Knowledge : Workshop and Class Notes

Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on Sep 30, 2020 – Kelvin Ho i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/09/30

Master Chen started today’s class with a story and a method people used to remember things precisely.

The story was about how the Secretary was corrected by an old person on the details of an event. The Secretary referred his speech to a document. However, it turned out that the document was incorrect, and the audio recording had the truth as pointed out by the old person. In today’s society, we rely on a lot of documents instead of trying to remember things in our heads. If the documents were actually recorded in correctly, we would have the facts incorrect.
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Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on Sep 29, 2020 – Kelvin Ho i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/09/30

Chinese Class

Master Chen Zhonghua introduced Wild Horse Parts Its Mane as a foundation exercise. If space is available, we can do it as a line drill.
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Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on Sep 28, 2020 – Kelvin Ho i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/09/30

We started with the various foundations. Master Chen Zhonghua mentioned that we must be able to copy the external shape first, e.g. he must be able to recognize which foundation we were attempting to do. If we were doing the yilu, others must recognize that we were doing a Chen Style Yilu, and then a Practical Method Yilu.
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Intention or mind intent, a 4 paragraph monograph (bad pun) i

by Doug Gauld on 2020/09/27

…during the Sept 23 Zoom class GM got that gleam in his eye, we’ve all come to know, “Little sparrow wags its tail…” and he went on to share a story about developing the skill of intention and about the skill of not telegraphing intent through micro-level somatic signals…

Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on Sep 24, 2020 – Kelvin Ho i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/09/24

Several students’ yilu were corrected today:
Sooyeon，Carlotta，Raymond，Karen，Gerry

Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on Sep 22, 2020 – Kelvin Ho i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/09/22

“Make it real” Series

Exercise 1

Open the kua to cause a horizontal rotation. Lock the top by using one hand to the hold the wrist on the other side. Stretch the fingers. Where the middle finger is pointing at changes as the rotation caused by the kua happens.

Open the right kua to turn left.

Open the left kua to turn right.

Don’t let the left knee point down when opening the left kua.
Read more

Master Chen Zhonghua Online Lesson on Sep 21, 2020 – Kelvin Ho i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/09/21

We started with double positive circle.

We used a rubber cord to tie to elbow to the waist, so that the elbow does not move by itself.
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Yilu Notes – Master Chen Zhonghua Online Zoom Lesson Wed 16 Sep 2020 – Brian Chung i

by Brian Chung on 2020/09/16

Today, Master Chen provided partial Yilu corrections for the following students: Read more

Master Chen’s Online Lesson on Sep 10, 2020 – Kelvin Ho 1

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/09/10

Today, Master Chen corrected the following students’ partial yilu:

Karen Mattox
Gerry Gebhart
Albert Chung

Single Whip

Master Chen used the foot shovelling out in single whip as an example to talk about the concept of using a stick to pry open something. We shove the stick into a crack, then the front end of the stick cannot move anymore and stays in the same place. We can then make the crack bigger by prying with the stick. The key is that the one of the stick is not moving. As we pry, we may meet resistence, we can add a longitudinal rotation as we pry, it will allow the stick to go over the resistence. Regarding the single whip, we want to make sure that the toes do not point up as we shovel so that we can apply the longitudinal rotation on the entire left leg. As we shovel the left foot, the weight must stay on the right foot. As we shift over to half horse stance, the longitudinal rotation on the left leg occurs at the same time. Read more

Master Chen’s Online Lesson on Sep 8, 2020 – Kelvin Ho 2

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/09/08

Six Sealing Four Closing 六封四闭

Grandmaster Hong Junsheng studied the names of each move. He looked into the origin of these names, and how the pronounciation might have changed when the information was passed down based on the dialect of the region. The dialects in China can be so different that people from one region might not understand people from another region at all.
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Master Chen’s Online Lesson on Sep 3, 2020 – Kelvin Ho 1

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/09/03

Master Chen demonstrated the foundation exercise Moving-Step Shake the pole, which is the positive and negative circle. He held a real pole to begin with to show the idea behind the foundation exercise. He locked his fron hand, which was holding the pole as a pivot. The rear hand moved the pole. Read more

Master Chen’s Online Lesson on Sep 2, 2020 – Kelvin Ho i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/09/02

Master Chen corrected a few people’s partial yilu today. Each person should remember himself/herself the stopping point, and so it can be continued from that point in future lessons when it is that person’s turn for correction again.

To stretch, we need to so find anchors on the two ends.

Empty means solid, it means power.

We need to find a line in ourselves. Master Chen showed Tinh Thai a version of fetch water that line up her rear elbow with the front hand. We need to make sure that the front shoulder is not in the way.

If we want to have grip in the hands, we need to have grip in the teeth and in the toes.

Master Chen’s Online Lesson on August 27, 2020 – Kelvin Ho i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/08/27

Six Sealing Four Closing

Hands don’t move. Create a line between the front hand and rear foot. Read more

Master Chen’s Online Lesson on Aug 25, 2020 – Kelvin Ho i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/08/25

Moving Step Positive Circle

Hold your head up, tuck the chin.
Each body part performs its own duty. Don’t merge together.
Factory workers work, not everyone does the same job, but at the same time.
Example: Move the feet back and forth by themselves, keep the central axis upright, move your hand out and elbow in.
The waist must go backward while the hand goes forward.

Master Chen’s Online Lesson on Aug 21, 2020 – Kelvin Ho i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/08/21

Two ways to do Double Negative Circle:

Double Downward Squeeze
Fist Drape Over Body

Master Chen’s Online Lesson on Aug 18, 2020 – Kelvin Ho i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/08/18

Morning Session

1-2-3 in general means that we must have a method, and there is a procedure.

We have to listen with our eyes. We can’t just close our eyes and say that we are listening.
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Dixian 底线 Bottom Line 2

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/08/14

Dixian 底线 (Bottom line) – Master Chen Zhonghua Zoom Lesson 2 on Augest 14, 2020

– We use the term dixian instead of “bottom line,” so that we can learn what Master Chen means for dixian. This is re-calibration.
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Re-calibration: August 11, 2020 Zoom Lesson 1

by Susanna Chwang on 2020/08/13

These are my notes from Master Chen’s zoom lesson on Re-calibration, on August 11, 2020

We need to tune a thermometer. First we find the zero. We set a standard then we can use it to measure Read more

First Impressions 2

by MikeLV on 2020/07/23

Recently, I attended a Practical Method seminar with Master Chen, hosted by Ping Wei in Phoenix Arizona. In preparing for the seminar, I “learned” the first thirteen moves of Yilu form so that I could follow along as much as possible. I believe the seminar was supposed to be regarding the first thirteen moves of Yilu form and foundations. Read more

Class notes from Students in Phoenix, June i

by Ping Wei on 2020/06/19

Toronto workshop 8 March 2020 Morning session notes 1

by Harshil on 2020/03/08

TOFEB20Trailer-1

Yilu and foundations are for warm up

Then one must learn, create yin yang split

Action has movement, physical structure has no movement

Hand and screwdriver analogy —

Screwdriver doesn’t work on its own but is turned by hand

i.e.

Twisting towel

Hand doesn’t move on it’s own,

Kua is responsible for action on hand

Technically

object is yin &

Action is yang –

Fixed for consistency and to avoid confusion

At higher level it doesn’t matter which one is which, just know there are two and can be switched

There has to be a trap to walk in for opponent

Trap doesn’t change shape/size

Trap is designed so that you can have the hold

Hold gives access to ligaments and not muscles, working on muscles is futile

Opponent’s arm is not sufficient to get the hold of the whole body

Body parts are irrelevant for the hold,only think of to hold the line, have a grab from both side of teh line and not just one

Drill-

Sink waist to press elbow

Hand should be complete dead no move on its own, and that is quality like a steel, otherwise it absorbs like cotton

Shoulder rotates on vertical axis and doesn’t get displaced

Two ends have to be related, timing has to be coordinated

Stretch in right shoulder has to be totally matched by stretch in left heel

_____

Only two ways to move opponent .

Lever- lock middle and move the ends (strong opponent)

Anti-lever – lock the ends and move the middle (loose opponent)

Two ends and the middle are independent of one another. However opponent thinks they all happen at same time because the difference in time is so tiny it goes unnoticed.

A nut (micro living that lives only morning to afternoon) can not fathom a qun (mythical bird that lives many years) and for qun a nut did not exist, however they both live same life cycle birth-growing-reproduction-death.

Taiji encapsulates everything – in time.

If one splits that fraction of second when action was done at two ends and middle into million parts, these three actions will be only 3 of those million parts and totally different (although sequential) and they have no relationship to one another but for opponent it feels as if they happened at same time and they have relationship.

“TO 1909-Two Concepts” Online Video Purchase i

by Shopmaster on 2020/02/28

Chen Zhonghua’s Sept. 2019 Toronto Practical Method Workshop videos.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 10 min. In: English Year: 2019 Difficulty:3/5 At:Toronto

Notes for Sydney Workshop Feb 12-16, 2020 by Brian Chung 2

by Brian Chung on 2020/02/17

2020.02.12 悉尼笔记锺百豪 (英文) Sydney Notes by Brian Chung (English)

Practical Method Yilu Class i

by Kelvin Ho on 2020/01/19

ChenStyleTaijiPracticalMethodBannerWithRedLogo


Instructor 导师:	Kelvin Ho 何家伟
Date 日期:	Sundays 逢星期日
Time 时间:	9:00 am to 10:00 am
Location 地址:	716 Gordon Baker Rd, North York
Topics 内容:	Taijiquan Foundation 太极拳基本功 Yilu 一路
Fee 费用:	$350 for 10 classes or $40 for a drop-in class $350 – 10 课或 $40 – 1 课

What is “Ji” ? 1

by Albert Chung on 2019/12/31

Albert’s private lesson with Master Chen, Wednesday, Dec 11, 2019, Phoenix, AZ.

“Ji” (Squeeze, 挤) is one of the eight hand techniques in Tai Ji Quan – peng, lu, ji, an, cai, lie, zhou, kao.
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December 2019 Phoenix Workshop notes – Edward Liaw 2

by Edward Liaw on 2019/12/14

Day 1

Double negative has to be more vertical – open below, closes up top.
Buttocks cannot protrude. Kua is not open enough. It will hurt.

Jieshou i

by Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy on 2019/12/08

Jieshou, a Chinese word that means “accept hand”, is a term used in Practical Method. You will get an idea of what it means after viewing the video clip.

It is important to know that Practical Method does not allow head-on collision in making initial (or any other) contact with the opponent.

This is a clip of teaching video at the Dec. 2019 New York workshop.

NY1912-Jieshou

Ottawa Broadsword Seminar on Oct. 26, 2019 i

by Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy on 2019/10/26

Ottawa Broadsword Seminar on Oct. 26, 2019.

渥太华讲座场地20191026 – Walking towards the Legion Hall.

渥太华讲座场地20191026 – 1
This is where we held our first Ottawa Practical Method Seminar in March 1998.

渥太华讲座场地20191026 – 3
Front Door of the Legion Hall

渥太华讲座场地20191026 – 2
Front of the building of the Legion Hall on Montgomery.

Notes for Toronto Workshop Sep 7-10, 2019 – By Mark Hanley i

by Mark Hanley on 2019/09/30

Gears on either side of spine move in opposite direction

The gears twist on either side of the spine and your intention along with where you are looking can send power in any direction you want. You can also add better control by also changing the percentage of each lever. with straight spine hold with front left kua use right hand across. them Opening kua to right

Power comes from restrictions, stretch to point of rotation, Movement is muscle., no movement is a lever
Read more

Notes for Toronto Workshop Sep 7-10, 2019 – Kelvin Ho 2

by Kelvin Ho on 2019/09/20

When practicing yilu:

Put myself inside a fixed sized box.
Pull against the sides of the box coming into dantian.
Push against the sides of the box going out of dantian.

Notes from Grandmaster Zhonghua Chen Workshop on Sept. 14 & 15, 2019, Edmonton, PM Studio i

by Doug Gauld on 2019/09/19

Notes from Grandmaster Zhonghua Chen Workshop on Sept. 14 & 15, 2019, Edmonton, PM Studio

埃德蒙顿2019.09.14讲座合影。本文作者是右四（后）。 Read more

My kua opened up at the Vienna Workshop 2019 i

by Pawel Mueller on 2019/09/16

Participants of the Vienna Workshop with Master Chen Zhonghua in 2019
So we were doing lots and lots of six sealings four closings exercises at the end of the Vienna Workshop. I was leading the group and counting. Then, at #476 something in my hip cracked open. A rush of pure energy run through my body and I felt like a conductor between heaven and earth, and then … Read more

Notes From Toronto September ’19 Workshop – Day 3 1

by Michael Lamberti on 2019/09/14

First I had to not push the opponent and just find the wall with my back. When it wasn’t working so well it was because I was too far from the wall. It got a little bit better, but I was hitting the wall too straight so my stretch wasn’t as long as it could have been. Once that was fixed by lowering more to hit the wall, my fingers were not angled correctly towards the opponent and extending past the demarcation line. Once all those things were corrected, I was able to push better. Read more

September 14, 2019 Edmonton Notes i

by Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy on 2019/09/14

Positive circle steps. There are two steps and one modification. They are in, turn and out. Read more

Toronto Workshop on Sept. 8, 2019 i

by Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy on 2019/09/08

2019.09.08 pm Read more

Comments on the North American Practical Method Training Camp 2019 1

by Paul Carlson on 2019/08/06

Comments on 2019 North American Practical Method training camp

From my perspective, this year’s training camp was outstanding! I came with the thought that I had progressed a lot but after a short time I realized (as usual) I have so much to learn. I am basically a very beginner but I can see that each time I attend a function with Master Chen I can get a little better grasp of what he is teaching.
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2019 Day 1 Phoenix workshop i

by Paul Carlson on 2019/08/05

Notes from Day 1, Phoenix Practical Method Workshop
These are pretty rough, just short statements.

Every movement needs to have intent and some reference. When we do taiji we need intent. Taiji is governed by yin yang.

We need to see what is really there. Usually we think we see but that is not what is really there.
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