<span class="chinese-post-title">曲腿蹚泥，足心涵空</span> Bend the Legs, Tread Through the Mud; the Center of the Foot is Empty from <span class="chinese-post-title">八卦掌真理篇</span> The Real Theory of Baguazhang by <span class="chinese-post-title">薑容樵</span> Jiāng Róngqiáo

曲腿蹚泥，足心涵空

曲腿就是在走轉時兩腿作適度之彎曲，身體往下坐，使力量貫注兩腿。蹚泥是兩腳前進不要過高，如蹚泥之狀。足心涵空是使腳掌和腳跟同時平落地面，五指抓地，這樣腳心就涵空了。

薑容樵

“'Bend the legs' means that when stepping or rotating, both legs must be slightly bent and the body must assume a sitting down posture, enabling all the power to be concentrated in the legs. 'Tread through the mud' means that when both legs advance, they must not be too high, the feet look as if dragging in the mud. 'The center of the foot is empty' means that the sole of the foot and the heel of the foot fall flatly to the ground simultaneously, the five toes grip the ground, thus the center of the foot becomes hollow."

From the book Bāguàzhăng Practice Method (八卦掌練習法), by Jiāng Róngqiáo (薑容樵), based on the translation by Joseph Crandall