Yes I agree with your explanation, I was trying to say the same thing but apparently not well enough. The "inside circle" and "outside circle" translation confused me, but when I read the actual Chinese I realized it was just referring to the inside and outside as me and you have described. It's not written as one would speak normally but in a more literary style I suppose...
A few terms:
挐 - ná – to apprehend / take - palm down - Jack Chen translates this as parry
攔 - lán – to block / obstruct - Palm up - Jack Chen translates this as sweep
扎 - zhá – penetrate / pierce / thrust
提 - tí – lift / carry
纏 - chán – to wind / wrap
顛 - diān – to jolt (I wonder if this has to do with 迸)
Being mainly a kinesthetic learner, playing out the drills and sequences in the manual has helped me. It's actually a pretty succinct and well made manual. It explains the 八槍母 (Eight Spear Mother) - 8 movements which all spear techniques are essentially derived from. Then it describes the 六合原論併註 (Six Unifications Original Theory Combination Annotation). 六合 is also often translated as Six Harmonies. These 6 sequences build on one another, introducing a new type of tactic in each. The 原論 Original Theory is an interesting section with advice on situational things. Then there is 散劄拔萃 which Jack Chen translates as Spear Combat Drills.. it's not quite that, but whatever. The manual goes on to explain the various techniques named (often poetically as they often are) in the 六合 section. The a discussion on the construction of the long spear, and lastly in-depth description of the uses and executions of various stances. In summary, it goes over what these Henan folks consider to be the essentials of good long-spear combat.
I'll be comparing this to the E'mei spear which is also on Jack Chen's website. I've skimmed it and it seems to emphasize slightly different things, but both pretty straight forward.
I think it bears remembering that the 長鎗法選 (long spear manual) is from Henan area, and the Henan, Hebei, and Shandong provinces were the birthplaces of many of the well-known and respected martial art styles. It seems Henan-Hubei-Shandong, and Guangdong-Fujian, were really significant regions of Chinese melee fighting development. Just to emphasize my point, you have Mantis, Eagle claw, Taiji, BaGua, Xing Yi, Baji, etc. all coming from the North in those 3 provinces. Bak Mei, Hung Gar, White Crane, Southern Mantis, Dog, Li, Choy Gar, Choy Li Fut, and Wing Chun all come mainly from the southern region. It doesn't surprise me one bit to see such a stream-lined, K.I.S.S. manual on the long-spear coming from Henan, where there was much combat but also inter-influences(?)/cross-pollination of martial tactics and methods... because while martial arts were often a closely guarded skill, skilled martial artists often gain more from cross-training and adopting superior techniques and realizing principles than trying to kill one another off...
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