Originally written by: Lyle Little
I would like to thank Norm Magee and his wife for all the hard work and extras that they did on our behalf. Camp Shawnigan is a beautiful location nestled on Vancouver Island. Read more
Originally written by: Andy Hosler
All things considered I would say it was a better venue than camp thunderbird. The food was awsome and the kitchen staff really went the extra mile for us. The dorms were comfortable with lots of room for personal gear, even closets. The only thing lacking was expresso for the italian contingent…..
Originally written by: Mossimo Neresini
Dear Gordon,
first of all thanks again for everything.
I am writing also on behalf of Master Bon and Daniele and we would like to tell you that the Victoria experience met all our expectation; so we learnt a lot from the great Master Chen. Moreover we appreciated a lot Bill’s and your availability and experience in looking after us. As to the Camp accommodation everything was fine: food was excellent and in great quantity, fab fellows and comfortable bedrooms. Read more
Originally written by: Vanessa Hammond
Hi Gord,
I learned a lot and enjoyed my time.
Camp feedback:
The food was good, plentiful and nutritious.
Thanks for moving the evening meal to a later time. Thanks for accommodating for the stronger coffee for those who enjoy a stronger brew.
Rooms and bathrooms clean.
Master Chen Feedback:
I really appreciated the individual attention that Master Chen was able to give during the drills and practice time.
I am looking forward to receiving the DVD and and link to the website to follow up and consolidate the learning from the week.
Originally written by: Daniel Kahn
Hey Gord,
As I said, I had a great time. Even the weather contributed to the focus on taiji 😉
Here are four thoughts that occur to me. All are minor.
1) laundry facilities would have been welcome. Read more
Originally written by: Michael Iverson
Food good.
More ilu for beginners + applications. Could prob. Split some of the teaching up – you, Jay, Ping to give people more one on one time with Master Chen.
That’s about it. Awesome all round experience!
The camp facility is super. The dorm is comfortable, the gym is larger enough to hold 40 plus people, and most important, the food was great, tasty, lots of variety. The staff were very friendly. The lake is beautiful. I wish we could do some canoeing. I’m from Phoenix, AZ. The weather was a bit different. I didn’t mind rain and cold. Really enjoyed the fall vibrant color of Victoria. I’ll come back again in the future. Hope we stay at the same camp. Read more
Originally written by: Jay Smith
I recently spent a week at Camp Shawnigan and I was pleased with my stay there. The overall Facility was clean and well kept with beautiful scenery surrounding it. At one point I noticed a toilet was out of order and within a few hours it was repaired and back in working order.
The food was fantastic, great tasting with a good variety daily. One day I fell asleep and missed lunch by about 1/2 hour and went to the cafeteria to grab a piece of fruit to hold me over till supper time ( fruit is left out for us to help ourselves) one of the cafeteria staff asked me I was hungry I told her I missed lunch and she Quickly offered to get me some leftovers, I told her no thanks and she then offered to make me a sandwich, she seemed genuinely concerned that I had missed lunch, I was impressed.
I found Norm to be very friendly and helpful when we required some supplies for our classes and great to work with.
I hope we are lucky enough to have our annual gathering at Camp Shawnigan next year, looking forward to staying there again.
Regards,
Originally written by: Grace Gentili
If the impressions of a complete novice can be of help, I would like to say that the one day I spent at the Taiji Traditions camp was of great benefit to me. It was an amazing learning experience on many levels.
It was an eye-opening experience to watch Master Chen as he demonstrated applications of the postures and then gave detailed explanations of the moves to clarify what could not be seen at the speed of their execution. His teaching style is very compelling. He explains the concepts with clarity, energy, and intensity and shares such a great volume of information, at a rapid pace, that it required my very focused attention, in order not to miss anything. By the end of the day, I had had as much of a mental workout as a physical one and I loved it.
Furthermore, the friendliness, warmth, encouragement and helpfulness of all the participants that I knew or had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with, made that one day at camp very special. The experience of being surrounded by a gym full of very dedicated, hard-working and focused participants was incredibly energizing. I look forward to going back next year.
As I was only one day at Camp Shawnigan, all I can say is that I very much enjoyed the two meals I had on that day. The food was delicious, the choice of items in the buffet was great and the dining area was welcoming and nicely organized.
Grace Gentili
Originally written by: Bruce van Slyke
Howdy,
I had a great time, I just wish I did not have to leave early. Ironically enough, because of a huge snow storm in Denver, I ended up spending Thursday in Victoria (not a bad thing, a few pints at the Bard and Banker sat rather well with me) but I ended up flying home on Friday after all! Oh well… Read more
3 times a year taught by Master Chen Zhonghua on Hunyuan Qigong, Silk Reeling and Foundations.
Edifice Jules-Desbiens
109, rue Wright – local 002 Gatineau (secteur Hull) – Quebec
I was born with a weak constitution and relied on martial art training for my health recovery. Later on I met Grandmaster Hong Junsheng who transmitted Practical Method to me. Over dozens of years I repeatedly practiced it and benefited from it. I did not dare to take it as my own and vowed to pass it on. Another dozen years made me realize that I did not know enough to be a master. I therefore went to study from Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang by devoting another dozen years to learning. Again, I gained a bit more knowledge and ability in taijiquan.
When I was young I believed that I was smart. Approaching the half mark in my life I realized that I was not. Taijiquan is not made for the average. It is not for smart people; slow people; light-hearted people; nor stubborn people. It is designed for those who are persistent, and focused. One must let go and be enlightened.
Daqingshan Mountain is pretty, picturesque, tranquil, and deep. It is a clear piece of land in crowded China. One can practice and meditate in between land and clouds. I chose this bit of special soil to start my teaching, to make friends with the like minded and to entertain myself. When the art is not perfect, one can continue to learn. When one is not enlightened he can seek.
The rock of Daqingshan, might be jade.
1. 混淆传承和名誉的问题
传承是练拳习武的首要问题，然而给这个问题一点思考的人极少。无论国内国外，崇拜师父是最突出的表现。 Read more
Originally written by: Ian Macrae
Maple Ridge Workshop July 25th and 26th, 2009
(A loose transcription of notes, not an organized article)
This month our workshop was in Pitt Meadows Heritage Hall. Our regular use of Thornhill Hall was preempted by the Disabled Games. What a nice big clean beautiful hall this was, notwithstanding that the A/C wasn’t working and it was almost too hot to do YiLu. Well, actually, it was too hot, so we didn’t work quite as hard as we usually do. Read more
When Master Chen was at my school in April he had us explore emptiness. Emptiness in the leg from the knee downward. Emptiness in the spine from the head down through to the coccyx. It was a challenging process.
He told us that, as human beings, we do all we can not to go there as we experience this as death. This emptiness is a space before muscles get involved.
To help my students move closer to this state as best as possible I spent one evening doing Mentastics. Mentastics means mental gymnastics. It was developed by Dr. Milton Trager, a former American professional acrobatic dancer, boxer, and physician. It is a companion method to the form of massage he also created and that bears his name. To find more about him just google his name. He had a beautiful book that is only available on e-Bay or Amazon as used copies, as far as I could find out. The title is: “Movement As a Way to Agelessness: A Guide to Trager Mentastics,” 1995, 176 pp., Station Hill Press, Barrytown, N.Y., ISBN 0-88268-167-2.
With Mentastics one wants to do as little as possible. Movement is minimal and pleasant. Each time one does a movement, the goal is to do 50% less the next time around, always asking the mind to answer a question that only it would answer in its own way without any need to bring the answer to consciousness.
It goes like this: How could this be free? How could this be freer? How could this be even freer? And even freer than this freer?
Mentastics is an approach. Not a goal. A way towards a state of freedom, wellness, happiness. Towards Oneness.
We explored breathing this way, walking this way, moving our arms this way, shifting from one leg to the other, and then front and back. (In our leg shifting we wanted to stop moving just before our small tight muscles in our spines would engage, relaxing them with the help from our sensors under the soles of our feet.)
We reached a state of “hook-up,” as Trager called it. We were in the zone as others would say. Or as the calligraphy that taiji master Al Chung-liang Huang designed for The Trager Institute says in Chinese, we were a “Dancing Cloud.”
So we danced for an evening. It helped moving closer to where we do not move anymore, yet are more alive than ever. More present than presence itself. Have overcome the fear of death that stops us from being before muscles move.
We have not reached that stage yet. We have just moved closer to not moving. We now have one more tool to help us along. It worked. It laid the ground for the next step that was taken on the first Monday in June. More about this in the next issue.
Some photos of Daqingshan in 2007。大青山照片 Read more
"Forget your perfect offering/There are cracks in everything/That’s how the light gets in" -Leonard i
“Forget your perfect offering/There are cracks in everything/That’s how the light gets in” -Leonard Cohen
Originally written by: Matej Velicky There are many stories about Chen Fake and Hong Junsheng and their fighting ability.
Payment notification form Read more
Originally written by: Jeff Higins
My name is Jeff Higgins. For those of you thinking about studying with Master Chen Zhonghua I would like to share my background and experience taking a workshop. I have been studying various Chinese martial arts since for the past 8 years. Read more
Master Chen Zhonghua conducted a series of teaching sessions in Puerto Rico on this trip, including a weekend workshop at the Zen center, evening lessons for the San Juan group of Raul Pujol and private lessons. At the Zen Center weekend seminar, Master Chen taught the Hunyuan Qigong system at the beginning. He instructed on all the 12 forms and then gave a step by step detailed instruction of the movements of each form.
Master Chen also gave a brief introduction to the Daoist theories in order to enhance student’s understanding of the lectures. The main portion of the time was devoted to the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method system foundations. Master Chen was assisted by Humberto Pomales (New Jersey) and Raul Pujol in his teachings of the foundational exercises. Master Chen paid a great deal of attention to the positive and negative circles as they are fundamental to the entire Practical Method system. Each action was explained in angles, weight distribution, application and intentions.
洪式太极拳家王宗宪先生简介 Read more
Originally written by: David Rivera
Dear Joseph:
I have a slight mixup with the multiple email addresses for you and the school. If its
ok with you I will continue to use this one. I located it as you can see from your first
visit to Puerto Rico. Read more
At a higher level, stretching moves are changed to arching moves. Arching is really a way of extension without stopping the energy flow.Arching is more stable than stretching. However, arching creates less distance than stretching.
Some examples:
- When moving the arm back towards your body, don’t allow your front knee to move backwards. This way, you can extend your foot hand arching length.
- When pushing the front arm out, don’t allow your rear knee to move forward. This will make your rear foot-front arm stretch longer.
On February 6, 2009, Xavier Santiago of San Juan was accepted as Master Chen Zhonghua’s disciple through a brief ceremony presided by Raul Pujol. Xavier has been a student of Chen for several years. He became increasingly interested in the Chen Style Taijiquan as taught by Master Chen Zhonghua after attending workshops in Atlanta and Fairfield, IA. Last year, Xavier made trips to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and Maple Ridge, BC. Canada to work with Master Chen.
The ceremony marked a milestone in Xavier’s life. He is currently pursuing his studies as a medicine doctor. According to him, Chen Taiji has helped him concentrate in his academic studies and improve his marks.
The ceremony was witnessed by all participants of the San Juan workshop and fellow disciples Humberto Pomales, Raul Pujol, Richard Druitt and Rafael Velilla, all of Puerto Rico.
Originally written by: Jesse Thoma
Dear Master Chen,
Encouraging getting to work out with you after such a long absence. Training everyday for over 6 months in 2004 under your mentorship was very developmental. Each one of those sequential days spent on the same subject, you may not see big changes in tai chi that are occuring in you. To be able to revisit so many concepts you emphasize was refreshing. Hearing your teachings about “additions, giving your opponent the feeling that you have one more arm than them. 3 part foot, 1 part hand. Catching with the upper body, then arching power from below. Not tossing in the circles which is a type of retreating, yes? Read more
1. 出手不出肘；收肘不收手。 Read more
Master Chen,
Greetings. I’m not sure if you’re interested in these things, but just in case, here are my experiences with Qigong since March 2008. Zhan Zhuang Experiences (wuji posture only) Read more
One of the characteristics of the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method System is the technique to bounce the opponent out. In this short video clip, Master Chen Zhonghua taught Nicholas Fung and Alex Nay to follow a simple procedure to start the bouncing sequence:
- Make sure that you make contact with your opponent.
- Always back off a bit so that you can feel you have absorbed your opponent’s power.
- Anchor you rear foot, or whichever foot is the farthest from your opponent. This is a two way lock. It cannot move sideways, or backwards.
- Lock your hand/hands onto your target. It is the same lock as your foot except the foot is locked onto the floor while the hand is locked onto your opponent.
- Make sure that you wiggle your hands a little bit so that they aim at your opponent’s center.
- Now move your waist. This move will create a tension that bounces your opponent out. This move is very much like the pull on the string of the bow as in using a bow and arrow.
