April 1, 2007
Chen
Style Taijiquan and Qigong: Bibliography and Links
Chen Internal Energy Training: Silk Reeling Standing Ball Ruler
Chen Weapons: Pole Saber Spear Staff Sword
Quotations
Chen Style Taijiquan
As my reading, research, lessons, practice, and studies of Chen Style Taijiquan continues to progress, starting in March 2007, I keep my notes in "Mike Garofalo's Chen Taijiquan Studies Journal." I often post quotes and comments about internal martial arts in my "Cloud Hands Blog." Quotes and comments about Chen Style Taijiquan are found in "Cloud Hands Blog - Chen Taijiquan."
"The training exercises of Taiji, like those from all the
internal martial arts traditions of China, are designed to build gong.
What does it mean to built gong? Physically, the accumulation of gong
refers to constant improvements in balance, coordination, agility, flexibility,
sensitivity, and strength or power. Mentally and spiritually, the
accumulation of gong refers to improved awareness and confidence, and constant
advancements toward realizing tranquility of heart and mind. These
physical, mental and spiritual improvements are the benefits and purpose of
practice. The priority of accumulating gong (as opposed to martial
technique or trickery) is repeatedly emphasized in many of the most famous
sayings from the oral tradition of the Chinese internal martial arts."
- Yang Yang,
Taijiquan:
The Art of Nurturing, The Science of Power, 2005, p. 5.
"The Chinese place yin (negative) before yang (positive), because the
negative is the Mother of the positive. Therefore, there must be stillness before activity, softness before firmness. In Taijiquan, yin and yang
relate to movements such as opening and closing, and qualities such as firm and yielding, fast and slow, hard and soft, expanding and
contracting, solid and empty, up and down, etc. In the legs, yin-yang is distinguished by weight distribution that has one leg full; in support of the body
while the other leg is empty and capable of instant direction change. The same principle applies to the upper and lower body. One must
balance yin and yang: movements should not be too soft or too hard."
- Davidine Sim and David Gaffney, Chen Style Taijiquan, 2002, p. 13.
"Essentially, the control of your movements at a more advanced level can
be viewed as the evenness of the speed rather than at the same speed. In Chen style, fast and
slow is intermixed.
The force delivering movements (fa jin) requires speed. But even in this style,
there is evenness within all the variations of the speeds. This evenness contained within
different speeds is the key to cultivating elasticity and internal power of your force. In Yang and Sun
styles, most of the movements appear to be at the same speed, but with close examination you can
find almost unperceivable differences between parts of the movements."
- Dr. Paul Lam, "Variation in Speed," Tai Chi Health
and Lifestyle Newsletter, May 2003
"Exercises are performed singly or with a
partner, and contain both slow and fast movements. The system includes: Old
Frame First Form, Cannon Fist (Pao Chui), Taiji Single Sword, Taiji
Single Saber, Taiji Double Saber, Spring-Autumn Halberd, “Five Tigers Swarming
Sheep” Staff (Wu Hu Qun Yang Gun), Three-Opponent Staff, Pear Blossom
Spear/White Ape Staff (Li Hua Qiang Jia Bai Yuan Gun), Taiji Sphere,
Taiji Ruler (Xing Gong Bang), pole shaking (dou gun zi), the five
push-hands techniques of Chen Village, and joint locking and grappling (na fa).
The empty-hand forms contain the core principles of Chen Family Taijiquan: silk
reeling (chan si jin), leading into emptiness (yin jing lou kong),
neutralization (zhou hua), the basic energies, etc. In addition to these
skills, weapons are used for building up explosive force (fa li),
sensitivity (ling ji), and improving footwork."
- Mark Chen, Chen Style Taijiquan
"What makes Chen unique, in my opinion, is that it starts with
more of a physical training regimen through forms training. This can be called
houtian/post heaven/body building in nature and it stresses building the body up
in ways that Chen style needs. Apsects that are stressed include extending the
postures, holding lower stances, spreading the feet wider, going lower in
movements to work the dang, working on peng
or groundpath, and perhaps using exaggerated
fajing and chansijing by some
groups in order to get a feel for those requirements. These attributes will
often be exaggerated to some extent because doing so allows beginners to get a
better feel for them. It's easier to grasp bigger movements than smaller,
exaggerated over subtle. This is movement over stillness."
- Chen
Style as External, Part III, Formosa Neijia
"Yi lu (the first empty hand form) at the beginner level is
mostly done slowly with large motions interrupted by occasional expressions of
fast power (Fajing)
that comprise less than 20% of the movements, with the overall purpose of
teaching the body to move correctly. At the intermediate level it is practiced
in very low stances (low frame) with an exploration of clear directional
separation in power changes and in speed tempo. The movements become smaller and
the changes in directional force become more subtle. At the advanced level the
leg strength built at the previous level allows full relaxation and the
potential for Fajing in every movement."
- Chen
Taijiquan, Wikipedia
Valley
Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan Club
Red Bluff, Tehama County, North Sacramento Valley, Northern Central California,
U.S.A.
Cities in the area: Oroville, Paradise, Durham, Chico, Hamilton City, Orland,
Willows, Corning,
Rancho Tehama, Los Molinos, Tehama, Proberta, Gerber, Manton, Cottonwood,
Anderson, Shasta Lake, Palo Cedro, and Redding, CA, California.
Valley
Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan Journal
© Michael P. Garofalo, 2007, All Rights Reserved
Qigong: Links and Bibliography
Cloud Hands: T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Chi Kung Website
Chen Style Taijiquan and Qigong
Biography of Michael P. Garofalo
Valley Spirit Taijiquan, Red Bluff, California
Detailed Index to the Cloud Hands Website
First published on the Internet on April 1, 2007.
