Monday, November 23, 2009

What Does Chen Style Taiji Look Like?‏


One of many lectures by Master Chen Zhonghua, at Taiji Traditions
Camp, Shawnigan Lake, BC, was sparked by a question, "what makes Chen
Taiji 'Chen Taiji'?". Master Chen drew a diagram of the four prominent
characteristics of "Gong": “Fa”, to issue power or energy, “Hua”, to
neutralize the oncoming forces or energy,“Da”, to hit, and "Na", to
seize.
Master Hong Junsheng (1907-1996) the man who developed Chen Style
Practical Method Taiji, and one of Master Chen Zhonghua's teachers, is
world renowned for his abitity to issue power (Fa). His nickname is
"the Man with the Magic Hand", because of his ability to bounce
opponents away by issuing internal power through his hand. As far as
Taiji Legends go there is quite a lot of video and information about
Grandmaster Hong online.
Here is a video of his push-hands:

And a video of his Yi Lu form:

Master Tian Xiuchen (1917-1984) studied from Grandmaster Chen Fake
(pronounced Fah-kuh) for 15 years, and became his disciple. He is
known for his ability to nuetralize (Hua), but there is little
information about him online, if you know of any more info or students
of his please leave a comment.
Here is his Yilu form (Warning: turn your volume down):
Part 1:

Part 2:

Grandmaster Chen Zhaokui (1928-1981), the son of Grandmaster Chen
Fake, is known for his skill in neutralizing (Na) his opponenents.
Chen Zhaokui's students included the "four tigers" of CHen Village:
Chen Xiaowang, Zhu Tiancai, Wang Xian, and Chen Zhenglei. Master Chen
Zhaokui's only son: Chen Yu, is a prominent figure in Chen Style
Taiji, and is famous for his Qin Na (joint manipulation).
There is only one video clip of Chen Zhaokui, and it is eleven seconds
long:

But, there are many clips of Chen Yu:

Grandmaster Feng Zhiqeng (1928) is a living legend of Taiji, and
creator of the Chen Style Xinyi Hunyuan Taijiquan System. Feng
Zhiqiang life is nothing short of amazing. Orignally a Xinyi (Qigong/
health art) Master, a diciple of Grand Master Hu Yaozhen, he then
became a disciple of Chen Fake. He is known for his ability to hit
(Da), and I have felt a hit from his disciple, Master Chen Zhonghua,
and the force rattled my entire skeleton. He was once the training
partner for Chen Zhaokui. In his personal letter to Mr.
Wan Wende of Shanghai, Zhaokui wrote,
"I have a senior brother, his name is Feng Zhiqiang, he is extremely
intelligent and among our brothers, his kung fu is the best."
(Houcheng, Pan, A Standard for Martial Art- The Story of Grand Master
Feng Zhiqiang, English translation can be found here:
http://hunyuantaiji.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=27)
This is an example of his excellent Taiji power:

What does Chen Style Taiji look like? I'm not sure. As you can see
from these videos, it looks like many different styles, maybe even
different martial arts, but these teachers of Taiji represent today
what the Taiji Classics texts wrote of centuries ago. I am just
beginning on my Taiji journey, and my knowledge is little compared to
my teachers and Taiji brothers. I hope this post inspires interest and
dialogue for the art I have become so passionate about.
Comments are appreciated,
Jordan

Stumble Upon Toolbar