When moving in Zhuanzhang, the person walks in a unique way called " Tangnibu（趟泥步：Muddy Walking Technique）."

This is a walking style that repeats the following: "Land on your toes → before your weight is put on the heel of that foot, land the toe of the forward foot on the ground."

By not putting your weight on your heels, your body does not remain in one place, allowing you to turn quickly.

This page will explain a life-saving method of transportation that allows the weak to survive in any situation.

• The benefits "Tangnibu".
• Tangnibu Essence 1: Gain movement skills that are not affected by ground conditions with "Grab the Ground"
• Tangnibu Essence 2: By " Pingqipingluo（平起平落：Lift it flat and put it down flat）," one can avoid "settling down" and move around swiftly.

The benefits "Tangnibu".

Tangnibu, which maintains the key point of the "Zhuadlao" technique in the turning palm technique, which will be discussed later, is a vital technique that enables quick turns without slowing down high-speed movement.

By not staying put, you can maintain "Shi"

Why is it a vital technology?This is because in "Zhuanzhang", the most important thing to keep in mind during actual combat was to maintain Shi（势）.Tangnibu　allows you to maintain "Shi" by not staying in one place.

"Shi" refers to the state of continuing to move while maintaining a high speed movement state.Maintaining momentum brings the following benefits:

• Firstly, by maintaining momentum and continuing to move, you will be less likely to be caught by the enemy.This makes it a moving target that is difficult to aim at.
• By maintaining Shi, you become less susceptible to attacks from other martial arts, which require you to stop moving in order to establish the body's axis for the attack.
• By maintaining momentum and continuing to move at high speed, lightning-fast surprise attacks performed while on the move pose a major threat to enemies.

These advantages make decoy escort possible.What does that mean?This is because the enemy's desire to eliminate the threat will draw attention to you, and as a result, you can act as a decoy to protect important people.

Can handle all road conditions

To react quickly to the enemy, the method of movement must be adaptable to all ground conditions.

You may be attacked by enemies in the muddy ground.You may be attacked while standing on snowy ground.

Therefore, Tangnibu has also been passed down as an important technique for preventing slipping.

Essence1:"Zhuadlao（抓地牢：Grab the Ground）"

"Grab" provides high mobility in all road conditions.

When landing using the "Zhuadlao" technique, the foot is landed on the raised part between the base of the toes and the arch.Take a step as if stamping the ground with the raised part of the sole of your foot near the base of your toues.

It may feel very strange at first, but by repeating it you will be able to acquire the ability to move around without stopping for even a moment.

。To give a more concrete example, imagine that a semicircular pressure dome is created around the body of the pursuer, and that you land on the edge of that pressure dome by pulling the soles of your feet toward you (see illustration below).

By following these points, you can minimize losing your balance on uneven ground (uneven, uneven surfaces or slippery surfaces).

Bagua Sanshiliuge（八卦三十六歌：collection of commentaries in the form of poems on the points of Zhuanzhang from the time of its creation by Master Dong Haichuan), the first of these points, "Poem 1," explains " Zhuadlao."

Translated into Japanese, it means "to land by scratching the ground."The key here is to pull your foot back slightly towards you as you land.It's the same as when you scratch something (such as when you scratch an itch), but rather than reaching forward, you scratch towards yourself.

When teaching modern Baguazhang, the toes are pointed forward and then moved even further forward at the moment of landing.This is as unnatural as reaching your hand out in front of you to scratch an itch.

At the moment of landing, the biggest drawback of sliding your foot forward and landing with an extended leg is that it is slippery.This can happen when the road conditions are poor (such as uneven or icy surfaces), causing you to slip, lose your balance, and fall over.

In mobile warfare, falling down carries great risk.It is natural that one may be attacked by the enemy while falling, but there is also the risk that various parts of the body will hit the ground when falling, rendering one unable to fight.

In order to prioritize the beauty of the slide when landing, the flaw of the "Tangnibu", where you slide forward just before landing" losing its anti-slip properties went unnoticed and spread.Baguazhang masters, who place importance on beauty, explained the "Tangnibu" of sliding forward, saying, "Tangnibu is a way of walking as if you were walking through mud without falling." This led to it being mistakenly perceived as a "non-slip" way of walking that even makes it possible to walk through mud, and it became widespread.

it is not.Tangnibu is a well-thought-out way of walking that allows one to take small steps and make quick turns without slipping or settling, no matter what the road conditions are.

Modern practitioners now only practice on places with good footing, so they have never had the opportunity to realise that the forward sliding Tangnibu is slippery when landing.Since they no longer fight on the move, they no longer practice with a sense of danger about slipping or falling.

What is the secret behind the stability of " Zhuadlao "?

Zhuadlao technique is extremely effective when turning.

However, the method that many practitioners use to land when turning is on the inside edge.In "Zhuanzhang", you land on the "outside edge".

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To be precise, you do not land on the edge of your shoe.When landing, the raised part at the back of the toes is pressed against the slope of the semicircular dome (just an image) of the turning circle.

The biggest drawback of turning with the soles of your feet facing outward in a circular motion by kicking outward is that on slippery surfaces you may skid and fall.When landing using the ``grabbing and grabbing'' technique of ``Zhuanzhang,'' the front part of the sole of the foot presses down against the outward centrifugal force during the turn, causing a scratching motion as you land, making it less likely that you will skid sideways.

Compared to modern asphalt and grass surfaces, road surfaces in the past were extremely slippery, made it difficult to move around, and made it difficult to walk.Zhuadlao is a life-threatening "know-how" that was devised in order to demonstrate mobile guerrilla power in any road conditions in the old days when mobility was everything.

Essence2:"Pingqipingluo（平起平落：Lift it flat and put it down flat）"

A technique that often appears in other Chinese martial arts, including Baguazhang, is " Pingqipingluo."This famous key point is also required in the Zhuanzhang technique.This is the secret to maintaining the mobility you have developed through daily practice, even on poor ground conditions.

Pingqipingluo is often described as raising the entire sole of the foot flat and then lowering it flat.However, during the intense movement of a mobile battle, it is not possible to lift the entire sole of the foot vertically.

Raising and lowering the foot flat is not the entire sole of the foot.The part mentioned in the section on " Zhuadlao（抓地牢）" - "the raised part between the base of the toes and the arch" - is " Pingqipingluo."

Pingqipingluo

When Tensho was first established, there was of course no paved ground.Therefore, people at that time had to pull their feet up to move over the bumps.

The " Pingqipingluo " method was a realistic and highly practical requirement for combat posture that was conveyed taking into account the road conditions and weather conditions of the time.The competitive move of sliding parallel to the ground to land doesn't work as well in the rough, uneven ground of old-time fighting.

When performing Pingqipingluo, the heel is on the ground for only a short time.It is a two-step process: "Front foot: Land near the back of the toes - Back foot: Take off near the back of the toes."There is almost no moment when your heels land.This happens because the hind legs pass the front legs at almost the same time that the heels of the front legs hit the ground.By not putting weight on your heels, you can push your foot forward quickly and maintain high speed body movement.