Master Chen happened to be in the studio while I was taking a break from doing yilu. I had done thirty forms that day, and I had in mind to do ten more in the hour left of class. Naturally, I was looking around for distractions before continuing. Read more
Knowledge : Articles
Hey Master Chen,
I would have posted this question on your website but it doesn’t seem to be working for me.
This is an obsevation and idea on moving and a question on if it sounds right. Read more
It is now a few weeks since my return from Daqingshan.
There are many important principles in Chen Style Taiji Practical Method. One of which is the principle of 45 Degree. I have heard Chen Zhonghua spoke of it many times since. After years of studying and discovering, I am realizing its importance. Read more
The Taoists believe that there is no right or wrong. Everything is flawless. Nothing ever changes; everything stays the same. It is only our perspective that changes. Time is always immediately present. Another way of putting it is that time expires instantaneously, and therefore it never expires. The present is called the moment because it has momentum. Still, yet moving like the river. This relates to taiji as well.
When Master Chen demonstrates push hands and he “pushes me out”, I sometimes feel subjected to an overwhelming push or pull. More often I feel subjected to a combination of a force and a strong twist. This combination seems to be even more difficult to counter act. Read more
The relation between Taiji and the Taoist concept of time is a topic which Master Chen has emphasized as extremely important, Read more
Master Chen said there are many things he can’t do which would give the impression that he is not very flexible. But, he insists, his joints are round and smooth which means he can maneuver them freely. Maneuverability is favored over looseness. If you are not stiff, you have no power. If your joints are not round you have no maneuverability.
My first experience with Chenstyle Taijiquan Practical Method: A complete new understanding of some main principles
Hello, I’m Michael from Berlin, Germany and after being on Daqingshan Mountain for 12 days I’d like to share my first experiences with the Hong Style Taijiquan. Here at the Full-Time training I met Master Chen Zhonghua for the first time in person.
After about 7 years of practice in Chen style Taijiquan Read more
Question, “What is it like to have no circles?”. The master answered, when you boil water, you will know that boiled water does not whistle. It whistles only when it is about to reach the boiling point. That’s because the water in the pot reached the same level of temperature.
If you told me I would go from Hong Kong to spend a few day in a mountain in Shandong that I had never heard of via Beijing and via train travel, I would say that you have got to be kidding. But this past October, that was what I did. Read more
by Massimo Neresini (translated d. kerr) Our Massimo Neresini with his Master Giuseppe Bon, after the trip to China of last year, went all the way to Canada to meet with Grand Master Chen Zhonghua to broaden his Chen style Taijiquan. This is a Chronicle of an absolutely exceptional voyage.
In the positive and negative circles, the thigh rotates outward in the opposite direction from the turning of the waist. This, along with tucking in the tailbone and pushing out the lower back, helps to keep the front flat so as to attain “no indentation and no protrusion”. So if the front is flat then the kua can’t fold (indentation) and the butt can’t stick out (protrusion) so the kua must only move downwards as the thigh rotates outwards for this move.
Kham Serk
This article first appeared in the May/June Issue of Brazil Tai Chi
Magazine (Revista Tai Chi Brasil), and has been translated from
Portuguese to English. Read more
From: Wilkin Ng Read more
Recently, I received a comment on my Chinese language blog that considered one of my posts “too absolute”. Here is the principle in question: Read more
This interview we conducted with Chen Zhonghua, is the prepublication version of an article which appeared in the Fall of 2005 issue of TaiChi Magazine. It is offered here as a source for future discussion and feedback, for interests of the readers. Read more
The main technical point we worked on this weekend in Maple Ridge was the three-way split. The hand can only reach out horizontally. The shoulder can only sink down vertically and the waist can only turn sideways. Each of the above must move in a way that it does a stretch. No part can move out of range. It is difficult to move the shoulder downwards when the hand is going out. The hand usually makes the shoulder go with it (horizontally). The shoulder therefore likes to go forward towards your opponent.
Wednesday night class. It’s good to see Rion in class tonight. I have not been to this class for a long time. Allan has been doing a great job teaching this class!
After they finished the foundations with the last move being the mobile version of “Wild Horse Parts Its Mane”, I gathered the classes and showed students a few tips: Read more
After they finished the foundations with the last move being the mobile version of “Wild Horse Parts Its Mane”, I gathered the classes and showed students a few tips: Read more
四月 5, 2007 — BlogEditor
Another observation I made is that pretty much everyone who has been doing taiji for sometime can tell you how taiji is supposed to be done and in most cases the things they say I don’t think are wrong but the problem I think is because everyone thinks that they are doing the concepts they talk about and that is why they are not doing them. They just think they are instead of looking at what is really going on and what is really going on is that they are not doing what they say they are doing. They are just fighting.
I think taiji should be as easy to learn as anything else because in other things you see the difference between you and an expert very easily. In taiji you see the difference between beginner and expert. In push hands so many people claim to be experts but they won’t push with you. If someone were to claim to be an expert hockey player and they can’t even skate everyone would know right away they are a fraud.
Basically Master Chen I have been thinking a lot and the more I think the more everything fits into my logic, and my logic is based off of what I see and to be true and in short the way I see it is almost everything is backwards.
四月 5, 2007 — BlogEditor
Another thing is that everything not just taiji seems to be that you allow each thing to do its part and that is how something greater can be achieved.
I remember on the mountain you said the manager was worried about November and you told her that if she took care of today everything would take care of itself. It always seems that if you want something then you have do the opposite. Like if you want something to take no thought then you have to give it a lot of thinking first.
Master Chen this email is my thoughts on taiji and other things you have taught me and the reason I am sending this is because I think I am right and now that I think that I can only see how I am right so the true purpose of this email is to find out where I am wrong so any response will be apprieciated, and please hold nothing back.
First in practicing pushhands I realized what I do is nothing like the form or anything close to that. In fact what I do is more like the opposite. The way I saw this was if I stop in the middle of pushing with John or trying a move and then with him away I recreate the same feeling and intent I had when i was pushing him it is as if I don’t even know how to move. What happens is that my whole body is actually going upwards and even my heels the only things that are not going anywhere are my feet and the spot I was touching him.
This reminded me of how you say that it is about how fast your feet are. When I push my feet are as slow as possible. So in reality all my effort just comes back to me and my opponent does the same thing so it is who is stronger and we are both rediculously weak. I thought up an analagy.
A rocket ship needs a tremendous amount of force to move because what is pushes on moves so easily, pushing on air a rocket ship has to move enough air until the amount of air pushing it is so great that the rocket moves but a gun is much more effient because of the material and the structure. It is natures way that everything finds the easiest path. So the gun is made so that the easiest place the explosion has to go is through the barrel and the only thing in the way is the bullet. The air moves so easily that is why rocket has so much trouble moving. So I realized if you want to move then you need something that won’t budge and if you don’t want to move you need something to move.This concept seems to me as the same thing as laying the tracks. The form is a restriction and until it is no longer a restriction we can’t use it, and the truth, is the way i see it is, that the form or proper way to move is actually freedom and that the way I move right now is the restriction. Horizontal movement versus vertical movement. The best way to move is a straight line because it transfers instantly. But we are not straight lines however Hong said seek the straight through the curve so it can be done.
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
What is an Effective Teacher?
by Jan Fisher
You hear a lot these days about the effective teacher. It is the subject of many books and countless journal articles. Television documentaries and radio talk shows bounce the topic around with great frequency.
The Washington Post has headlines on a regular basis proclaiming they have the secret to what makes an effective teacher. So does the Los Angeles Times. And, ASCD sells a set of video tapes entitled, “The Effective Teacher.” With the exception of the latter, none of these who write or talk about effective teachers are teachers. They had teachers, of course, in their own lives and, sometimes, they have children who have teachers. Some even have children who are teachers, but these are few and far between. Most do not have a relationship that close. But, hey, whoever said you had to know anything about a topic to talk about it? And, I had to admit it was a subject of some interest. I wanted to find out the answer—just what is an effective teacher anyway?
I carefully read and listened to all the above sources but an answer to the question was not forthcoming. Everyone had a different idea. Lots of attributes of effective teachers were discussed, but I never heard the same attribute mentioned more than once. There certainly was no agreement on this issue—at least 500 different qualities of effective teachers have been mentioned just in this last year! No one seems to actually know. I decided to approach teachers—real teachers—with the question. Guess what? They don’t know, either. They’d never thought about it, so they said. Well, neither had I, but I decided that maybe it was time. Seems to me, this topic needs to be nailed down. Just what is an effective teacher? What are their characteristics? I started a list. I have 14, so far. See what you think.
- The effective teacher is efficacious. She believes she has a direct impact on the students. What she does in terms of teaching has an effect in terms of student learning. The effective teacher definitely makes a difference—and she knows it!
- The effective teacher assumes responsibility for the learning and behavior of her students. She does not blame the school, the parents, the principal, or last year’s teacher. The effective teacher knows she has the power to effect change—now!
- The effective teacher believes that all students can learn. She teaches, always, with that in mind.
- The effective teacher makes decisions based on a sound knowledge/research base. Interventions and initiatives are always selected from research on best practices and they are applied with appropriate modifications based on knowledge of the students she teaches. The effective teacher is the decision-maker, but those decisions are informed by the professional knowledge base.
- The effective teacher demonstrates a deep understanding of both content and pedagogy.
- The effective teacher designs and implements coherent instruction that meets the needs of all students.
- The effective teacher assesses continually and uses the results of that assessment to inform instruction. The effective teacher knows, without a doubt, that data matters.
- The effective teacher is committed to the development of self-control and autonomy in her students. Her goal is to become obsolete in the lives of the kids she teaches!
- The effective teacher engages all students in learning. She makes learning relevant and meaningful.
- The effective teacher is reflective about her teaching and designs a systematic professional growth plan that is implemented on a continuous and ongoing basis.
- The effective teacher fulfills all professional responsibilities to students, to parents, to colleagues, to her administrators, to her school, and to her community. She makes significant and regular contributions to her district and to her profession.
- The effective teacher realizes she is not an independent contractor, but rather is a member of a learning organization and works always to move that organization ahead. The effective teacher assumes responsibility for the learning of all the students in her school, not just those in her classroom.
- The effective teacher is collaborative with all staff members and assumes the responsibility for the learning of every other teacher. An effective teacher knows she cannot be successful unless every teacher is successful.
- The effective teacher maintains balance between her professional and personal lives.
My list is not intended to be either exhaustive or conclusive. But, it is a beginning. Will it change? Absolutely. As I learn more about teaching, the list will need to be updated. I see it as a perpetual first draft. But, if I ever expect to be effective at this thing called teaching, I’d better start figuring out what the heck I am supposed to do!
Originally written by: Chen Zhonghua and Ian Macrae
Based on Ian Macrae’s
Notes from the April 12th & 13th, 2008,
Workshop at Thornhill Hall, Maple Ridge Read more
Taijiquan as self defense can be ruthless and lethal. The fighting method of Taijiquan is called Zhan Shou (Cut Hand). Read more
This is a detailed list of the classification of moves of the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method forms of Yilu and Cannon Fist. Hong Junsheng’s Taijiquan Practical Method Movement Classifications: Read more
Wuwei
Wuwei is “none doing”. It is a concept that sometimes in life the action required is “not to do anything”. This is very different from don’t do anything in a normal sense. This concept is stressed very heavily in the Daoist philosophy because the Daoists perceive a reality that has both action and non action together.
This is not a Chinese concept alone. For example, in English we say “No news is good news”. We also say that if the opponent does not say no, that can be construed as acquiescence.
Daoists believe that Wuwei should be at least half of our actions. This is a very difficult task to achieve.
The famed Zheng Banqiao (one of the Seven Poets of the Bamboo Forest) wrote:
It’s difficult to have a clear mind
It’s not easy to be confused
It’s even harder to transform from clarity to the state of confusion.
He wrote this at an era of no hope for the people. Indeed in his time, the learned would be able to live in peace if only they could voluntarily go into a state of drunkenness or confusion. The relevancy of this point in terms of our pursuit of Taijiquan is that there is a time for clarity and there is a time for confusion.
This reminds me of what Hong told me and many of his students:
Those who are smart cannot learn this art
Because they think they can understand it
Those who are mentally retarded cannot learn it
Because they CANNOT understand it
Only those who have the mental capacity to understand
But fail to see the point
Will one day get it
Through persistant
“Don’t Move Your Hands!”
Contrary to what most believe, the hand in most cases move too much. Everybody wants to learn how to move the hand. In fact, they should learn how NOT to move it! Read more
On Daqingshan in January of 2007 you descibed the example where the positive circle was Yang (to attack) and the negative circle was Yin (to adhere). You talked about the effect on an opponent when you would turn your negative circle into a positive circle. If the other person was attacking and you were using the Yin (to adhere) and suddenly you changed to a positve circle at just the right moment, this would send an impact into your opponent. You also explained that the quicker the change (the turning of the joint), the more power that would be generated. The part that really got my attention was when you explained that the Taiji theory stated that if the change from Yin to Yang could be done instantaneously, then there would be infinite power generated at the ‘Turning of the Joint’ contact point.
Please let me start my comparison of the Western science to Taiji with the subject of the contact point or the one dot where the two players hands meet. I want to refer to this link to show the relevance of the impulse function and the contact point:
This article starts out by saying “In engineering, we often deal with the idea of an action occurring at a point. Whether it be a force at a point in space or a signal at a point in time, it becomes worth while to develop some way of quantitatively defining this.”
The rectangle on the graph says that as we shorten the time (of the ‘Turning of the Joint’ ) on the X-Axis, we get a corresponding increase in the power (the magnitude of the response) on the Y-Axis. One key point here is that the area of the rectangle (which in our case whould be the total power that you used at the ‘Turning of the Joint’ ) is the same, whether you did the move slowly or extremely fast (an Impulse). If you compress the time that it takes to expel that energy into your opponent, the force (power) is stronger (over that time interval). Here is another links that shows the idea of the same area (power) at different time intervals and how the height increases as the time gets shorter:
These equations are only models and models were created to attempt to describe the natural world. Taiji is real, so the models can only be approximations of the amazing complexities of Taiji. I was, however, impressed by the similarities. Also, in Taiji, it could be the attacking person that supplies the power (area of the rectangle) and the defender’s ‘Turning of the Joint’ that turns the power back on the attacker. Here again, we are still talking about that ‘point’ where it goes from Yin to Yang. (I suppose in reality that there is some power from both people and never just from one person)
Mathematical theory is not particularly exciting unless I can relate it to something real (like Taiji), so for me, this comparison was very interesting. I hope this had some appeal for you too!
Thanks,
Gene
Mind-intent is one of the most important ideas in Chen Style Taijiquan learning and practice. It is also one of the most confusing concepts. Let’s take a look at this concept from a simple point of view to facilitate learning.
- The learning of Taijiquan requires that the student have correct mind-intent because Taiji is an internal martial art.
- Mind-intent is to know what you are doing.
- There are many levels of “to know what you are doing”.
- The first level is to simply copy the choreography correctly. In this sense, to know the choreography is to know the meaning. Nothing else should be involved. At this stage avoid this question: What is this move for? Instead ask, “How did you do that?” “Show me how?”
- The second level is to know what you are doing in terms of energy circulation in your own body.
- The third level is to know what you are doing in terms of how your body interacts with your opponent’s body.
- The fourth level is to know what you are doing in terms of how to always make your body the lever and your opponent’s body the load (as in a leverage).
- The fifth level is to accomplish the above naturally. This means that the above scenario will be the case no matter what.
- Mind-intent is not what you think that it should be. It is what the situation requires.
- Mind-intent is not a skill. It is not something you can learn. It is a result. It is like saying that when you walk, your mind is directing it. Therefore, the real mind-intent in walking cannot be felt or known. In most cases, when someone is conscious of an action, it usually mean there is a problem with that action. In this sense, we say, “The real intent is when there is no intent.”
- It is nice to know about this concept but if you focus on it, you are guaranteed to be lost.
Xian (1) Ru (4) Wei (2) Zhu (3) 先入为主
Xian: first, early, before
Ru: enter
Wei: become, be
Zhu: host, master
“One who enters first is the host”. The second part of this idiom is “He who enters later is the guest.” This is a special type of idiom in Chinese. It is called “Xie Hou Yu”. In using it, the speaker leaves out the conclusion. The listener has to fill the gap. This is a clever play of language, however, it also causes confusion or problems when the listener does not have the necessary knowledge to complete the whole idea.
When Richard Nixon went to Beijing to pay an official visit to Chairman Mao in 1972, Mao started the conversation by saying that he was an old monk holding a broken umbrela. The unspoken conclusion of the idiom is “No hair, no sky.” The meaning of the unspoken part is, “For me, I am above all laws, even God.” Nixon’s interpreter did not know this particular idiom. He made a mistake by interpreting the Chairman’s idiom into “I am humbled to meet you.” This small error in interpretation made history.
Other examples of Xie Hou Yu.
- Hit the dog with meatball buns. (You won’t get it back).
- Clay Buddha crossing the river. (You cannot even protect yourself!).
- Bamboo basket fetching water. (You will get nothing).
Let’s go to the second part of this lesson: the relevancy of this idiom to Taiji.
In learning, whatever is introduced to you first becomes the standard for your subsequent learning. This is a nasty and stubborn problem for everyone. The proper learning process should/must involve learning new things and eliminating previous mistakes. This is the ideal situation but in reality, it does not work like that. Xie Ru Wei Zhu is the dominant method of learning. It is the default learning mode. This mode actually overrides the ideal scenario of learning and the elimination of mistakes. Fist of all, when the wrong thing is set as the standard, you won’t learn anything correctly. Secondly, you won’t have the ability to find out the mistakes to eliminate them.
Now you realize that whether you are right or wrong is largely a toss up.
What do we do from here? How can we get rid of this pesty Xian Ru Wei Zhu?
Grandmaster Hong Junsheng offered a few advice:
- Follow the real transmission.
- Do not trust/believe yourself.
- Subject everything to simply tests.
Transmission has to be directly from one person to another. Simple and straight forward. It cannot be that there are one million justifications but no transmission. What should we look for in a transmission? 1. Did the two people in question meet? How long were they together? Were there others present? Is the choreography identical? Are there others in the class who also have identical choreography?
Taijiquan is a physical science. It is not a belief system. Do not trust yourself. Use physical measurements and objective standards. Do not trust your instinct. Do not go with the flow.
Use simple tests. Do not devise complicated tests that involve too many parameters. Many of the parameters are falsely established. Many of the “Taiji Principles” in classics are simply erroneous. For example, the story of Chen Fake’s learning grew from 10 yilus a day to 20 a day, then 40 a day and eventually 100 times a day. Some even claimed that he did Yilu and Cannon Fist a hundred times a day! People quoted these unfounded claims exactly the same way gossip is spread in tabloid papers! I asked Todd Elihu, John Dahms, Dave Dahms and others to complete 100 yilus in a day. They started at 4:30 in the morning and went till past 9:30 at night. They had prepared food ahead of time to save time and did not take lengthy breaks. They were able to do 100, 104 and 110 respectively.
Just imagine that. It is certain that Chen Fake did not practice from 4:30 in the morning till 9:30 at night each day for many years!
LET GO of the precepts, principles, habits, ideals, beliefs and techiques you hold to be dear! Embrace the simple practical method. You will see yourself improve quantumly.
One of the more remarkable things about studying taijiquan is how learning a new concept changes your whole approach to how one practices the form. Read more
