This is a post by our guest blogger, Silkreeling who is also a keen player of Chen Style Taijiquan.

http://www.chentaichi.com
http://www.chiflow.com/html/Taijiquan_Chen3.html

When it comes to Taiji practice, have you ever felt like you are in a maze running in circles, almost with no hope of seeing light at the end of the tunnel? You can be sure you are not alone, and going online in search for new perspectives might just be the way to cheer you up! These two websites stated above caught my eye, with the contents bearing the hallmark that would only come with years of genuine practice. In addition, the authors are from lineages not familiar to most from this part of the world so it will be good to briefly talk about them.

Chentaichi.com

Paul Chou is the person behind http://www.chentaichi.com, one of the first Chen Style Taiji sites that surfaced in the 1990s. His teacher is Master Pan Wing Chow, who was one of the first students of Chen Fake during the 1930s in Beijing, China. And also Gerald A Sharp, who occasionally writes for Taichi Magazine, also has a site dedicated to the practice of the internal martial arts and qigong. Gerald spent many years in China researching with top masters of the internal arts; he is a student of Master Zhou Yun Long, who learnt from Chen Zhao Kui, the son of Chen Fake.

Chi Flow

So what is so special about the two sites? For one, they have video clips to effectively illustrate the point across. Paul’s site has the full length clips of him performing Laojia Yilu and Erlu, which can be co-related to online lessons. While Gerald’s site is not exclusively on Chen Style Taiji, there are video clips of martial application of the various Chen Taiji postures i.e. Single whip etc.

One of the main aims of http://www.chentaichi.com is to communicate by  translating the teachings of Master Pan Wing Chow. There is a good mix of theories complementing the online lessons that focus on form practice. The theories presented include topics such as Ying and Yang, Peng Jing and Application, Chung Chi, Load path, essence of Taichi etc.

As a beginner looking for encouragement, this is one of my favorite lines from Paul’s site
“They are partially correct. The achievement you have is a necessary intermediate step, not the stage Great Master demonstrated in their generation, not the one the story tells….However, Master Pan’s saying is to encourage us. Master Pan himself didn’t stop here. He move on to that stage with pure elegancy with all his energy embedded. He used to let me grasp his hand and move around while I feel not a single trace of resistance, though he is in perfectly connecting and ready to use my energy at any instance. Therefore, if your opponent tells you: That’s not Taichi, don’t be angry or frustrated. You are on the right track, just not there yet. – <Beyond root and load path>“

The chiflow site however, presents us with yet another perspective; this time how not to practice Chen Style Taiji “If the practitioner employs patience, slowness and softness and is able to find stillness in their movement, they will develop a natural twisting and diligent practice will yield huge results. The key word is patience. Without that, you’re really banging your head against the wall. Chen Taijiquan can be very powerful, but if practiced incorrectly, you can damage your back, energy, knees, etc. With improper practice, such as moving first from the waist, you can also make yourself putty in the hands of those who know how to use lightness in applications……..Generally the nontraditional Chen stylists are the same people who believe that something slow and intricate is useless and flowery. This group has an excessive desire to see overt training that involves heavy perspiration and heavy-handed looking blows they can revere and label as “martial.”"

So if you make a cross-reference and view Paul’s form in the video clips on his site, do you see slowness, softness and intricacy? Well, that’s for the experts to tell. For now, I’ll leave you with what I think might be the most important lesson, as a closing remark of my visit to two of the finest sites on Chen style Taiji  “‘First let it in your heart (Conscious mind), then apply through your body (Subconscious reflex) <From Master Pan>.’ This is the approach to build the circles of Taiji into ourselves. Until one day we succeed, the movements we make will be in perfect harmony and balance.”