Chen Taijiquan Practical Method in the Bay Area

The information on this blog is intended to serve the Practical Method taijiquan community of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method was developed by Hong Junsheng, disciple of Grandmaster Chen Fa-Ke. We practice the form as taught by Hong's disciple Chen Zhonghua (Joseph Chen).

Special workshops and private lessons on Taijiquan theory and practice are available. Check out the calendar or the classes section of the website (chenstyletaiji.org) for specific class times and information. Or email nathan.heintz(at)gmail.com.

Nathan Heintz is a student of Chen Zhonghua, the International Standard Bearer of the Practical Method art. Through this blog I will be sharing training notes, relevant videos, photos, and reflections on taijiquan practice and theory. I also intend to provide a bit of a portal into the vast world that Grandmaster Hong's art has spawned. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

For more on the Practical Method, check out the main website at practicalmethod.com

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Chen Zhonghua Yilu: March 2009


This is a video as part of the workshop for students at the Maple Ridge workshop on March 29, 2009. In this video Master Chen Zhonghua demonstrated the normal slow light version of the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method Yilu form.

One Day, One Form, One Move

Joseph Chen told me that someone once asked him, "How many moves are there in your set?" and he replied, "Just one." Although it is known that there are many moves in the yilu, the first form of Chen taijiquan, the form is really just one continuous movement. Of course knowing the names of the moves in Chen Taijiquan can act as a very helpful map of the form, for discussing different moves etc, so that you know what you're talking about, but the form is ultimately continuous to itself - it is singular. Master Chen's reply also implies that you shouldn't focus on the surface aspect of your form. Who cares how many moves there are in your form? Another answer to this question might be "enough". "There are enough moves". Rather than ask how many moves, ask, "Is your form good?" or "Does your form apply the principles of taiji?" or better yet "Do you see anything that I could improve in my form?" It is better to focus on the substance of something than make some generalizations or characterizations. For example, this blog will tell you next to nothing about my form. this can be seen as just some Jibber Jabber. To know if there is something there, you have to see it in person, and get down in the stance and do the circle or touch and see what you feel. In fact, it also doesn't matter what it looks like. The form is not supposed to be pretty. Its supposed to be effective. I remember thinking Gordon Muir's form looked weird...until I touched him and he made me feel like I could just go down a hole in the ground. Then I listened. Then I was looking at his form with a listening mind. It is important not to let good looks and numbers of moves and fancy spirals and the like get in the way of learning.

In the same way that there is only one move in the form, there is also only one day in your life. Of course it is sometimes important and useful to talk about "yesterday" or "tomorrow" or "next Thursday", but in reality, in terms of your physical position in time and space (which is where taijiquan occurs), there is only today. And if you are practicing taiji today, which you should, then there is also really only one form. This one. The one you are doing right now.

The redheaded Scott of Edmonton, a taijiquan brother of mine, helped me understand this about taiji during Master Chen's Taiji Tradition Camp 2009, hosted by Master Gordon Muir. Scott kept asking me how many forms I had done that day. He'd say, "how many forms is that?" And I would stop and think and try to count and get mixed up and say "I don't know, three or four". Then he would laugh and say "oh! only three!". After this happened four or five times over the course of a couple of days, I had to laugh about this question. I started saying "How many? I don't know, you tell me" or "twenty three" and then finally I just said "one. this is number one." This understanding has completely transformed my practice over the last few weeks because I used to concern myself with "how many forms should I be doing?", or "how many forms did I do yesterday?" or "I should do at least x # of forms per day". But no matter how I tried, I could not keep a steady practice, because I was living in a fantasy world of "should". Now, I just do one form per day. That's my commitment. One form, One day. Because there's really only one of each of these anyway, how could I expect more from myself? To expect more than this is foolish in my mind. But now, after I do one form, I start getting warmed up, and feeling good and getting a bit of a workout, so I often do a few more. This kind of mentality has really helped me build inertia and steadiness in my practice. One of Courtney Blackburn's students asked him once, "How many times per day should I practice?" and I remember Courtney replied "How many times do you eat?". Its really simple. Its like "I'm hungry, I should eat a sandwich." Same thing. "Oh, today's a day, nice. I should do some taiji."

Next I'll post a video of Master Chen doing the yilu. Have a look. One move?