After we visited the Shaolin Monastery, we took the train to Huashan. The high-speed train took just over two hours to get to the little town at the mountains’ foot. The town exists almost only because of the Yu Quan temple, and of the famous mountain range where the Daoist sages took refuge to live [...] Read more – ‘Huashan’.
On the day following Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang‘s seminar, we left Chenjiagou and headed to Luoyang, to visit the Longmen Grottoes, south of China’s ancient capital. The grottoes were excavated in the limestone of the Longmen and Xiang mountains, on the bank of the Yi river. Inside the grottoes, directly carved on the mountain, are the [...] Read more – ‘Longmen and Shaolin’.
Jan Silberstorff was born in 1967 in Hamburg, and began learning martial arts when he was 15 years old, starting with an external kungfu system. After some years practicing, he came to know about the internal styles, and got interested in Taijiquan (tai chi chuan). When he was 22 years old, he decided to travel [...] Read more – ‘Jan Silberstorff’.
During practice, you will feel very tired. When this happens, remember that tiredness is just a feeling. Chen Yingjun told me that when i was just starting my intensive practice with him in China. In order to understand the broader meaning of this, it’s neccessary to emphazise the context. For the beginner, Taijiquan (tai chi [...] Read more – ‘Tiredness’.
After visiting Beijing, we took a train to Luoyang, and then a bus to Chenjiagou. The village name literally means “Chen family ditch”, and refers to a small water channel that made the land fertile in the time when Chen Bu settled at the region, to repopulate it after a civil war. The ditch is [...] Read more – ‘Chenjiagou 2011’.
Back to China, after 8 years. This time, as a co-organizer of a group trip that took 39 brazilians to the craddle of martial arts. The trip was promoted by WCTA-Br in partnership with IFTB, with a special focus on the training in Chenjiagou under the auspices of Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang, and in Huashan under [...] Read more – ‘Beijing’.
You can copy the looks, but you can’t copy the skill. Chen Yingjun said that to me once, when i did a rather good copy of a move in laojia. What it means is that it is easy to copy the outside appearence of a move, but it is impossible to copy the gongfu. Skill [...] Read more – ‘Skill and Appearence’.
It is impossible to learn Taijiquan (tai chi chuan) from the internet. I get a lot of questions about this on email. The answer is: no, it is not possible. No, there isn’t a secret that i will tell someone by email, write on a book, or show on a video, that will alow him [...] Read more – ‘About Learning Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) on the Internet’.
Martial arts practice is starting to be considered as an alternative for medication for coping with ADHD and ADD by some experts in the USA. Martial arts can have lasting effects, without the risks of drug therapy, they say. The concept involved is called Kinectic Linking, a process that connects physical movement to thought to [...] Read more – ‘Martial Arts and Atention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder’.
Taijiquan (tai chi chuan) training, as taught by Grandmaster [Chen-Xioawang], requires daily practice of zhanzhuang, which is also called Standing Meditation. The name is not just due to poetic license: even tough in the first months this exercise may seem very physical, it should take the student to a meditative state. A recent research published [...] Read more – ‘Meditation and your Brain’.
There are no shortcuts in the learning process. A very weird belief has spread in the west, probably sprouting form some old chinese legend or story: the belief that once one unlocks the “secret” to the energy circulation, his body will be magically transformed and he will have mastered the art of Taijiquan (tai chi [...] Read more – ‘No shortcuts to practice’.
It’s been a month i have been teaching Taijiquan (tai chi chuan) in a gym which specializes in Yoga, so, all my students there have been practicing Yoga for some time. When i was hired, i had no idea what to expect – i had never attended a Yoga class. All i knew about Yoga [...] Read more – ‘Teaching Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) to Yogis’.
When the available learning model is that of annual seminars, this raises questions both for new students and experienced ones. Those starting to learn ask themselves why they should go to a seminar where a long and complex form, which they won’t be able to learn at once, will be taught, and those already well [...] Read more – ‘What to learn in a Tai Chi Chuan seminar’.
Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang was born in Chenjiagou in 1945, and started to practice his family art at 8 years old with his uncles Chen Zhaopei and Chen Zhaokui. Stories abound regarding his skill since young age. Chen Xiaowang won the All-China Gold Medal for taijiquan (tai chi chuan) in 1980, 1982 and 1983, and in [...] Read more – ‘Chen Xiaowang’.
This is the transcript of the main teachings by master Jan Silberstorff in Salvador, Brazil, in 2006. The seminar was hosted by Liana Netto, and the year was marked by the founding of WCTA-Br. Read more – ‘3rd Seminar with Jan Silberstorff – Brazil, 2006’.
Chen Yingjun was born in Chenjiagou in 1976, and started to learn taijiquan (tai chi chuan) from his father since the age of 8. The training was comprised mainly of zhanzhuang (zhan zhuang), chansijin and laojia up to the age of 14, taking aorund 2 hours a day. At that age the young Yingjun decided [...] Read more – ‘Chen Yingjun’.
This is a small glossary for Taijiquan students, with the main chinese terms used in practice. Each term is spelled in Wade-Giles and Pinyin, and the traditional and modern chinese characters are linked to their Wikitionary entries. Read more – ‘Glossary’.
There are many legends and some controversy as to how taijiquan was created, and with the tendency to ascribe the creation of important features to mithycal figures in chinese culture, combined to the scarce literature about the subject, it is common to find experienced students who have no idea of the historical facts regarding the birth of the style. Read more – ‘Historical origin of Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan)’.
Technical content Technical information in this website about exercises is not meant to substitute a qualified teacher, and is published here only for theoretical reference. Before starting any exercise program, see your doctor and have him assess your physical condition. Choose your teacher carefully. Liability The administrator of this website and the authors of its [...] Read more – ‘Liability waiver’.
We have a strict policy of respect for our readers privacy. Comments If you leave a comment in our site, you will be required to inform your name and email. Your email will never be published. After your comment is aproved it will become public, and may be read by anyone who visits the site. [...] Read more – ‘Privacy statement’.
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