Brush knee twist step (R)    (15 through 25)

     At the conclusion of white crane preening wings, you face North with your knees slightly bent; your arms are up at shoulder level, and your elbows point out to your sides, with your palms facing away, as if holding a small globe. Brush knee twist step begins as you pull your elbows slowly toward one another, drawing your hands slightly apart (15,16) until both your lower arms (the elbow joints to the hands) are parallel to one another and perpendicular to the floor, and your upper arms (the elbows to the shoulders) are parallel to one another and parallel to the floor (16).  As your arms straighten, your palms turn slowly to face each other, the elbows bending each arm at almost a 90° angle. [W= even]
     Bend your knees slightly as you bow slightly forward at the waist and slowly begin to shift your weight to your right leg (17) [W= 60R].  Begin rotating your upper torso to the left as you continue shifting your weight [W= 70R] to the right side, and begin to lower your left hand, with your left palm facing in. [W= 80R]
     At the same time, lift your left toe only (18), and pivot on the left heel (19,20) until your left foot is pointing West, with the toe up. [W= 90R]  (Your feet now form at almost a full right angle; your right foot flat, your left toe up, and your left hand has dropped halfway down in its descent. Remember to keep your behind tucked in.)    
     As your upper torso finishes rotating left 90°, and your left hand continues its descent (20), your right palm (still facing West) pushes to your left (W) at shoulder level (21-25); this occurs as your center starts shifting your weight [W= 80R] back to the left side.  As you push to the left [W= 70R], your body (from the tan tien, or center) dips very, very slightly down and back up in an arc [W= 60R], and you lower your left toe down (21-23)² [W= even].  As the right palm, fingers up, pushes the imaginary opponent at the shoulder level, your left hand drops to a few inches in front of and above (21,22) [W= 70L] your left knee (hence the first part of the name for this posture, brush knee), with the left palm facing in toward the knee, while the right foot (with weight mostly on the heel, pivoting) twists (hence the second part of the name for this posture, twist step) to the NW corner, forming an acute angle with the left foot of about 30-45° (be comfortable) as the momentum forward (W) concludes. (25) [W= 80L]
     At that point, the left hand rests just outside of the left leg, palm facing backward, fingers down; the right palm faces away (W) in a "push", fingers to the ceiling; both elbows are slightly bent, and your left kneecap is aligned directly above (but, in no case further out than) your left toe.

Hand strums the pipa    (26 through 31)
     
     Begin hand strums the pipa by starting to shift your weight back onto your right side as you start to raise your hands (26) quite the same as in ward off posture from Lesson #3.  You bring up both arms, as if strumming a harp, as described again here from that earlier lesson:  
     Slowly raise your left foot (27-29) onto its heel only again, forcing your weight (and you!) back (E) onto your right foot [W= 70L], while moving your left hand upward slowly to a position near your right hand. (26-28) [W=60L]
The left hand rises in an arcing motion from your left side to slightly above where the right hand, which simply rotates the palm from (W) to (S), is waiting. Both your hands rotate inward so that as they near each other, the palms are facing. As the left hand meets near (and just above) the right (29), the right fingertips graze³ the bottom of the left palm, with all of your fingers pointing to the ceiling. [W= even]
     This second hand strums the pipa concludes just a bit differently than the one in Lesson #5.  Poising your arms as they are described just above, shift all of your weight to your right side, and 'side' your left foot to the right. (31)  To side your foot means to lift it up and move it over to the side just
a bit.  Do so by slightly lifting your left foot up off of its heel as you shift all of your weight to your right side [W= 100R], then setting your left foot down again [W= 80R], on the heel only, just a few inches to the right of where it was (yet still remaining just to the left side of your right foot.)

           ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

(Remember to keep your knees and elbows at least slightly bent and your pelvis tucked in throughout the set.)

(If at all possible, it is suggested that someone read the text to you - or record it on a tape and play it back - while you slowly practice the form...and slowly is the best way to practice.)

notes:

¹   Throughout this and most of the postures in the set, the hands, when near to each other especially, should be considered to be moving as one together, forming as if to hold a globe or ball. Imagine this as much as you can. _go back_

²   This return to weightedness on the opposite side allows the upper and lower torso to again move as one in the same direction (W). _go back_

³   Slightly touching or just very close (hovering; grazing)
                                                                                                                    _go back_
                         
                        The links back to the above footnote numbers will only return you to
                                       the very first use of that number in the above text,
                   not to the subsequent references on this page to the same footnote number.