Knowledge : Taiji FAQ
Question and Answer part two of the Chen Zhonghua Sept. 2019 Toronto Practical Method Workshop.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2019 Difficulty:1/5 At:Toronto
Question and Answer session at the Sept. 2019 Chen Zhonghua Toronto Practical Method Workshop.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2019 Difficulty:1/5 At:Toronto
We are collecting people’s impressions of Master Chen’s ability in the format of a short and concise description. Is there anything that shocks you when you met him for the first time? Please add your own impression as a comment below. The following are a few examples:
Wall – Kelvin Ho
Spear that pokes at you – Kelvin Ho
Body is different from a normal person – Kelvin Ho
Able to move individual body part – Kelvin Ho Read more
Who is a true disciple?
A true disciple is someone who follows the teacher based on the principles of the teachings. When the teacher evolves in his understanding, a true disciple will do the same. Even if the teacher and the true disciple don’t see each other for an extended period of time, their evolutions will still head in the same direction.
Principle: Separation of Yin and Yang
Concept: Indirect Power
Action: In with elbow no hand, out with hand no elbow.
These are three ways of describing taiji. They are one and the same.
Master Chen Zhonghua discussed the above during a Q&A session at the North American Practical Method Training Camp from Jul 29 to Aug 2, 2017.
Hello Master Chen
I have a question about kua, shoulder and shun/ni.
My question is when you are doing say, cloud hands. You show this on one of your videos here called How To Keep The Center from 3.25. You are on left leg and kua opens on left side and the left hand looks like Ni. Does this mean that the kua opening always coincides with Ni chan and closing of kua is shun chan.
Also in one of your videos I remember you say that when hip opens then same side shoulder kua closes and vice versa. What does this mean exactly with the shoulder kua closing or opening. Does opening of shouldre kua mean that shoulder is not sunk and closed shoulder kua means shoulder is not sunk?
Thanks
Becka
Video in Chinese: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjkwODU2OTE2.html
Notes:
- Master Chen when answering the question focused on Practical Method itself, and left it to the audience to do the comparison, as he couldn’t represent the other art.
- Practical Method’s core is rotation. Spiral and silk reeling is rotation plus distance.
- We can never do true rotation. It’s impossible for us to do 360 degree rotation. We can perform a lever action. A lever action is a part of a rotation.
- Form training is to create levers in our bodies.
- Grandmaster Hong Junsheng has the 10-word saying “Out with hand no elbow, in with elbow no hand”. Lin Ketong calls it 10-word mantra.
- This mantra actually describes the lever action.
Questions students prepared for the June 2016 Chen Zhonghua Berlin Workshop.
Athanasios Alexatos
Master Chen can you show us and tell us a few things about the 8 energys in practical method ?
The answer is NO!
It looks like wrestling. It looks like wrestling. It looks like wrestling. Read more
In recent years, taiji has been (in China because of the demonstration at the 2008 Olympic Games Opening ceremony) described as moving clouds and running water. 行云流水。 Read more
Hi guys, after the workshop with Chen Zhonghua in Berlin – which was fantastic – I`m planning my training schedule. A minimum to do every – EVERY – day! Read more
Originally published in 2007
We are masters of tools and in return, tools also control us. Through years of teaching in North America, I came to the conclusion that weapons and device training must be started at the begining, not at the end. Read more
Xu (1)虚: Empty.
Shi (2) 实: Solid.
One is empty while the other one must be solid. Taijiquan is the art of Empty rooted in the Solid and vice versa.
Empty and Solid must be equal. Use the feet as an example. One cannot stand on one foot and then the other. One must be on both feet at all times. But one foot is used to work while the other is used to support.
This is the overall way of action in Taijiquan.
Taijiquan practice requires that the body must possess five bows in order to have power. There are different versions of what the five bows are. In the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method system the five bows are defined as:
- Hand to Hand.
- Foot to foot.
- Hand to foot (set one).
- Foot to hand (set two).
- Torso.
Dear master Chen,
If I listened correctly you don’t move but rotate to change angles. I have a question about the positive circle. In the first half if you lead with the elbow it seems the angle in the elbow gets sharper. Is that a move or does that happen through rotation? As far as know a rotation isn’t considered a movement. Also what happens when you keep “pushing” the elbow in the line of the shoulder and hand to create power? It look likes the elbow is dropping away from the line which should make the structure weak. I can’t seem to unite these directions although I think I understand them separately.
Greetings,
Richard
Hi there Master Chen, these past days i’ve had the same question everyday, been trying to find an answer, looked over the old videos, but didnt really help. Read more
