By: 方颖华 (Warmond Fang) Feb. 6 2016
I just came back from an 8-day intensive week of training with Marin Spivack in the Chen Yu line of Chen Taijiquan and I just want to say it was an eye opening and humbling experience to say the least. (more…)
Chen Shi Taijiquan Gongfu Jia Erlu 5-28-2016
Here, a recent snapshot of how Chen Taijiquan Erlu practice looked at a particular day, particular point in the practice cycle and particular mood.
Chen Shi Taijiquan Gongfu Jia Yilu #2 5-28-2016
Here, another version of Yilu slightly longer and a bit faster with guest cameo.
Chen Shi Taijiquan Gongfu Jia Yilu #1 5-28-2016
Spring 2016 on the cusp of summer and perfect weather for outdoor cultivation before it is miserably hot. Here is the first of several attempts to capture the spark. This bit of Chen gongfu Yilu is the slower and first version.
Through the Door
Yesterday was a special day as we welcomes Omar Lakri through the door of traditional Chen Shi Taijiquan Gongfu Jia! He has been a hard working student and now as a 21st gen. Tudi of the art he will walk the path of a serious cultivator of the practice and be a resource for its survival in years to come. He is fortunate through the right place & right time, as well as his own efforts to have glimpsed the feeling and method of the traditional gongfu, no turning back now! For those who are the serious searchers and are lucky enough to bump into the real thing, it is difficult or impossible to turn away, challenging as it is.
As a small and traditionally focused bitter gongfu society we are happy to have yet another reliably hard working developer of this practice to our family. Welcome Omar!
Chen Taijiquan Gongfu Jia With Marin Spivack, First Impressions, by William Miller
I have recently returned from Boston for a week of intense training with Marin Spivack of the Chen Zhaokui lineage. Having appreciated Marin Spivack’s ability to articulate his experience regarding Chen Taiji, watching his videos, along with some of the highly achieved masters he has studied under, I took notice that their method differed from mine. This difference sparked my interest. I wanted to discover (more…)
Attaining Chen Taijiquan Gongfu & Character of Teachers
How does one go about getting through the door of the school (or teacher) which they have decided they want to learn from? This can be a complicated territory for would be students of Chinese internal gongfu. Due to cultural differences in some part, even achieving the proper perspective can be very deceptive. In these times many people may (in the west) still believe in taking things at face value. They often see their (usually Chinese) teachers as rather one dimensional. Due to language barriers and lack of cultural understanding (more…)
Chen Taijiquan Survival in Chen Village Through the Difficult Years Part 3
(By Warmond Fang)
This is the third and perhaps final article in covering the history of Chen Village and the development of Chen Taijiquan. This article will cover the time period starting from the Cultural Revolution and to the Return of Chen Zhaokui and later Feng Zhiqiang. Again, all Chinese sources will be posted and an English translation provided after. I will also list source material, author and links to original source material where available. I will start by translating a narrative given by Zhang Weizhen, the Communist Secretary for Chen Village starting from the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
1966年，“文革”开始了，支持练拳的张蔚珍被罢了官。练拳的人失去了保护伞，先是成分不好的陈克忠被揪出来批斗，接着陈照丕也因一些历史问题被抓走。生性耿直的陈照丕因受不了侮辱和折磨跳井自杀，受伤后被家人抬回去养伤，刚刚热起的太极拳就这样冷了下来。
In 1966, The cultural revolution began. Zhang Weizhen (more…)
Chen Taijiquan Survival in Chen Village Through the Difficult Years Parts 1 & 2
These are several very informative articles written on facebook by Warmond Fang in response to much misinformation about this fascinating history. Copyright 2016! Posted here with permission.
Part 1:
(Taiji-guy-X was) claiming that Chen Taijiquan has no broken continuity and that what they call “old frame” in modern times is exactly what was practiced in Chen village since time immemorial and I can assure you this reading of history is incorrect and not supported by historical evidence.
It is true that all Chen Taijiquan started in Chenjiagou but due to a multitude of factors such as economic, political, natural disasters etc. Taijiquan suffered from broken continuity and what is called “old frame” or “laojia” today in Chen Village is not the same Taijiquan that has always been practiced since the advent of Chen Taiji in CJG. More accurately it was the frame that CZP brought back to Chen Village after he retired from the Yellow River Conservancy Commission in 1958 after discovering the fact that the art was near extinction in CJG.
Let’s first look at an original essay written by Chen Ke Shen (Chen Zhaopi’s son) regarding (more…)
Interesting old Chen Taijiquan Lineage Chart from Gene Chen
This is the old lineage chart given to us (students of Gene Chen) back in the 1990’s, before the commercialization of Chen family and the big business of Taiji Tourism. Memories..
