Rare footage of Grandmaster Hong Junsheng. Li Zongqing was one of his earlier disciple and assistant. This video came from a 1980s film. It was on an occasion that they demonstrated for the governor of Shandong Province in Jinan.
Hong Junsheng and Li Zongqing Push Hands Video
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Master Chen, I was asked to teach the Chen Style Pushhands pattern again recently.
According to your advice I did avoid teaching the pattern, which I actually did learn from other teachers before I switched to practical method.
But people want to know why not doing the pattern. You mentioned that this pattern will create “bad habbits”, can you please explain a bit more?
Very likely I run into discussions, and people think that we might create bad habbits in free pushhands as well, and also people might think that free pushhands is even more difficult than doing the pattern.
This is not my personal view, I’m just describing what I’m confronted with when teaching.
To my personal feeling it seems that people in general like to stick to formal things more, and probably the most challenging part is to stick to clear principles without changing them on the one hand and to apply them freely on the other hand.
Do you have some advice here?
Thanks and all best from Berlin,
Michael
This is a problem that I also come across. The practical method is a distinctively different system for Taiji. When I lead a practice, I make the practitioners know what is correct from the perspective of the practical method. The practitioner can still do other systems but I try to point out why the practical method training offers an alternative perspective to training. Hopefully over time, the practitioner’s can choose what is appropriate for them to improve their Taiji experience. For example, I will do normal push hands but the feedback I provide will be what adjustments the practitioners can make to conform with the theories of the practical method. Specifically, the techniques of Peng, Lu, An and Ji is not due to position of the hands or the body. According to the practical method, the techniques can be interpreted as reactions due to touching different segments of the circle .
In the above video, Grand Master Hong was performing push hand with Li Zongqing. Master Li was one of Grand Master Hong’s “Best Student”. He was Hong’s teaching assistant for many years and represented Hong in many places including Japan. You would assume that externally, their performance looks like conventional Chen Style push hands but internally, the movements are according to the theories of the Practical Method.
It is extremely difficult to lead, especially when we do not yet have the experience of other Masters such as Joseph. Grandmaster Hong addresses this issue with the reminder:
Master Chen:
Thank you for sharing this rare and historic video. While it is not possible to see their internal body dynamics, it is clear that their grace, sensitivity and respect for the art are masterful. Everyone can benefit from watching this valuable video.
Matt
Does anyone know if Mr. Li Zhujun is Mr. Li Zongqing’s son? And if Mr. Li Enju is related to either of these two previous folks. Thanks. -Mike