Master Chen Zhonghua’s 28th Daqingshan Seminar on Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method and Hunyuan Taiji was held from August 11th to 17th, 2018.
Over two hundred students participated at this event. They came from Indonesia, Portugal, and all over China. The youngest participant was 6 years old and oldest was 80 years of age.
28th Daqingshan Seminar. Master Chen Zhonghua teaches a concept each morning during the early morning session at the Taiji Square on Daqinshan.
28th Daqinshan Seminar Group Photo with Pang Chaoli
28th Daqingshan Seminar Group photo with Ling Ziming
Precision is a word consistently used in Practical Method Taijiquan. But what does that mean in terms of practice? One aspect during Yilu is to not only complete the movement, but to know exactly where that move is aiming towards (which is why knowledge of applications is important). It is not enough to repeat the move, but to understand the energy alignment and aim. As our training continues to develop, and we become more aware of additional body parts (ie: to become aware of the elbow, become aware of the hip, etc.), we are able to aim more pieces towards the same objective – making the move more effective as each body part compounds power on the next.
That same exactness and consciousness of movement is required during push hands. When the foot is being moved, it’s not being moved forward or backwards, but to a very specific spot. The practitioner needs to be aware of exactly where that foot needs to be for that situation, and move it there with purpose.
Every interaction needs to move towards a goal. Too often we push to get a feeling of the other person, to practice getting in a favourable position, waiting for the opponent to make a mistake to capitalize on, etc. This is following our own familiar pattern. Within taijiquan we must be able to change the energy of the interaction without changing the shape.
Efficiency of movement is not changing the position/contact points in order to get into a place that is familiar to us. Rather, it is often to be able to capitalize on the position you are already in. Become comfortable despite being in an awkward position. You have to be able to let go of your ideas on what is a bad position in order to achieve a certain objective. It is often when we feel our body is uncomfortable that our body fights back, getting in our own way of being able to do what we need to do. The mind needs to let go first, train, and the body will follow.
http://practicalmethod.com/2010/05/yilu-detailed-applications-1-online-video-trailer/
For the second consecutive year the North American Practical Method Training Camp was held at Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This seventy acre retreat, located in a mainly residential section of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, provided a relaxed and private location for training. While the center is an outreach ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration it is an informal center with an emphasis on ecology and the many varieties of spirituality. It is easy to mistake the sisters for the volunteers working in the garden or helping maintain the grounds. One of the sisters, who is 80 years old and teaches Tai Chi Chih, a form of Qigong, can often be seen driving a tractor on the grounds. She took a break from her work to watch a group of us practice the First 13. Another sister told me she was happy to see our large, primarily, but not entirely, male group stay at their center, because we provided a different type of energy than is usually found there. My point in mentioning this is to suggest that the folks at Prairiewoods appeared to have enjoyed us being there
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2017 Difficulty:1/5
Master Chen’s disciple Ping Wei will again conduct Irvine 1-day workshop. This time Ping will share with us his new understanding on “not-moving” and his lesson plan for his community college teaching. He will also revisit Foundations, more details on First 13 moves and beyond. First timers, beginners are all welcome.
Registration for the workshop is required for all newcomers; the deadline is 9/14/2018. Since Winston will be out of the country next few weeks, Al Yu will be the contact person for this workshop and Winston will still be back in time for the workshop.
In the interim, please direct all inquires to Al Yu at (cell) 949-331-2735, or via email: mralyu@yahoo.com.
