How is your practise for the year 2009? Let see how a 12 year old been doing. According to the note posted on Youtube, she is doing Chen Style Taijiquan from Ma Hong school. She is the daughter of a prominent student of Ma Hong.

Well, I am sure we have been guilty of, or have encountered other players, slagging off each others styles, lineages or teachers; and the possibilities why we react that way must be a handful.

Now, Fist in hand with a Stamp is the signature of Buddha Warrior Pounds the Mortar. It is like the hallmark posture to Chen style Taiji and those who play it would know it involves inner focus of energy amidst a very quiet mind, with reams of expansiveness unbounded. It casts a deep impression to most beginners’ mind as it is one of the first movement that is introduced to them. And with its association to the Buddha warrior, I can’t help being drawn to something I read before, especially when I start thinking why other Taiji styles do not contain this fantastic move. With the below quotes, I wish that all of us Taiji players are also able to find liking and meaning in other styles of Taiji:

Zen

zen mind, beginner’s mind – quote from right attitude:
“If you understand the cause of conflict as some fixed or one-sided idea, you can find meaning in various practices without being caught by them. If you do not realise this point you will be easily caught by some particular way, and you will say ‘This is enlightenment! This is perfect practice. This is our way! The rest of the ways are not perfect. This is the best way.’ This is a big mistake. There is no particular way in true practice. You should find your own way, and you should know what kind of practice you have right now. Knowing both the advantages and disadvantages of some special practice, you can practice that special way without danger. But if you have one-sided attitude, you will ignore the disadvantage of the practice, emphasizing only its good part. Eventually you will discover the worst side of the practice, and become discouraged when it is too late. This is silly. We should be grateful that the ancient teachers point out this mistake.”

zen mind, beginner’s mind – quote from right understanding:
“But if enlightenment comes first, before thinking, before practice, your thinking and your practice will not be self-centered. By enlightenment I mean believing in nothing, believing in something which has no form or no color, which is ready to take form or color. This enlightenment is the immutable truth. It is on this original truth that our activity, our thinking, and our practice should be based”

Known as the “King of Wrestling” in Chen village, you would not suspect that He Guo-Yin is a blind man. Although blind in one eye since birth, He Guo-Yin was an active boy in Chen village. He started learning from Chen De-Yi after being thrown successively to the ground, when he tried mischievously to disrupt Chen’s farming activities.

Due to his surname, He Guo-Yin was considered an outsider and for a long time he could not be coached in the usual way. Instead, Chen De-Yi would throw him to the ground with an application move and he was left to figure out how it all worked. When He Guo-Yin thought he had it figured, he would go back to try the move on Chen. If there was a gap in his understanding, he would be thrown to the ground again. This process would repeat until he can successfully apply the move on Chen De-Yi, which usually took months.

In addition to Chen De-Yi, he also received pointers from other exponents, which include Wang Xian, Li Xi, Chen Zhi-Ben, Chen Xin-Lan, Chen Hei-Xin and Chen Yong. He became more prominent in recent years when the younger generation Chen Chun-Ai sought out his guidance, even though he was totally blind by then.

Ok, let us view this clip for inspiration; and ponder about the feelings going into our forms as if we are blindfolded.

Source: Shaolinyutaiji – March 09

If you can’t see the embedded video, please go to here

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

This weapon routine is not commonly taught beyond China. In the Chen village,  Chen XiaoXing’s school teaches them. Let look at the 2 routines here and you will see how it is being used. The common ways of using this weapon is to whack, hack, press, whirl. There is some similarity to the Chen Taijiquan Spring and Autumn Falchion routine.

First we have the smaller one, 梢棍

Next we will have the bigger one 梢杆。 Look at 0:27 . Can you do it?

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.

Zhu Tiancai DVD

Just when I thought ChenXiaowang has published the largest collection of DVDs , his fellow gongfu brother, Zhu Tiancai come out with a collection of 37 DVDs. One of the most comprehensive collection as it covers the Old, New and Small Frame, short and long weapons including a new fan routine. Here are the contents :

The 39 Discs consist of the following

1. Chen-style Taiji Fan – 2 discs

2. Chen Style Spring & Autumn Falchion – 2 discs

3. Chen Style – 13 strokes Old Frame – 1 disc

4. Chen Style 4 Basic Pattern Routine – 1 disc

5. Chen Style Single Broadsword – 2 disc

6. Chen Style Sanshou – 2 discs

7. Chen Style Double Broadsword – 1 disc

8. Chen Style – 13 strokes New Frame – 1 disc

9. Chen Style New Frame Routine 1 – 4 discs

10. Chen Style New Frame Routine 2 – 3 discs

11. Chen Style Old Frame Routine 1 – 4 discs

12. Chen Style Old Frame Routine 2 – 2 discs

13. Chen Style Single Sword – 2 discs

14. Chen Style Spear- 2 discs

15. Chen Style Small Frame- 3 discs

16. Chen Style Push Hands – 2 discs

17. Chen Style Routine Demonstrations – 3 discs

If you want to add this to your collection, you may get it from here

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

Chen Family Small Frame Taiji seems to most to be the lesser cousin of the Large Frame. This is not surprising as there have been much more written and discussed about the latter in the last 70 years or so due to its popularity. Some of the factors that could have contributed to this scenario are of course Chen Fake’s efforts and distinction that shook Beijing from the 1930s; and also Chen Zhaopi’s relentless labours from 1950s Chen Village for grooming some of today’s grandmasters.

However, it is interesting to look beyond the last 70 years and realise that the vast majority of the written works then about Chen Family Taiji was based on the Small Frame. The published works of Chen Xin and Chen Zhiming, which contain substantial discussions on theories, are both based on the Small Frame postures.

Regarded as the Chen Family Taiji Classics, we are fortunate to have Chen Xin’s “The illustrated Canon of Chen Family Taijiquan“, as well as Chen Zhiming’s “The Art of Chen Family Taijiquan Transmitted through the Generations“/ “The essence of Taijiquan” reprinted and republished in recent years. This, by no doubt, has helped to keep interests level high, and fan the growth of Chen Family Taiji players globally, whether Small Frame or Large.

So, what are the relations between the two frames and why the distinction, since a lot of the theories seen in the Chen Taiji classics can be applied to the Large Frame as well?

The preface of the recently republished book from Chen Zhiming offers us a view “The development that occurred during Chen Changxin’s and Chen Youben’s time was by leaps and bounds. There was further development through Chen Youben who innovated on what was traditionally transmitted to him. With many years of his own achievements in learning, enlightenment and combat efficiency, he modified some of the Large Frame movements. In his later years, he created what was to become Chen Family Small Frame, which has more continuous flow, and contains many lively and compact transition movements, and therefore more combat practical. The postures are similar to the Large Frame in terms of expansiveness but the fajing comes with a muted or delayed effect. Chen Youben is the innovator of the Small Frame while Chen Changxin is the successor of the traditional Large Frame.”

However, it is also interesting to hear Chen Xizhao, one of Chen Fake’s student based in Xi An, quoted as saying in Ma Guo Xiang’s book <My Taiji Journey>” Among the older generation, it is acknowledged that the small frame is foremost.”  If you are thinking “foremost” in terms of development, then the quote is in line with what is stated in the preface. But is it possible that it is not; and what are the implications?

Whatever it is, Chen Family Small Frame Taiji has its unique flavour. Let us take a moment to enjoy the clip below to mark the uniqueness of the Small Frame and also as a tribute to the recently demised Grand Master Chen Liqing. I do not practice the Small Frame or for that matter, I have no clue what Grand Master Chen Liqing is like. So to me, when I think of the Chen Family Small Frame Taiji, this clip of Grand Master Chen Liqing comes to mind with her exquisite performance of the hallmark muted fajing.

For more details on the Chen Family Small Frame, refer to this site: http://www.chinafrominside.com/ma/taiji/xiaojia.html