Chen Taijiquan Practical Method: 2011

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

Friday, April 8, 2011

Practical Method website www.chenstyletaiji.org has been updated.

The about section for my website www.chenstyletaiji.org has been updated. I've included a brief description of Chen Style Taijiquan with links to writings by my Sifu, Master Chen Zhonghua, as well as other practitioners of the art. I look forward to hearing from you. The springtime in Oakland is a wonderful time and place to practice. Call me up and let's meet up at the lake.

Nathan Heintz

Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method of the SF Bay Area

Nathan Heintz and Chen Taijiquan

I have been a student of Master Chen Zhonghua (Joseph Chen) since the summer of 2007, when I spent 3 months studying the Practical Method full time on Daqingshan mountain in Shandong, China. Prior to that, since 1998, I trained the Chen Style Hunyuan Xingyi Taijiquan system of Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang under Courtney Blackburn of Santa Cruz CA, disciple of Chen Jin Hong (Gene Chen), who was respectively Master Feng's first disciple. I am very much in Courtney Blackburn's debt for his generous teaching and friendship, and although I never got the chance to meet him, to Gene Chen as well.

In the summer of 2011, I returned to DQS for 1.5 months of immersion in Chen Taiji with Master Chen Zhonghua.

My studies of the Chen Taiji Practical Method with Master Chen Zhonghua have enriched my practice and my life immeasurably over the past few years. I feel that it is my honor and responsibility to be true to the teachings of Chen Fa Ke, Hong Junsheng, and Chen Zhonghua to the best of my abilities, and it is in their big shadow and in their name that I practice.

From the time of my initial exposure to taiji, I have known that it is a worthwhile activity. In fact, it is one of the only activities that I can say with certainty is truly worthwhile. It is an activity that enables the growth and development of the whole human being, and that never ceases to be challenging. It is an activity that is grounded in constant learning and therefore requires humility to be successful, and an ability to admit when you are doing something incorrectly. To really admit this and live with a beginners attitude and thereby maximize my learning is my real aim in training taiji. In this regard, I am very grateful to my teacher, Master Chen Zhonghua, for being a great friend and ally, for generously welcoming me into his taiji family and for leading a way for his students.

Chen Taijiquan Practical Method

Chen Taijiquan Practical Method in the Bay Area

Friday, April 8, 2011

Practical Method website www.chenstyletaiji.org has been updated.

Grandmaster Chen Fa Ke

Grandmaster Hong Junsheng

Master Chen Zhonghua

Nathan Heintz with Master Chen Zhonghua

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