Knowledge : Workshop and Class Notes

Last Summer at the North American Practical Method Training camp, we had Nathan and Andrew from Texas attend.  They didn’t have any training in Chen Style Taiji Practical Method, though were experienced martial artists. After the camp, they asked if Levi and I would come to Texas to put on a workshop and they would host us. Last week Levi and I, along with Nathan Lothimer from Iowa, drove from Iowa to Fort Worth Texas.  Our disciple brother Jeff Clevenger from Houston TX attended as well.  We left a day early as a snowstorm was rolling in.

We used the foundations and the first 13 postures as the template to introduce more complex elements to be integrated into the form. Levi first taught the foundations of twisting the towel, fetching water, six ceiling four closing, positive circle, and negative circle. Following that, I taught the first 13 postures. We did the forms several times. We worked on suspended head, creating a central vertical line, filling the kua, aim, and push hands concepts.

The second day, we reviewed material from the first day. We taught two more sections of the yilu. Levi corrected participant’s form. We then transitioned into teaching push hands concepts. This included using lines, creating a wall, getting in and using ji, and matching.

This was a very eager group to teach, and much material was covered. We plan to see them at the North American Practical Method Training camp, as well as in November, when we return to Texas to teach.