Singapore Practical Method Workshop Photos 20231202.
Singapore 20231130 – 1MorningGroup
Testimonials
Comments and reviews of Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method, workshops and Master Chen Zhonghua.
Indonesia Practical Method Seminar Photos 20231125-26.
My background & early exposure
I saw videos of Master Chen on youtube and I was Very impressed. I watched them periodically until one day, 4 years later, I registered for a workshop with him in Toronto (after I was laid off, and had a bit of both time and money). It was clear that he had an amazing understanding of movement (and obviously, Practical Method Tai Chi Chuan).
One event that happened in that 1st workshop / exposure to him, which was an enlightenment, was that I touched his foot as he was doing “in with elbow”. And I understood that all movement was driven by his foot / qua / center system. And that after studying dance actively for 20 years, I didn’t know anything about how to use my legs or hips.
I started taking his online classes, and they were full of great exercises and insightful corrections. I hope I am improving there, but I think it is slow. But regardless, even if the body is improving slowly, there is no doubt that my eye / ability to understand is evolving, and that this is very valuable. I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to study in these classes with him online.
I went to the Iowa workshop after taking that 1st workshop in Toronto, and then studying videos and online for about 7 months
A week in Iowa
After the first few days, I began to understand what “stretch” means. He had given me this correction a couple of times in the online classes, and I wanted to work on it – I thought it was an important thing for me to focus on, but I didn’t really know what to do. Now I begin to know what to do. This was very satisfying. My current understanding is that it is neither tensing the muscles in place, nor is it “limply” stretching, but rather an extreme extension which creates space in joints and charges up the facia/tendons/etc, in the desired direction.
There were also many pieces of instruction on different details that start to educate my eye … many more details later.
A private lesson with Master Chen
I am so lucky that I have access to a master who is a great practitioner, a great teacher, very open with information & willingness to let you feel him do things, and who speaks English and is in North America.
I registered for a private lesson with him. You go to a workshop and having a little bit of hands on, on the topic that he feels is most important for you, really helps you be on a right path. I felt I had my first taste of what it is to feel what it is to do practical method. I remind myself to follow instructions, however, and not just go back to the feeling.
I think my capacity went up a notch in the first few days of the workshop, and another notch after my lesson with Master Chen. I started to better understand “gears” in the body, and the way you use a gear to indirectly create power … the movement is perpendicular or at a 45% angle, and I genuinely need to not let my body try to drive the wanted result, but just do the technique. Not “end game”. So hard.
People
Many wonderful people – helpful & generous, but also very interesting, and with their own unique insights into life in general. Lou mentioned to me in the Toronto workshop that it was a great group of people, but I didn’t understand. Let me say in writing, Lou – you were right, so many great people 🙂
I would come without the community, because Master Chen and his teachings are so profound, but the community definitely makes it more fun 🙂
Psychology & Science. Thinking
Master Chen also shares many stories which are educational. He’ll talk about science and make analogies with Tai Chi. I majored in physics in college, and most people who talk about physics but don’t know it are spouting garbage. Master Chen is not – what he says is profound, relevant, and such a completely different perspective. It is very interesting.
And there are periodic stories about how we should think as students to progress, to not be in our own way. He said, and I am sure he is right, that each of these funny stories about other people is also a story about us. That the story he was telling about someone else where the other person was being so wrong-headed, is actually a story about me / each of us (just more subtle). I need to be careful of being too wrongheaded, of not listening enough. Of not believing enough. Of interpreting too much through a personal lens.
One example is often when people ask questions that are not on the topic he is teaching, he’ll make it clear that it isn’t a good question. This really isn’t the typical American way, but it is clear he is correct … better to focus 100% on what he is saying and talking about, so you have more hope of learning it. Having a distracted mind can only make something that is already difficult even harder!
There are many ways that my thinking is too opinionated, I think. But at the same time, I do know he is such a master of this, and I need to not just listen, but hopefully learn to think more like he thinks. I appreciate that he doesn’t just work to teach us Tai Chi, but also works to teach us how to think and learn. Kelvin & Winston also had a great conversation on this same topic with a couple of folks late one night – thank you both for your help in this workshop!
I think I also am getting a better appreciation for the use of physical props, and to practice in the right way. Every time I used a prop I realized how I wasn’t as accurate as I thought.
Realizing there is hope
I had a large part of me that believed I would never “get” it. That there was too much to the practical method. The more I learn, the more nuanced, subtle & difficult it gets.
I studied for the 8 months after my 1st workshop online, and honestly, I didn’t think I would develop any skill. If studying Practical Method was climbing Mt Everest, I thought I would start hiking, and not even be able to make it to base camp. With such a bleak view of my future progress, why did I stick to it? The answer is that I thought I would learn amazing amounts along my journey, even if I didn’t get very far. It had already had dramatic changes in my dancing and movement. With rewards so high, and the luck of such an opportunity to study with him, how could I not?
However … in this workshop, I realized that with hard work and time … I could learn! I could start to climb Everest. Realistically, I’ll never reach the summit. I will never be even close to as good as Master Chen. But there is hope now … I see that I can make real progress, and begin the ascent. Somehow knowing that I can make real progress is very encouraging. The impossible has now become possible.
You can also see a few pictures here.
Today I said goodbye to my Shifu Chen Zhonghua in Gdynia. I just arrived in Vienna, Austria after one month traveling with Shifu, Gerry Gebhart, Chen Ronghua (Curry) and Song Zhenhua (Leo) through 7 European countries.
I met lots of old and new friends. It was great and it’s sad, it has to end. But even the best things in live end…. only to make place for new things.
In the picture below you see Shifu, Chen Xu, Ling Zili and me on my very first Workshop with Shifu in Wuxi, China. And below a picture taken exactly 9 years later in Vicenza Italy with Shifu, Leo, Gerry, Curry and me. With lots of Workshops in between.
There were many highlights along the tour of various nature, like cultural, touristic, culinary, personal and of course Taijiquan Practical Method-ic.
I hope I’ll find the time to render my notes into some articles about those highlights.
To answer one special request by Kevin Chen from Nantes, France briefly: I ate the worst but also the best Hamburger in Italy 😉
By the way:
If you want to practice Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method in Austria, contact me. I’m living close to Vienna and we have a group here. As a disciple it’s my duty and an honor to propagate this rare art. I can show you the special characteristics of Practical Method. It must be experienced, so I invite you to have a look.
I’m also the coordinator for Practical Method in Europe, so if you want to know if there’s somebody close to you doing Practical Method, just text me.
Speaking of coordination: Thanks to all the host on the tour for the great workshops. And also a big “Thank you!” to their helping hands. It was a great time!
Raymond Dickey from London, England
Pavel Codl from Prag, Czech Republic
Sven Gusowski from Berlin, Germany
Thomas Poitreau from Bordeaux, France
Giuseppe Bon from Vicenza, Italy
Damian Jagosz from Żywiec, Poland
and last but not least
Tomek Raganowicz from Gdynia, Poland
Special thanks for helping me out organizing the Workshop in Vienna, Austria goes to
Fabian Kassing and Ewald Artacker
And a special thanks for retrieving my laptop which I forgot on the plane in Bordeaux goes to Thomas’ wife: Claire
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 1 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 0 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 0 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 3 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 0 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 1 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 3 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 0 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 0 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 0 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 1 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Presenter: Chen Zhonghua Length: 0 mins Difficulty: 3/5 Language: English
Year: 2022 Location: Sydney, Australia
This is a video record of Master Chen Zhonghua's 2022 Sydney Practical Method Workshop.
If you like this video, there is an even greater value in purchasing one of the packages below.
Purchase Sydney Practical Method Seminar Video Package 20220902
NOTE:
- Video packages are designed for the convenience of students.
- Some packages are in fact classifications of videos.
- Some videos in packages might have been published and purchased by you individually.
- Average prices of videos in packages are considerably lower than individual videos. The number of videos in the package will increase until the sum of all individual video prices equal to two times or more of the package price.
- In view of this, if you have purchased a video that are also included in a package your have purchased, or vice versa, we will not give refunds or equivalents.
- All videos in packages are paid videos. They are restricted to your personal viewing and other usage. You do not have copyright of the videos and therefore you do not have permission to give/share with others.
- Please note that as a customer/user of the website and/or student of Chen Zhonghua, you have given him and the companies/organizations he represents permission to use videos or photos with you, both personally and commercially.
- Making a paid purchase constitutes agreement to the above terms.
Edmonton Workshop: September 17, 2022
Part 1: Lead into Emptiness
Grandmaster Chen Zhonghua said that in Taiji, you “lead into emptiness.” This idea is central to the practice of Taiji. It means that when you “act” in Taiji, you don’t do something, but do something. When you prevail against an opponent, you are not “doing” something to your opponent. You never react with force against force. In Taiji, you are fighting yourself, not the other person. These seeming contradictions really mean something when you experience them, as I did in the Edmonton workshop on September 17, 2022. I felt them; Grandmaster Chen “did” them to us, without “doing them.” Read more
More photos of Chen Xu’s Jimo Practical Method Seminar on May 30, 2021
Trying kick part of Buddha’s Warrior Attendant Pounds the Mortar with locking.
Turn as one piece
Trying first part of Buddha’s Warrior Attendant Pounds the Mortar with locking.
Training snapshot with some push hands.
Hubert (14yrs old) push hands session
Stepping, White Crane Spreads Its Wings with locking, Heavy arm training
Flash the back (Shan Tong Bei)
Lazy fun with first part of Block Touching Coat, Don’t power up but only open.
Adjust and don’t move contact point (pivot) after lock.
My name is Paweł Maciejny. I work as a teacher, I am also a player and a trainer at the rugby club
in Bielsko-Biała and a volunteer firefighter at the Volunteer Fire Department Żywiec – Sporysz. Read more
– just after Roy’s 2nd private lesson with GM, it was suggested that I record his impressions about his experiences in this learning process
– I’m no journalist so bear with me here Read more
– I am beginning to understand some of the challenges in trying to describe, discuss, even think about PM in ways that pass along that information, in digestible bites to other people Read more
twisting towel
Participating in the European Practical Method Meet-Up 2020 in Żywiec in Poland was a great joy for me. Read more
This is a post I found drafted but had not published. I thought I would finally share what I had written two years ago in 2018. It’s now March 2020.
……….
The value that you get from Master Chen Zhonghua’s Practical Method workshop is immeasurable. This is was my fourth workshop and I cannot explain just how much was packed into the two days.
Last week we concluded another great workshop/training camp in Iowa with Master Chen. There was a good turnout with around 50 attendees. The vibes were good and the lessons were clear and concise.
For more than a year now, Sven Gusowski from Practical Method-Berlin visits us each monday at our office at Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin) to do fifteen minutes of basic foundations exercises. We basically do variations of the positive circle and learn movements that can be easily repeated at home or anywhere.
Read more
I am 64 years old and have been on long-term disability for over 10 years due to a form of arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). I previously studied and practiced several external martial arts and they all eventually made my AS symptoms worse. I have had the disease my whole life but only diagnosed in the ’80’s. It became so bad at one point I was bed ridden for almost 2 years. It causes difficult symptoms in multiple body systems. I have had to get steroids injected into my eyes a few times to bring down inflammation. The disease primarily fuses the spinal vertebrae together, which of course reduces, restricts and eventually collapses the vertebral separations so they cannot move normally, or at all. I have tried physio, multiple drug therapies, meditation and exercise all with no or next to no improvement in my symptoms.
Read more
You can also see a few pictures here.
Sun Yang wins Muay Thai Gold Belt 20190222
Top New:News just came from Thailand that Sun Yang has won the 67 kg Golden Belt after many rounds of hard fights at the Golden Belt Finals under the auspice of the Thailand Muay Thai Federation. Sun Yang is a disciple of Master Chen Zhonghua, International Standard Bearer of the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method system and Dean of the Qingshan Taijiquan and Cultural Research Institute of the Rizhao Politechnic. Read more
I would like to give some impressions of the PM-Taiji-Training camp that took place in Italy this September.
From the 17th till the 22nd September 2018 we have had the joyful experience to live and train together in a beautiful Villa at the Bolsena lake in Italy. It is a place which is located around 100km north of the city of Rome.
Read more
