Here we add some info on our academy, some general info on the practice of Chen Taijiquan, on the prana-bindu 神经肌肉 contents ("Dune-speak" for arcane nerve-muscle-training) of Taijiquan and more :) We hope you find some of it interesting or insightful. If not, best don't read it :) If you want to make some suggestions what topics we can cover just let us know. There will surely be technical topics, with regards to the contents of Taijiquan practice, but also didactic or educational matters which might spark our interest. Stay tuned, this is only the beginning! :)
In 1928, Mr. Chen Fake was invited by Xu Yusheng and other scholars to teach boxing in Beijing. He had a multitude of practitioners and what he taught was known as dà jìa大架 (big frame). Mr. Chen Zhaokui was the youngest son of CFK. He was born in Chenjiagou on January 24, 1928. He began to learn quan at the age of seven and obtained the family tradition of low-stance quan taught by his father. This particular frame, the movements are extremely delicate, the difficulty is relatively high requiring a lot of gongfu, but it is a body method that is sure to take and is suitable for young people to practice. CFK strictly urged CZK to do his utmost to attain true transmission. When Mr Zhaokui was in his twenties, his gongfu was already outstanding. After the death of his father, Zhaokui became the sole representative and practiced with such diligence that his level of gongfu was like a stove fire turning green (allusion to taoist alchemy) and reached the point of perfection. In fact, Zhaokui did not teach much outside, and many people in the world had never known about it, so much so some people say that the Chen family gongfu had already been lost.
Mr Zhaokui’s qinna technique is one of the best in the world. It is gentle, fierce, entirely unpredictable so much so it was impossible for his opponents to guard against. His tuishou gongfu was superb, reaching the acme of perfection; transforming jin quick with skill, ingenious, cold and crisp fajin, powerful and fierce.
At that time, there was a weightlifter who practiced quan with CZK. He was rather large in size and weighed more than 100 kilograms. During a tuishou practice, CZK instructed him to grab both his arms and push with all his strength. CZK sank and trembled his arms lightly, the weightlifter was lifted off the ground several feet and crashed landed on a bed several meters behind, breaking the bed frame into pieces. It was clear to see the profound level of gongfu CZK had attained.
Later, he left to Shanghai and other places to teach quan, and his true skill of taiji impressed and won over many challengers. His gongfu was respected by the world, and his reputation grew, without false rumors or gossip.
The boxing frame mastered by CZK was the low stance boxing frame inherited from Chen Changxing’s bloodline. It was 家传拳架 jīa chúan qúan jìa,a frame that belonged to the family lineage which was not spread to the outside at that time, so it has been rarely known to the world. This boxing frame is the same with the traditional dàjìa (large boxing frame), but in terms of hand method 手法 and 身法 body method,it possesses far richer details and finesse.
Since as a child, CZK had diligently practiced this frame, smart and thoughtful, his daily practice reaching 30 times a day, never taking a respite. He inherited the lineage and made innovations, thus gradually transforming it to his own style. In terms of appearance, it is ingenious and compact, with rigidity abiding in softness, and timely opening and closing. In terms of neijin, it emphasizes the inner rotation of the dantian while the external shape emphasizes 胸腰折叠 xiong yao zhe die (folding of the chest and waist); all the while focusing on the spiral silk reeling movements, agile and steadfast. The whole taolu is rigorous in structure, with a majestic disposition, clear cut rhythm, quiet as a maiden, explosive like thunder, zhe die (folding) back and forth like billowing waves, an agility without stagnation. Practicing this frane requires very high physical quality of practitioners, with great difficulty and intensity. In the early 1970s, CZK was invited back to his hometown in Henan to transmit quan. His fellow villagers in his hometown Chenjiagou did not understand this frame, nor had they seen such a training method, so they termed it 新架 "xinjia" (new frame. Note: CZK did not approve of this term.)
CZK studied in Beijing Zhicheng Middle School in his early years. After graduation, he was unable to continue his studies due to his family’s financial situation. After the liberation of China (Communist takeover in 1949) he entered the Beijing No. 5 Construction Company to work. While practising hard, he helped his father CFK with teaching boxing. Having inherited the family tradition since he was a child, CZK watched keenly and heard deeply, and possessed a deep understanding of the boxing theory of his ancestors. As he had the benefit of being educated in the capital, he was open-minded able to use modern scientific knowledge to analyze and understand the boxing, thereby making outstanding contributions to the inheritance and development of Chen Shi Taijiquan methods and theories. Since the 1960s, CZK not only traveled north and south to spread the family boxing, but also wrote a large number of training manuscripts according to his years of experience in practice and teaching, leaving behind a wealth of information concerning boxing strategies and illustrated drawings of tuishou technique for later generations. During the 20 years after the passing of his father CFK, Mr Zhaokui continued his father's footsteps to spread and popularize Chen Shi Taijiquan, travelling in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Jiaozuo, etc, cultivating a large number of talented practitioners from the early 70s in his hometown of Henan, until his passing in the early 80s, during which this period his career reached its peak.
In 1961, at the invitation of Gu Liuxin, he resigned and went south to Shanghai to spread boxing. He participated in the publishing of the manual Chen Shi Taijiquan by People's Sports Publishing House, with Shen Jiazhen and Gu Liuxin; and at the request of students from all over the country, he wrote down the lecture notes for the Yilu and Erlu routines of Chen Shi Taijiquan, which were well received by everyone. In order to enable further understanding of the characteristics of Taijiquan, CZK and Chao Zhenmin co-wrote the article "A Brief Talk on Chen Shi Taijiquan boxing method and Tuishou training method", and in this book it was written that it had been CZK’s lifelong wish to transmit the essence of Chen Shi Taijiquan, but this wish was destroyed by ten years of turmoil (the Cultural Revolution).
In 1980, at the request by People's Sports Publishing House, he had plans to publish a new book on Chen Shi Taijiquan. However, due to years of extreme hardship and fatigue, he eventually succumbed to illness and died in Jiaozuo, Henan Province on May 7, 1981. What is a consolation and most gratifying is that his apprentice Ma Hong compiled and published the book "The Complete Book of Chen Style Taijiquan Physical Usage" based on Mr. Chen Zhaokui's lectures and copius volume of notes. Through this, his wish was accomplished and thus rest in peace .
In 1973, at the invitation of his hometown elders, CZK began to teach boxing in Chenjiagou, Zhengzhou and other places in Wen County. His nephew Chen Xiaowang, Chen Zhenglei and fellow villagers Wang Xi’an, Zhu Tiancai had trained with Zhaokui’s cousin Chen Zhaopi. Zhaopi had passed away the year before, accordingly, Zhaokui returned to the village to continue training the four of them in the so-called “new frame”.
Mr. Zhu Tiancai, one of the "four outstanding persons", once said with emotion when talking about Mr. Zhaokui:
"The routine taught by Chen Zhaokui is the boxing frame taught by his father. It has more hand techniques, fierce fajin and more obvious fighting methods than the Laojia frame we practiced in the past. After practicing this boxing frame, we have a deeper understanding of Chen Shi Taijiquan and a more comprehensive technique."
Disciples from Shijiazhuang, Shanghai and other places have successively established Chen Style Taijiquan Research Associations, which have made contributions to inheriting the legacy of Mr. Chen and promoting the development of Chen Style Taijiquan.
Mr. Chen Zhaokui, as the representative of the eighteenth generation of Chen Shi Taijiquan, has left us, but his legacy and development of the essence of Chen Shi Taijiquan, along with his superb boxing skills and principles are admired and popular among Chen Style Taijiquan fans. Today, the state advocates and develops the heritage and culture of the nation, as such Taijiquan has also received due attention. In order to commemorate Mr. Chen Zhaokui's achievements and to inspire future generations, the people of his hometown erected a monument in Chenjiagou on April 5 this year to show their memory. More than 200 disciples of Mr. Chen and overseas friends gathered in Chenjiagou and expressed the desire to cherish the legacy of the master, and work hard for the development and promotion of Chen Shi Taijiquan.
From Chen Yu, »Taiji Rensheng«, Mingjia Shuhua Chubanshe (2011), p 90.91
We had another great Q&A session talking about some theory and also about some problems students encountered. This is just an extract of the longer version but maybe you would like to check it out.
Talk is about silk reeling concepts, problems in basic silk reeling exercises, about the "beisikou" concept, about weight changes, knee health and more. Some parts which seemed of more interest to our students only were taken out, but I think there are parts which might also be interesting for others and maybe even spark some interesting discussion. Questions usually come from all levels, from teachers as well as beginners, but it is a very casual format so I think everybody can join and have a good time :-)
A student asked me at our last taiji camp what my personal training looks like. As it changed quite a bit over time (I started practicing in the 1990's) I always find it a bit difficult to answer such a question in a way which helps the students with their own training. Now, a couple of days after our camp, I came up with the following thoughts.
When we start with a practice like Taijiquan, I think next to training the art we will always have a lot of learning (1) to do. Learning comprises stuff like learning movements, learning patterns, drills, learning names for movements, learning concepts (like in the image on the left from Chen Xin about the requirements of a certain posture) and some theory which we need to be able to practice well. After a while the learning aspect may subside a bit so the training (2) aspect can increase and become our main focus. Training then means drilling movements and movement patterns by using the specific concepts we learned.
Chen Zhaokui (January 24, 1928 - May 7, 1981), ancestral home in Chenjiagou, Wenxian County, Henan Province, settled in Beijing with his father. He is the representative of the eighteenth generation of the Chen family, and is known as "High Divine Fist" 神拳太保.
In the following video I explain two movements from the second road (paochui) of Chen Taijiquan and then I show some applications derived from these movements. So in the first part it is more about the functional and applicable bodywork which trains certain force routes 劲路 in the body, the second part is more about the martial work and how to use these forces in different situations. This is not (!) a self defense scenario or anything like that, it is more an exploration of how forces and a functional body/torso method 身法 can be applied in a technical sense. These exercises comprise the application training (yongfa) of Taijiquan and connect the bodywork and the martial work with one another so they become one.
This is surely a format not so often seen or done, but in my experience it is difficult especially for a Western audience to put things into a real practice without understanding the concepts which have been handed down in Chinese martial arts theory.
Usually I don't write here about political topics or the like. Of course, we share certain moral values here... tolerance, equality, moral conduct, treating people fairly and so on. But apart from that I think there are many possiblities how to engage oneself individually in times of crisis such as the current war in Ukraine. There are many great projects out there which cause little overhead and will have great effect and where we can try to have a positive impact.
There has been a lot of talk about small, big, new and old frames of Chen Taijiquan. But today I want to take a different perspective on the topic. And that is: we HAVE TO change our frame.
I can sometimes perceive a wrong sense of tradition and obligation towards a certain tradition (also in myself) which leads us to think we shouldn't change anything in what our teacher taught us. While that is true as it doesn't make much sense to change everything you have been shown without understanding any of its depth yet, it is also wrong not to change one's frame at all.
We have many details and requirements in this Chen Taijiquan and I see that as a great strength. However, when people try to make everything right it can be a bit inhibiting and the strength of having much to offer can actually become a weakness. I sometimes see that students will try so hard to do everything right that they do not see anymore why we are doing it a certain way. And they don't realise if they are actually doing it right as they don't have anything to contrast the practice with.
Usually when I lead through a class I take students on a ride through my own practice. That can make things quite demanding as there are a lot of things to work on, details in the body work, in the intention work, in the forces we use and so on. So it can just become a bit too much especially for a novice who cannot possibly know how to prioritise things. On the one hand my experience shows everybody will still take things from the class in a very individual kind of way :-) They will kind of naturally choose what is relatable, what they want to work on or what they can connect with. Plus it makes the class more interesting for the advanced students and it helps to keep the focus of the group together.
When we train the form it is important that we learn to understand the intrinsic body work and the underlying forces in the single positions. We might encounter movements which we can relate to more and some we can relate to less. But to make the form full we also need to put in certain "intentions" into all movements. To do that we also need to understand the martial usage of movement sequences.
This is a somewhat special post as I thought it might be nice for readers to see some of my students and get some ideas of how people train with me. On a meta-level I thought it is good to understand that there are many methods ingrained in the form training which are shared in our whole community - they are not just individual skills or "talents". I guess many of these methods can be better seen if compared over a range of practioners. On a micro-level I hope the videos are just enjoyable as they feature enthusiasts who are serious in their pursuit of the art. I might add more later, not everybody likes to share their training but maybe I can nudge some more to lose their shyness ;-)
Here I would like to share a couple of thoughts on methods, what we can find in a method and what can we see from the outside and what not. I will use one example of a concept most people who train Chen Taijiquan will be familiar with.
One requirement for Chen Taijiquan is yuan dang 圆裆, rounding the crotch. The weight will thus drop in a different way than it would if we didn't heed the requirement. The weight has to be distributed in such a way that it does not constantly compress all joints. Rather there is a tensile action we want to develop which protects the joints. The connections run all the way down to the feet of course.
In the spring of 1971, I worked in the Political Department of the first artillery. Through the recommendation of Wang Ju of the Logistics Department in the second artillery, I was lucky to meet Mr. Chen Zhaokui in Nan Li Shi park. At that time, he was teaching Yilu 83 Form Chen Taijiquan. This was the first time I saw Chen Taijiquan. In his teaching demonstration, Chen laoshi displayed every movement with a deep level of gongfu. His exquisite quan skills deeply attracted me. Right at that moment, I was secretly determined to learn boxing from Chen laoshi.
I remember when I looked at the manuals of old it always seemed to me that the postural details found in the descriptions were somehow a bit arbitrary. It didn't seem easily understandable how they really linked up and thus they lost their importance and relevance to me back then. Of course, the books (like Chen Xin's here on the right) were not really meant to be easily understandable "do it yourself" books in the first place.
The Chinese martial arts are often differentiated into a so-called "internal school" and an "external school". Taijiquan is associated with the "internal school". I would like to share a couple of thoughts here on the issue.
If you are not interested in history then you can skip this part.
Huang Zongxi (1610 - 1695) - one of the "most important intellectual figures of the early Qing", historian, philosopher, poet and author (from Mote, 1999) - was (just like Chen Taijiquan founder Chen Wangting) a Ming dynasty loyalist.
Translated by Linda Yeo from Chen Taijiquan Nairobi
Fascinating account by Mongolian taijiquan master Tuo Mu Si 妥木斯 who is featured in this video pushing hands with CZK.
Born in 1932, Tumut Zuoqi, Inner Mongolia, Mongolian. Oil painter, art educator. In 1958, he graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 1963, he graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts Oil Painting Research Class. In 1983, he was awarded the professor of Fine Arts Department of Inner Mongolia Normal University. Retired in 1998. He studied Chen style Taijiquan from Chen Zhaokui and gives the following account of his time spent with CZK.
By Filip Gutknecht-Stöhr (May 2019)
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Youtube: The Wonderful World of Fascia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hijLMz9lEygbv |
For several years now, the concept of fascia has become increasingly popular. Previously, the attention of research was mostly on isolated structures such as nerves, muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, etc.. However, the notion of fascia as merely a layer of thin tissue enveloping our muscles is increasingly giving way to the realization that the properties and functions of fascia are far more comprehensive and significant than previously thought.
We find many different forces (劲 jin) in Chen Taijiquan practice. They actually work on different kinds of levels. For example, when we talk about peng jin 掤劲 we mean a certain expansive force which should be present in the whole body at all times, building tensegrity into our bodies. When we talk about "silk reeling" (缠丝 chansi) it means how the forces should be wrapped in the body.
The first form is the most important part of the Chen Taijiquan training system. I would like to let you know a bit about its history, its roots, the names of the movements and so on so you get a general overview.
In 2008 I was doing research for my own book on Chen Taijiquan. So I contacted some other researchers in this field - one of whom was Marnix Wells. Fortunately we could meet up in Beijing shortly after writing emails to and fro. When we met we immediately formed something like a friendship. Marnix is a gentleman, very knowledgeable and with ample experience in the martial arts. He might not look like it but he is a generation older than me so his stories also enabled me to "look back in time", getting a feel for Hongkong in the 1960's, South-East Asia in the 70's and so on. He shared many stories how he met and trained with some of the great names of old who shaped the early experiences the West had with the Chinese Martial Arts.
Yes, I have to admit, I read all of Frank Herbert's Dune novels when I was young and I always absolutely loved them! :) When I started this blog I had to somehow think of the prana-bindu training of the arcane order of the Bene Gesserit. In a moment of utter nerdiness I looked up the words in a Chinese version of the novel and saw they are being translated as 神经肌肉, nerve and muscle (sinews, fascia) training. Somehow I thought that is quite befitting and describes well what we do in Chen Taijiquan.
This is just a thought I had the other day... quite often discussions around martial arts lead to group think, virtual sects and a lot of hostility bewtween different groups of people who practise different arts. Just like everywhere where people get together... Maybe because a lot of martial arts club are pretty hierarchical. So if you are top of a hierarchy you might get out of your bubble only to find out people outside don't put you on a pedestral anymore. Of course it might also have to do with the general underlying mindset of the martial arts to dominate one another in a quite archaic way - through violence. So some people might use the same mindset in normal communication or as their default mode for conflict. Which is kind of sad I think.
Relaxation 放松 is one of the basic qualities in Taijiquan. In Chinese we would refer to these basic aspects of our training as "requirements" 要求. However, relaxation is often declared to be the sole purpose of Taijiquan. In my experience this thought leads to a somewhat wrong understanding and makes real progess in the art difficult. Because relaxation, loosening or the associated sinking are prerequisites for Taijiquan, but not the only movement goals. This is at least true of our art. Though we can achieve positive results with "relaxation", excessive relaxation and excessive "letting go" are irrelevant from a martial point of view and can also lead to physical problems from a health perspective.
I wrote this in 2011 as I thought there was so little information available on Chen Zhaokui. This is the English translation of the German text. I did not have the time to check all original translations again, so there are surely some parts which might be expressed in a much better way. But I wanted to share the article as I think it contains some elements not so often talked about. There is a biography of Chen Zhaokui which can be found here on the website. I made some smaller revisions here in the article while translating it. Let me know what you think!
After a good chat with fellow gongfu nerd Jon Nicklin I felt inspired to delineate a couple of quick thoughts and general ideas on how to learn Chen Taijiquan as a martial art. When it comes to learning and teaching martial arts I think we need to make one basic difference:
Summary: This is about communication and miscommunication when teaching Taijiquan or writing about (internal) martial arts. Also how language and concepts (proverbs and such) shape our practice, how we can relate to that while learning or teaching the arts and how to separate, connect and integrate your body experience and hone skills.
The second form of Chen-style Taijiquan is called "cannon fist". It is a form which was recorded in the early records of the Chen Family which were recovered by the researchers Tang Hao and and Xu Zhen. It has traditionally been part of the curriculum of this style. In the old manuscripts there is a note: "Fifteen fists [and] fifteen cannons, use the heart [xin / centre] in boxing practice."
Those who train with me know I don't want to impose my or our training methodology on anyone. So here I write about common mistakes which can happen in our training. And I think it helps to be aware of them. Of course if you train some other style or in some other lineage you might also want to read this post as it might help you to make up your own mind on how you solve these matters in your practice.
This question was asked by a new student who had before practised in another lineage for about 10 years. I was taken aback and flabbergasted. My main thought was: "Really? You are asking me this kind of question?" And found it difficult to answer properly.
Note: Gu Liuxin learnt different styles of Taijiquan from very well-known teachers like Chen Fake, but also Yang Chengfu and others.
The reeling force 缠劲 is also called silk reeling force 缠丝劲 and it is one of the main contents of Chen-Style Taijiquan.
As the Taijiquan school is kind of set up now I thought it makes sense to talk a bit on how we teach, the reason's behind it, the prospects and also the values behind our school. Hopefully you enjoy learning a bit more about our online training.
Vajrapani, in a 9th century representation from Dunhuang, is the guardian deity whose symbol inspired the Chen Taijiquan posture of "Buddha's Warrior Pounds Mortar" 金刚捣碓, thus linking taiji symbolism to ancient breathing methods.
We have methods in Chen Taijiquan which are called seizing methods 拿法 nafa or capturing and seizing 擒拿 qinna, which also contain a range of techniques from catching sinews 抓筋 zhua jin or turning bones 反骨 fan gu among others. Often we refer to these methods simply as joint locks though their usage differs somewhat. All methods contain a range of great applications for practical usage. They can also be trained in a pretty safe environment if taught in a reasonable manner.
Maybe it makes sense to say something about my own journey before someone might want to ask me to set out on a Taijiquan journey and learn from me. So I want to share some info on how I learned what I teach.
Here I thought it might be interesting to talk a bit about different training intentions, about the Chen Taijiquan training process and to give some examples of different kinds of practices. I was inspired to write this post by one of the (fortunately rare) negative comments I got on YouTube. So I am trying to transform the negativity into something useful here :-)
In the last two weeks I heard two of my students (with ample prior experience) describing our Chen Taijiquan frame to someone. One of them, being a Chinese speaker, used the term 丰富 fengfu, which means "abundant". The other one, an English speaker who comes to my workshops from afar, said to another student: "this frame is very rich, with so many details". When I think about this the German word "reichhaltig" comes to my mind, which means something like "rich in content".
To help you book a class, here is a step by step explanation of the booking process!
Online Learning - does it really work?
In the beginning we were all quite skeptical about online learning in Taijiquan. Though our Chinese family branch started this already about 10 years ago. But after teaching students abroad especially during the Corona lockdown we changed our minds and saw the actual improvement of all those who are sincerely training online.
Some of you might be thinking: Who are the people offering the online classes? Nabil Ranné and Konstantin Berberich founded the Chen-Style Taijiquan Network Germany in 2009/2010 to promote the Taijiquan in the lineage of our teacher Chen Yu. He has outstanding gongfu (Chinese for skill / martial skill) and learned Taijiquan in direct line from Chen Changxing (via Chen Gengyun and Chen Yanxi) to Chen Fake and Chen Zhaokui, his father.