Training Chen Tai Chi in the Chen Village
Training tai chi in the Chen Village (陈家沟) has been something I’ve wanted to do for some time now. Ever since I started getting more into the history and practice of tai chi I knew that I had to make a trip to the Chen village. To give a little background on the Chen village, the Chen village is essentially where Chen style Tai Chi originated. Chen style tai chi is the root of pretty much all known forms of tai chi including Yang, Sun, Wu, etc… so the Chen village or Chen Jia Gou is essentially the birthplace of modern tai chi.
The picture above is taken inside of temple grounds in the Chen village made to commemorate the different generations of notable Chen tai chi descendants.
Chen Wangting is known as the founder of Chen tai chi. He was a Ming dynasty military general who supposedly combined his martial arts and combat knowledge with Chinese medicine and Taoist philosophies. Another notable Chen descendant is 14th generation Chen Changxing who taught Yang Luchan whom became the founder of Yang style tai chi.
Below is some art on the walls of the Chen village temple.
Well that’s enough of the history lesson.. the urge in me to go to the mecca of tai chi kept growing and growing until it couldn’t be contained. Then one day I talked to Wang Zhanhai laoshi who said his father Wang Xi’an was in town in the Chen village and that I could go train there.. and that was that.. no more deciding. I hopped on a train first thing the next day to Henan and got my training started.
Wang Xi’an is a 19th generation disciple of Chen style tai chi. He is one of the “Four Buddhas” or “Four Tigers” of Chen Tai Chi. After the Cultural Revolution in China during the period of reconstruction the Chinese government made Wang Xi’an, Chen Xiaowang, Chen Zhenlei, and Zhu Tiancai official traveling ambassadors of tai chi chuan. Wang Xi’an laoshi is known for his combat applications of tai chi chuan. While training at his school some of his elder students told him to demonstrate some moves on me… now since he is around 70 I thought he probably would be tired of demonstrating and decline their requests. To my surprise he signaled for me to “come here”. He told me he wouldn’t use full strength at which point I thanked him and prepared for his move. In the blink of an eye he had hit me and launched me flying!… and while flying back he quickly grabbed me back. It seemed lightning quick!
My time there I spent 6 hours a day training tai chi from Wang laoshi and his students. Of course technically one could train anywhere as long as you have a good teacher, but the air and water breathes tai chi in the Chen village so it just puts you in this mentality to focus and take in all the tai chi you can.
In the picture above I am doing tai chi in the “gou” of Chen Jia Gou. “Gou” literally is like a “ditch” or “ravine” and the Chen village is literally surrounded by some ditches. We walked down the small pathway into the ditch and did tai chi where hundreds of others had all trained before. It was a very peaceful place to train.
What else can I say about training in the Chen village? Life was more simple. I notice that all the teachers and practitioners of tai chi in the Chen village seemed to have balance in their lives. They seemed to practice more than Tai Chi Chuan; they practiced Tai Chi philosophy which essentially is about yin and yang, black and white, heaven and earth.. and that there is balance in life. Given that I only had to worry about eating, training, and sleeping it was quite relaxing and intense training at the same time. I learned a lot – I learned the Wang Xi’an 42 form which comprises a lot of moves from the Old Frame and New Frame forms. I learned applications and proper instruction on generating the “fa jing” energy. “Fa jing” is that explosive force of energy that is delivered as a push or hit in tai chi. It looks crazy and looks unlike a normal punch that purely uses the muscle in the arm and or movement of the waist.
On my last day I went out for dinner with Wang Laoshi and my other teachers. We had some good food and drink and then they sent me off. I felt great kindness and hospitality from all these tai chi teachers who were all my elders and could kick ass. That is another particular thing I really like about Chen style is how grounded it is in combat application as well as a calming practice that promotes longevity and balance in life. I am truly grateful for the experience and being treated like a family member there. I definitely want to go back again. There is so much to learn.