The 5 elemts have a harmony cicle and a destructive cicle

fire  creates earth

earth makes metal

metal  produces water

water nourishes wood

wood feeds fire

fire melts metal

metal cuts wood

wood consumes earth

earth dams (blocks water)

water extinguishes fire

Thanks for the post, I want to practice and was unsure of the complete flow of postures.

hey do you have the Bagua in video, we took one in Haute Savoie but I cant open it

Heres some detailed information on 5 Elements practice from a Wudang medical perspective.

First there is the basic posture, I've also heard these refered to as the torso methods.

Back is straight, tail bone is tucked in to help get straighter back.

Knees are bent, but do not go past the knuckle of the toe (important for unmovable stance) To get lower you do not bend the knees more, but widen your stance.

Tongue is on the roof of the mouth, the headtop is suspended.

The elbows point down, not out... if your hands are out in front of you then it should be as if you are holding a barrell with the elbows down (nice and rounded).

The shoulders are relaxed to a forward position caving the chest slightly.

You are open and rounded under your arm pits and in the crotch.  Having your arms pressed against the sides is not beneficial to energy circularion.

These basic principles apply to all of the postures and are the basis for most qi gong.

Next thing to look at is height in arm positioning.  Over time many of these elements have gone wrong, ussually fire and wood.  What happens is that they're practiced for martial reasons and the medicinal or internal knowledge is lost.  You can tell the truth of the posture by where it directs energy.

For instance, wood is liver... if the arms are at shoulder height then you're not focusing the energy to the liver. In Ba Gua the wood palm (green dragon rises and flys away) is done with the elbow pointed to the liver (only 1 elbow though, the other points out).

Sometimes you see people doing Fire postures with their hands over their head, but again Fire is for the heart so your hands should be heart level.  In this video we see the hands are up high, but that looks more like an egyption mudra than it does the fire element.  The Bagua palm for fire is Red Pheonix Worships the Sun; it has one hand thats up and one thats down, but the energy line is drawn through the heart. Note that many people practice Red Pheonix Worships the Sun with both hands over their head... lost knowledge.

This is general theory that can be soundly applied to any version of 5 Elements practice.

One reason for proper hand height, energy direction is the up and down motion of the cycle of balance.

Wood = little Yang (hands are low -  down)

Fire = Big Yang (hands are high - up)

Earth = Neutral (hands are low - down)

Metal = Little Yin (hands are high - up)

Water = Big Yin (hands are low - down)

Above we can see the illustration of energy being moved up and down (alternately) through the cycle of balance.

Apply this general theory to any version of 5 Elements that you're practicing and you'll see the wisdom in it.

:)