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Watch the above clip, featuring Master Jiang Jiajun performing Yilu perhaps in the 1990s. Jiang, a top student of Grand Master Hong Junshen, trained initially under Chen Zhaopei prior to 1964. Through that experience, Jiang found good ties with the Chen Villagers; he was particularly close to Wang Xian and later was to become the godfather of Wang’s eldest son.

The Chen Taiji routine is made up of thirty phrases that run like a poem. The main applications of this weapons They are chop, cut, pierce, parry, thrust, intercept, press, push, slice, block and swing in figure-8 form. Here is a clip by Ni ShiQing ( 倪世清）, a disciple of Chen Zhenglei. Ni handles this weapon with ease and displays lots of power with this routine.

If you can’t see the embedded video, please view it directly at http://www.56.com/u98/v_MTQ3MTcxMTk.html

A lesser known figure outside of China, Li Jingwu (1912-1997)probably is one of the most accomplished Chen style Taiji master of his generation. Listed below are some quick references to his achievements:

1. One of Chen Fake’s top disciples, who could neutralise up to 4 of Chen’s successive fajings.
2.  Known for his upright character, mild mannerism and integrity, especially when exchanging pointers with opponents.
3. Respected Grand Master of both Chen and Wu style Taiji.
4. He is Wang Peisheng’s kungfu brother and together they form 2 out of the 5 Taiji Tigers of that era.
5.  Represented Beijing in the 1956 National Wushu Exchange Competition together with Wang Yongquan and Zhang Yansheng. He came in 1st in his Category.
6.  Also practice Sun Style and Yang Style Taiji, and helped with the compiling of the standard Beijing 24-Form teaching video.
7. Made significant contributions to the book “Chen Style Taijiquan” of Shen Jiazhen and Gu Liuxin, but credits to him was mistakenly excluded.
8. Also known for his qigong and accupunture skills.
9.  He not only contributed public articles on what is chansijing in the 1960s, he is also a testament to its high level application (See 2:10 to 2:19 of the clip above).
10.  He is well liked and respected by students, teachers and all others in the Taiji circle.

If there Interested Small frame players in South East Asia or those passing by the region, you can look up Master Liu Xiangying, who is based in Shenzhen. He’s a close student of Chen Boxiang. Enjoy the clip

Recorded during the 3rd Chenjiagou Taiji GongFu Competition in June 08, this clip showcases few of Master Chen Zhenglie’s better known disciples. They are Zhang Dongwu, Wang Haijun, Chen Bin, Fu Nengbin and Chen Juan.

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.”

Illustrated Canon of Chen Family Taijiquan

The Illustrated Canon of Chen Family Taijiquan was written by Chen Xin from 1908. In 1919, the manuscript was sent off to Nanjing to try to get it published. That did not work out and the manuscript was lost.  in 1929, at his deathbed, Chen Xin passed over another copy of the manuscript to his nephew, Chen  ChunYuan and advised him to get it published or else to destroy it. Chen Chunyuan and a few others further arranged and edited it before it was finally published by KaiMing Bookstore in 1933. Thanks to them, this book remains one of the best taijiquan classic today.

How do you obtain a taiji ruler?

There really isn’t a need to buy any special equipment. For me, i just used a chinese rolling pin that is about a feet long. Others simply saw a section off an unused curtain rod.

Here are 2 simple steps on how to do the taiji ruler exercise. You may think of more.

1. Hold the ruler so that it is in a vertical position while your arms are like embracing a balloon. Push the ruler in so that it is near your chest and out again. At the same time your wrists must rotate as though you are wringing the ruler.

2. Hold the ruler horizontally in front of your chest with your palms facing your chest. Next,  using your waist , turn left but using your right hand to push your right end of ruler down (At this point, the right end of the ruler moves toward your body ) while your left hand will try to resist the movement. After that, turn back to face the front to the starting position. Repeat this on right side. Remember resistance is the key here.

Well the scanned images may not be of high resolution but it is good enough for research or personal use.

So here it is The Tai-chi Martial Art Digital Archive.

One of the manual in this archive is  by 17th generation xiaojia master, Chen Ziming. His work, The Art of Chen Family Taijiquan Transmitted Through Generations published in 1932.

Well hopefully some of you find this archive useful.