After having 11 very good and intense days together with Master Chen Zhongua, my friend Hendrik Brück and Pavel Codl I finally arrived back home in Berlin.
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Pavel Codl, Michael Winkler, Henrik Bruck and I drove from Freising, Germany to Valdagno, Italy in April to my Italian Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method workshop. Here are some photos of the trip and activities in Italy outside of the workshop. The workshop was sponsored by Master Bon and Massimo. Read more
Thank you Michael Winkler, Henrik Bruck, Pavel Codl for making my stay in Munich so pleasant.
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf0DNMElas8
“Am I creating all this cold weather or am I just following the cold weather in the world?” was the topic of discussion over supper last night in Helsinki. Apparently people have been following my travels this year of the snow storms in New York, Arkansas, Daqingshan, etc. Read more
To know the history of a people, one needs to see the museums. Tomi took me to the Finnish National Museum yesterday.
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It is Iceland after all. It snowed early in the morning again. I had a walking tour of the city during the warmer lunch hours. Here are some photos.
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Got in at 9:00 am. On the first tour in the afternoon.
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A clip from the Ireland 2010 workshop. Observe closely how Master Chen legs are always part of each move.
“Distance & Length generate power of the stick” Master Chen made it look easy. Through many years training, all his body parts can work together.
I had to make an emergency visit to Daqingshan. True to my tradition this year, I brought cold whether. Daqingshan had an ice and snow storm. Read more
Photo of porcelain from Longquan, Zhejiang, China
With Mr. Shen Peixin, THE sword maker in China!Longquan is about 4 hours south west of Hangzhou. I managed to fly to Hangzhou via Beijing on Feb. 26, 2011 after my flight from Vancouver. After spending the morning in Hangzhou, my friend Zhao and I started our drive to Longquan. As I do not have a driver’s license in China, the burden of driving fell squarely on Zhao. Read more
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Hangzhou stop-over on my way to Longquan.
Vancouver tonight. Dinner and practice. Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method in the park in Vancouver.
I am going to Longquan to source some nice custom-made swords. I will make some for Daqingshan and some for my school in Canada. Any one with suggestions? I decided to make a whole bunch because the swords they make are getting really high quality now.
I am going to Longquan to source some nice custom-made swords. I will make some for Daqingshan and some for my school in Canada. Any one with suggestions? I decided to make a whole bunch because the swords they make are getting really high quality now.
I treasure every learning opportunity if I go to see Master Chen or he comes to stay with me (in Phoenix, Arizona). Unfortunately, I am such a slow learner, I won’t get sudden enlightenment. My goal of attending workshops is to learn one thing at a time. Read more
Thanks, Raul and Veronica for taking us to Cindy’s after the workshop. It was a beautiful dinner in old San Juan!
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It’s nice to be back in San Juan, especially after a horrendous snow storm in Arkansas! It was only hours ago that Richard Johnson and I were cold getting in and out of his van. Now I am in the hot sun of Puerto Rico! Good to see Todd Elihu who came from Athens, GA to join us. Raul Pujol and Xavier Santiago both came to the airport to pick us up. I am grateful. Here are photos of our walk this afternoon. After that, Raul and Todd both showed me their Yilus in Raul’s living room. Great progress, both of them! Read more
Sitting in the airport in Charlotte, NC enroute to San Juan, PR. Free internet here too! It's getting warmer and warmer. We had no water this morning in Little Rock as the pipes were frozen in the airport. Even the washrooms on the plane were closed. Some Yilus in the warm old San Juan this evening will be good!
Fill it in, then add one.
- Get in – Loose – get into position, set it up, dissipate the opponent’s force. Two ways: Receive (a push from) the opponent. OR, Move into the opponent without pushing. (large circle) Read more
Last year, I was stuck in Helsinki, Finland. A heroic trekking trip took me over 3 days to travel from Helsinki to Italy via many cities in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Czech Republic, and Austria. It was my disciple Pavel Codl who rescued me in Europe. This year, I am stuck in Bentonville, AR., USA on my way to sunny and warm San Juan, Puerto Rico. My disciple Richard Johnson drove me to the airport only to find it closed. It took two hours for something that should be done in 2 minutes over the phone. I guess no airports or airline can be trusted in times of snow storm. Thanks Richard! Here are some photos I took along the way.
Four Points in Actions:
- Establish 2 Points. These are objects.
- Find/decide or establish a central dot that does not move. This is called the demarcation or demarcation line.
- Action must be on a line. Same as 1 but this point stresses the movements, not objects.
- The actions must be on a line, moving in opposite directions.
Old analogies – Taiji is like a rolling log (in water).
Theory Method
Back silk knot Silk reeling Read more
Some photos of the first two days of the workshop. Read more
Saturday PM session
Practiced first 13 movements of the Yilu
“Pole dancing”
Use pole to practice getting on the line. Practice with pole against arch of far (rear) foot slanted diagonally and against wall horizontally.
(Most of this session was spent in hands-on practice, so not many notes.)
Shifu Chen asked me to post my notes, unedited, to our web site. This is not because I am such a great note taker, but it is part of transmitting the knowledge of Taijiquan. Read more
http://www.silveryhat.com/learn-to-learn/#more-462
I remembered Master Chen telling us similar stories.
This is the wushu demonstration put on by the Zitongshan Martial Arts Academy for Daqingshan International Taiji Training Center students. After the demonstration, Zitongshan students also exchanged and demonstrated taiji.
