八卦掌的运动特点是以掌为主，以走为先，身随掌转，步随身行。其运动路线是沿着八卦图线循环往复、不停走转，以此达到练神导气的功效。就其步法而言，里脚(靠近圆心的脚)直迈似圆的弦线，外脚迈扣合圆弧，重心在后如坐椅，前腿虚探需自如。迈步过程中，两腿胫骨相磨，两脚踝骨相蹭，形成剪刀股形。脚迈出时脚面绷直，脚底与地面平行，前涌似趟水，落地似踩泥，平稳而有力，俗称“趟泥步”。这种步法似走非走、似跑非跑，是在走与跑之间。走，前腿和脚面绷直，步距尽量拉大；跑，后腿用力后蹬，将重心移至前腿。只有在练好步法的基础上才能开始练掌，底盘功夫练扎实了，上掌后才能协调全身。
Eight-trigram Palm (Bagua Zhang) is characterized by palm skills playing the leading role，and giving priority to walking steps，body turning being led by palm，and steps following the body.The movement route repetitively follows Eight Trigrams and keeps walking and turning to train spirit and lead breath.The step techniques are:the inner foot (the foot near to the center) walks in straight steps and the outer foot steps in a curved way.The body weight center leans backwards as if sitting in a chair，so that the front leg may freely stretch forward.During stepping，two shin bones and two ankles rub to form scissor stance.When stepping out，the foot shall be leg extended，and the sole shall be in parallel with the ground surface.Walking forwards as if walking in water，touching the ground as if stamping in mud，maintaining steady and forceful.This style of walking steps are called“Tangnibu(mud wading steps)”.This style of step is between walking and running.For walking，the front leg and its foot stretch straightly；for running，the back leg backwards stamps hard to transfer the body weight center to the front leg.Only after acquiring basic step techniques can the full body be well coordinated.