Online Classes

Presenter: Chen Zhonghua   Length: 58 min.   In: English   Year: 2020  Difficulty:3/5  At:Edmonmton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy 加拿大埃德蒙顿陈中华太极馆

Today everyone practiced some moves and Master Chen gave corrections.

– Three Hats.
Top hat is on top of the head. Imagine weighing 20 pounds so the neck will have to be stiff and straight. When you push up, it is too heavy, the body is actually pushed down. Read more

Presenter: Chen Zhonghua   Length: 72 min.   In: English   Year: 2020  Difficulty:3/5  At:Edmonmton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy 加拿大埃德蒙顿陈中华太极馆

-Kelvin reviewed the details of Buddha’s warrior attendant pounds the mortar, here is some of the key points.
1. Mid fingers in line with the center of the chest. Read more

Presenter: Kelvin Ho   Length: 63 min.   In: English   Year: 2020  Difficulty:1/5  At:Toronto

Chinese Class

Open the knee

A student asks about how to open the knee.  Master Chen Zhonghua said the idea of opening was very simple. However being to able to do it requires many other simple things to be put together. There are so many that we are unable to do them, and we simply give up. Read more

A few corrections and a bit of theory on Practical Method.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua   Length: 75 min.   In: English   Year: 2020  Difficulty:1/5  At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy

– Punch to the Ground. Before Chen Fake time, it was called 栽捶（zai chui）, means plant the hammer. It was changed to hit/punch later on.

– Kick with the Heels. There are three lines. The vertical line from the head to the standing heel. The line between two hands. And the line from the two kuas to the kicking heel. All three lines need to be fully stretched out, where there is a pause and it is a fixed posture. If you cannot fully stretch, at least make a stop. For older people it is more important to train the balance and stability. Read more

Presenter: Chen Zhonghua   Length: 74 min.   In: English   Year: 2020  Difficulty:3/5  At:Edmonton Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy

– Once you learn the choreography, your ability is highly dependent on the rhythm.

– Whenever you are doing a true rotation, there is no backward moves. It is like you are pushing a wheel barrel 45 degree up the hill. Every time you stop, you have to put a wedge to jam the wheel. So you can keep going. Whenever you let go or go back, you will roll down the hill. Example is Cloud Hands. You advance, jam and then advance and jam. We use the elbow to jam so the hand is free to do the next move.
My understanding is the jam is the anchor, every move there is an anchoring point. Elbow and kua are used to anchor. In this way you can keep coiling and never lose the power. It is like you have an anti-reversing lock. https://www.shiyongquanfa.cn/archives/118607
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Presenter: Kelvin Ho   Length: 54 min.   In: English   Year: 2020  Difficulty:1/5  At:Toronto Chen Zhonghua Academy

– Positive Circle.
There are three sections. In each section, the lead needs to be clear. 1. In with elbow. Once the arm is in position, it does not move anymore. 2. Turn with the kua/waist. Only rotate the shoulder-kua line, do not move the arm on its own. Shoulder need stay in position without any displacement, no popping, no swaying sideways. 3. Out with hand. The power is on the back foot/kua. The kicking of the back foot into the ground propels the rest part of the body to go forward. Get onto your tippy toes to push, there will be a stretch through the inner thigh. The torso opens up. Read more

No lifting – Don’t carry weight in your hand when moving.

When the hand is moving, it is inefficient.

Turn every push into a pull

• If we push with the hand, that is a push.
• If we use the elbow to pull the hand, that is a pull.
• The demarcation is how we consider if the elbow is behind the hand (push) or in front of the hand (pull). Read more

Rhythm/Sequence of movements

We need modify our bahaviour to cause a real change.
In-with-elbow must cause out-with-hand.  Withdraw is to issue.
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– Front trick and rear trick.
When you have movement, you have no power. Fight without movements. Arms are placed in position and locked. The waist causes horizontal movements and the knees cause up and down movements. Power from the waist and the feet.
The middle does not move, so the arms are powered by (react with) the back foot kicking into the ground. Same as the power points of White Crane Spreads Its Wings. Read more

– Clarity. At the beginning we learn the moves like following a printed instructional book. So we only learn the fixed posture, and the transition does not matter. This is called to trace the movements. No flow and as big as possible. Each move we pause like someone is taking a picture of your posture. Through years of practice the flow comes, without losing the frame.

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– First Cloud Hands. 1.Three counts. Follow the steps and procedure. 2. First count, in with elbow need to be very clear. 3. On the second count, open the front kua and turn with the waist. Do it big. 3. On the second count, lock the kua and two knees, only rotate. 4. On the third count, only back kua folds, pivoting on the front kua. 5. Open the front kua – Lock the front kua – Squeeze the back kua to the front kua. Master Chen used first form Pound the Mortar as example to explain how the front kua locked can create power. The sixth move, center of chest is locked, only step up from the kua.

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– Levels. On level one, we learn the choreography. On level two, we coordinate the moves. On level three, we learn the energy alignment and are able to manipulate.
If you are in level three, all the moves are from the core, the baihui to huiyin vertical line. Everything else is passive, they only adjust. It is the vertical line ties everything together. You can train exaggerating the moves of the torso, without compromising the structure.

– Moves go bigger so all the corners are open.
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