Bow (Zuo You Wan Gong), follow its step and wrist-crossing in front of the chest instead. Check the sequence, then use the second-movement breakdown.
A brief pause overhead does not require holding your breath. Begin with natural breathing and avoid squeezing an entire repetition into one breath. See breathing for beginners and the original breathing explanation.
References and sources
- General Administration of Sport: continuous Health Qigong Baduanjin demonstration
Science and Education Department, 21 May 2022. The Chinese edition records checks of the opening and first three movements on 17 October 2026. Timestamps locate passages, not a required personal pace. The initial English check accessed the hosting page only; the opening and first three movement account still relies on the earlier review. No video is republished. On 20 October 2026, reviewed time-sampled frame sequences around 06:24–13:26 of the same original file, with its SHA-256 matching the earlier ledger. This covers movements four to eight and the closing arc, generally sampled every one or two seconds and every half second for the wrist passage. The film ends with overlapping hands; the later release follows the written corrections. No new audio transcript, copied film or frame images are published.
- Health Qigong Administrative Center: common Baduanjin errors and corrections
Gong Lihui and Cai Li, 10 January 2018. Rechecked the opening and first three movements: hand height, gaze, bow hand shapes and routes, palm orientation, single-hand lifts and returns. Technical descriptions are not personal range-of-motion prescriptions. Full text reread on 20 October 2026 for movements four to eight and closing: arm rotation and level gaze, light thigh contact and head/pelvis routes, hand descent and arm-led rise, wrist route and enclosed-thumb fist, controlled heel descent and final release.
- Health Qigong Administrative Center: breathing methods and learning stages
Gong Lihui, 12 June 2018. Used for the distinction between natural breathing when beginning Baduanjin and later coordination. It does not prescribe a personal breathing rate or breath-hold duration.
