Full Time Blog – James Strider

The 6th Daqingshan International Competition

Daqingshan Mountain from the Pagoda

The start of my stay in China coincided with the 6th International Daqingshan Competition (April 28th to 30th this year), a yearly gathering that Master Chen started to promote both Taijiquan forms (a series of choreographed movements particular to each Family style) and also to provide a stage for a large scale Push Hands (a means of practicing Taiji techniques whilst trying to unbalance your opponent) tournament.

Hundreds of competitors came from around the globe to share, compete and challenge themselves on this wonderful stage, set in the beautiful setting of Daqingshan. I personally competed in my first competitive Push Hands bout (lost it!) and performed the Yilu (first form), gaining a score of 90.3, which I was very happy with.

Having heard so much about the competition over the years it was an absolute thrill to finally be a part of it, along with international Taiji brothers and sisters from places such as Bulgaria, USA, Canada, Indonesia, Singapore, Mongolia, Australia, India and of course China. Such is the scope of Master Chen’s teachings that he has now truly crossed the globe promoting the Practical Method, both online and with his workshops, and this yearly competition is where disciples and students alike can gather together to share knowledge, test each others skills and create lifetime friendships.

After the comp I stayed on with a few others, eventually moving to the nearby city of Rizhao where the main teaching takes place outside of workshop/competition time. And this wonderful, friendly, green and coastal city will be the subject of my next post!

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