Daqingshan Mountain Resort is a Shandoing Provincial forest park. It has a federal AA tourist designation. It is situation in the south eastern part of Shandong province. Read more

Read more

Daqingshan 2009 i

by fulltime on 2010/03/17

“Main theme was the first 21 moves of Yilu. Steve Chan from Ottawa came to assist. More info: http://practicalmethod.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/montreal-workshop-done-thank-you-2/”

[nggallery id=138]

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method Workshop, Master Chen Zhonghua in Prague 11-12 April 2009

Read more

Edmonton Class 2009 i

by admin on 2010/03/10


This is a class taught by Allan Belsheim in Edmonton in 2009.

Charlie Gordon and Alyssa Burrows came to join us today. Now it’s like a mini-Daqingshan reunion. Steve, Charlie and Nick are DQS graduates. Read more

We had 14 people at the workshop this time. Peter almost couldn’t make it. He went to Mexico on an emergency call on Thursday and was supposed to come back on Friday but go stuck in Houston. By lunch this morning, he made. What dedication! People came from Barrie and Brampton, Ontario. For the people in this province, this is not very far but still, To view an hour driving as nothing is indication of very serious commitment. Read more

3 times a year taught by Master Chen Zhonghua on Hunyuan Qigong, Silk Reeling and Foundations.
Edifice Jules-Desbiens
109, rue Wright – local 002 Gatineau (secteur Hull) – Quebec

I was born with a weak constitution and relied on martial art training for my health recovery. Later on I met Grandmaster Hong Junsheng who transmitted Practical Method to me. Over dozens of years I repeatedly practiced it and benefited from it. I did not dare to take it as my own and vowed to pass it on. Another dozen years made me realize that I did not know enough to be a master. I therefore went to study from Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang by devoting another dozen years to learning. Again, I gained a bit more knowledge and ability in taijiquan.

When I was young I believed that I was smart. Approaching the half mark in my life I realized that I was not. Taijiquan is not made for the average. It is not for smart people; slow people; light-hearted people; nor stubborn people. It is designed for those who are persistent, and focused. One must let go and be enlightened.

Daqingshan Mountain is pretty, picturesque, tranquil, and deep. It is a clear piece of land in crowded China. One can practice and meditate in between land and clouds. I chose this bit of special soil to start my teaching, to make friends with the like minded and to entertain myself. When the art is not perfect, one can continue to learn. When one is not enlightened he can seek.

The rock of Daqingshan, might be jade.

When Master Chen was at my school in April he had us explore emptiness. Emptiness in the leg from the knee downward. Emptiness in the spine from the head down through to the coccyx. It was a challenging process.
He told us that, as human beings, we do all we can not to go there as we experience this as death. This emptiness is a space before muscles get involved.
To help my students move closer to this state as best as possible I spent one evening doing Mentastics. Mentastics means mental gymnastics. It was developed by Dr. Milton Trager, a former American professional acrobatic dancer, boxer, and physician. It is a companion method to the form of massage he also created and that bears his name. To find more about him just google his name. He had a beautiful book that is only available on e-Bay or Amazon as used copies, as far as I could find out. The title is: “Movement As a Way to Agelessness: A Guide to Trager Mentastics,” 1995, 176 pp., Station Hill Press, Barrytown, N.Y., ISBN 0-88268-167-2.
With Mentastics one wants to do as little as possible. Movement is minimal and pleasant. Each time one does a movement, the goal is to do 50% less the next time around, always asking the mind to answer a question that only it would answer in its own way without any need to bring the answer to consciousness.
It goes like this: How could this be free? How could this be freer? How could this be even freer? And even freer than this freer?
Mentastics is an approach. Not a goal. A way towards a state of freedom, wellness, happiness. Towards Oneness.
We explored breathing this way, walking this way, moving our arms this way, shifting from one leg to the other, and then front and back. (In our leg shifting we wanted to stop moving just before our small tight muscles in our spines would engage, relaxing them with the help from our sensors under the soles of our feet.)
We reached a state of “hook-up,” as Trager called it. We were in the zone as others would say. Or as the calligraphy that taiji master Al Chung-liang Huang designed for The Trager Institute says in Chinese, we were a “Dancing Cloud.”
So we danced for an evening. It helped moving closer to where we do not move anymore, yet are more alive than ever. More present than presence itself. Have overcome the fear of death that stops us from being before muscles move.
We have not reached that stage yet. We have just moved closer to not moving. We now have one more tool to help us along. It worked. It laid the ground for the next step that was taken on the first Monday in June. More about this in the next issue.

Read more

Read more

Daqingshan 2007 Photos i

by admin on 2009/06/15

Some photos of Daqingshan in 2007。大青山照片 Read more

Zhan Zhuang Questions 18

by JVanko on 2008/09/01

Master Chen,

Greetings. I’m not sure if you’re interested in these things, but just in case, here are my experiences with Qigong since March 2008. Zhan Zhuang Experiences (wuji posture only) Read more

China Trip 2008 i

by Todd Elihu on 2008/08/18

This past summer Gord Muir and Master Chen Zhonghua together led an exceptional tour of China. Aside from the rejuvenating and inspirational training at the mountain resort known as Daqingshan, participants toured Beijing, Shanghai, Jinan, Weifang, Qufu, and Suzhou. Read more

These are pictures (taken by Xavier Santiago) of the 2 week full-time training with Master Chen Zhonghua in Edmonton and Vancouver.

[nggallery id=149]

Here are a few photos of the group of Stonelion Shaolin students who participated in the Introduction to Chen Taiji class on July 12 2008.

Most of the following relate to Tai Chi principles and form, but some are just general comments. All the comments below were either heard directly from Master Chen, or conveyed from another person who heard the lesson directly from him, or is based on my personal observation or experience. – Marvin Glotfelty Read more

There is a difference between being on and off.  On refers to that point where everything is aligned.  When your opponent pushes against that point there is power against the push.  Read more

Wudang Warrior, Summer, 2007, page 7

Throughout the workshop, we were exposed to concepts that are simultaneously very simple and yet infinitely complex. Read more

Fantastic photo slide show of Daqingshan in 2006! Read more

Wan He Temple i

by daqingshan on 2007/02/02

In between the Han Wang Fu and the Pagoda stood the Wan He Temple. Well, a Wan He Temple anyways, for the real one is buried right underneath what you can see now. “Wan” means ten thousand in Chinese while “He” means monk. 850 years ago the local magistrate sought to build a temple here to “subdue” the mountain. Read more

The Ascension Rock 2

by daqingshan on 2007/02/02

If you have climbed through the labyrinth of the Suo Yang Gong Caves , you might have noticed a flat rock toward the end of the climb. Legend has it that the colorful immortal Lu Dongbin (Guest of the Cave –  one of the eight immortals) meditated on this rock and finally ascended from there! Read more

Han Wang Fu is the name of the Chinese restaurant on the mountain. It is located inside the Courtyard. Han Wang refers to Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty. It is said that after losing the first rebellion against the corrupt Qin Dynasty, he went into hiding in the Daqingshan. There, he rebuilt an army that eventually gave him the power to overthrow the Qin Dynasty. Read more

2005-12-3 Winnipeg i

by webmaster2 on 2005/12/03

Roy Dawson
Date: 12/3/2005 0:00
Title: Nov. 3 and 4 Winnipeg Chen Style Taiji Workshop
Organizer: Roy Dawson
Location: Winnipeg
Comments: Master Chen finally came back to Winnipeg after more than two years. At this workshop we went back to the basics. We reviewed the positive and negative circles and did a stepping exercise.

Reviewed by Daniel Mroz

On November 26 and 27, 2005, I took part in a two-day workshop on Hong Junsheng’s Practical Method of Chen style taijiquan, offered by Mr. Chen Zhong Hua in Ottawa, Canada. The workshop was arranged by Mr. Chen’s students and attracted about a dozen participants. Read more

I’ve been involved in the martial arts for quite some time, but when I arrived in Edmonton I vowed that I’d “empty my cup” as many martial arts are told to do when they come to train with another master. 

Read more