Five Element Arm and Five Flower Palm

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Five Element Arm and Five Flower Palm are two distinct yet related drills that were apparently only shown to a small number of the Practical Tai Chi Chuan international community.
Whilst I sometimes heard both the names used for Five Element Arm, I believe this to be  because the fundamental body skills trained in Five Element Arm, also power the changes in Five Flower Palm,.
Both drills have defensive, and offensive capabilities, when combined with the correct body work, and Tai Chi strategies. The drills can be practiced in a a progressive manner to develop skill in distance, timing, angle, and the correct use of body torque, rotation, expansion and contraction.. 
Five Element Arm is frequently practised to develop the ability to defend, when one arm is damaged, although this underplays its use considerably.  It is useful to explore the way the various positions permit defence and counter offence, whether retreating or advancing toward the opponent, A dazzling array of strikes, traps, locks, and throws may be revealed.

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of Five Element Arm, is its ability to improve the strength and mobility of major postural muscles, this is of particular interest to those who practice for health, and one of the reasons we include it within our Qigong section..
Practice in this way, emphasises the coordination of the various body parts, with practice, this can be refined to correctly power the much smaller, self defence movements.
At some point,  I will demonstrate the related Five Flower Palm.
​Shown below:Five Element Arm.