China Taiji Trip 2018

In January 2018, my wife and I spent three weeks in South China in the company of my Taiji Brothers and Sisters. We flew from Podgorica to Guangzhou, whence we travelled around the Pearl River Delta with stopovers in Zhongshan, Guzhen, Zhuhai, Shenzhen, and finally Hong Kong. The initial motivation for this trip was to attend the grand opening ceremony of the Zhongshan Taiji Association, which was followed by a four-day seminar led by Mr Zhao Youbin and Zhao Liang.

A couple of facts I didn’t know before travelling:
Guangzhou is actually the second most populated city in China (25 million), after Shanghai (34 million);
Shenzhen is the fourth most populated city (23.3 million), after Beijing (24.9 million);
Zhongshan is named after Sun Yat-sen (known in Mandarin as Sun Zhongshan), “the father of modern China”;
Guzhen is known as “the Lighting Capital of China”.

Mr Zhao’s seminar had two main strands: to provide an in-depth analysis of the 85 form, including applications, and to teach the “ba fa”, – a form designed to practise the eight key energies of Taiji and to enable participants to feel and remember them in their body. About 80 disciples and instructors took part in the seminar.

The grand opening of the Zhongshan Taiji Association

Getting to grips with the “ba fa”

Mr Zhao commenting on my “Repulse Monkey”

Being corrected by the Master himself always feels like a privilege

Time for the rewards…

… and some group photos!

Anka and me with Mr Zhao

At Brother Will’s wuguan. (Will is the first of the right, sitting.)

With Brother Dennis and Sister Jane. Hong Kong, Victoria Harbour Light Show.

… And the final group photo!

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The Way of Non-Force

On 20 and 21 October, Frederick Behar & Lucy Gardner held a Taiji and tui shou workshop in Podgorica (Montenegro).
The workshop covered techniques for pushing hands with the minimum force necessary. Working in pairs, we explored various exercises from which we learnt key skills such as:

• adapting to,  and following a partner
• pushing with a force of less than 2kg
• finding the most effective direction for pushing and pulling
• using “Dong Jing”, the energy of understanding a partner’s 
intentions

Part of the workshop was devoted to flexibility and mobility training. These aspects are important for both Taiji and push hands, and regular practice will ultimately enhance one’s skills in partner-work as well as one’s solo Taiji form.

Fred Behar’s “Way of Non-Force” follows the principles advocated by the Taiji Classics.
We never meet force with force. If a partner resists – we change tactics. In this way, push hands becomes an interesting physical and mental challenge in which men and women of any age can participate with confidence.

The workshop was extremely well received. We were all greatly impressed by Fred and Lucy’s relaxed and friendly, yet highly professional manner, as well as by the clarity of their instructions and demonstrations.
It was a privilege to be taught by people who devote their life to their art and apply its principles moment by moment.
Thank you both.We look forward to learning from you again.
Meanwhile, we’ll keep practising!

Podgorica Push Hands / Tui Shou

English version: Fred-and-Lucy-programme

Crnogorski: Fred-Lusy prog CG (1)-2

Radionica Qigong vježbe Ma Wang Dui Daoyin Shu u Podgorici

Tai Chi Chuan klub Zhao Youbin poziva vas na početni stepen Qigong vježbe Ma Wang Dui Daoyin Shu i samomasažu meridijana.

Radionica će se održati u Podgorici, 9. juna od 19 do 21 h (Tuishou i Osnove borilačkih aplikacija, https://goo.gl/muES15 ) i 10. juna od 9 do 12 i od 15 do 18 h (Zdravstveni Qigong, https://goo.gl/AgaA9Q).

Radionicu će voditi majstor Chen Shining, glavni instruktor i predsjednik Zdravstvenog qigong saveza Slovenije, i viša instruktorka Zdravstvenog Qigong saveza Slovenije Tina Hribar.

Radionica je namijenjena kako početnicima tako i polaznicima koji već praktikuju Qigon i Tai Chi.

Cijena: 80,00 € za obje radionice, odnosno 20,00 € za radionicu 9. juna ili 60,00 € za radionicu 10. juna. Uplate se vrše do 3. juna na žiro račun Kluba:

Crnogorska komercijalna banka
Broj računa: 510000000008585122
Naziv imaoca računa: Tai Chi Quan Klub „Zhao You Bin“ Podgorica

Tačno mjesto održavanja biće naknadno objavljeno u zavisnosti od broja prijavljenih učesnika.

 

IN MEMORIAM FU SHENG YUAN

It is with great sadness that I learned about the death of Grandmaster Fu Sheng Yuan on 27^th March. With him, the Tai Chi world loses a superlative exponent of Yang Style Tai Chi and one of the last 5^th Generation descendants of the Yang family.
Sincere condolences to his family.

Like Grandmaster Zhao Youbin, Grandmaster Fu Sheng Yuan was a 5^th Generation descendant of the Yang family. They were cousins, as their fathers, Zhao Bin and Fu Zhong Wen, had married into the Yang family and in addition were both disciples of Yang Cheng Fu.

In October 2013, I was fortunate enough to meet Master Fu Sheng Yuan on the occasion of an international instructor training and certification seminar organised by the Chinese Wushu Federation in Tai’an (Shandong Province). I was struck by his warm-heartedness and his simplicity.

Among members of the certification panel were Master Zhao Youbin (2nd from left), Master Fu Sheng Yuan (4th from left) and his son Fu Qing Quan (James, 1st from right).

At the end of the seminar, masters of all Tai Chi styles demonstrated their art together.

During that performance, Master Fu pushed hands with his son. You can guess the outcome!

Short biography

Fu Sheng Yuan (1931- 2017) was the son of Fu Zhong Wen and Zou Kuei Cheng, who was the great-grand-daughter of Yang Chien Hou.

Fu Sheng Yuan began his training at a very young age and following in his father’s footsteps he began his training at the age of 9.

Yang Cheng Fu’s wish was for Fu Zhong Wen to pass on the family art of Tai Chi to the world, but due to restrictions on travelling out of China at that time, Fu Zhong Wen was unable to fulfill his master’s wish of spreading Tai Chi to the rest of the world.

In 1989 Fu Sheng Yuan and his family emigrated to Australia. When Fu Sheng Yuan and his family arrived in Perth, they were welcomed by the ex-Prime Minister Bob Hawke. Fu Sheng Yuan established the Fu Sheng Yuan Tai Chi Academy in Perth and continued his father’s legacy of spreading the art of Tai Chi to the world. He was also continually invited to teach all over the world.

Master Fu Sheng Yuan was the only person outside China to be awarded by the Chinese Wushu Association with the Grading of 8th Dan (Silver Dragon Badge) and James Fu his son was awarded with a 6th Dan (Gold Tiger Badge). James Fu has since achieved a 7th Dan grading.

Master Fu was also honoured by the Chinese Wushu Association with a lifetime achievement award for his contribution in promoting Tai Chi around the world . The association presented him with a certificate and a Gold Cup acknowledging his hard work in travelling around the world teaching Tai Chi and promoting the Chinese Martial Arts Culture.

[This short biography is based on information found at http://staging.fushengyuan-taichi.com.au/gallery/fu-sheng-yuan%5D

As is well known, Master Fu’s father, Fu Zhong Wen, is the author of Mastering Yang Style Taijiquan, the book whose translation into English by Louis Swaim is regarded as the definitive guide to Yang Style Tai Chi by all practitioners of the art outside China.

You can watch Master Fu pushing hands with his son here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYJbnZOSNcc

and here you can watch him doing the 85 form:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qyhcy5fUjk

China / Thailand Trip, Feb. – March 2017

Shanghai Pudong airport. Waiting for my flight to Xi’an.

Lunch with Sifu (Mr Zhao Youbin) and his son Zhao Liang. I’m slowly recovering from 22 hours in the air on five different planes!

My knowledge of Chinese being virtually non-existent, I was very lucky that my friend Helen happened to be in Xi’an and kindly acted as an interpreter every day. Helen is originally from Xi’an but moved to Toronto many years ago. Apart from being fully bilingual, she also practises both Yang- and Chen-style taiji quan.

February 21st … Snow! With Helen (on my right) and Che laoshi.

A little snow, a lot of fun.

My favourite breakfast when in China: hu la tang.

Practising the duan wei 1 routine.

Getting some corrections and explanations from Sifu.

In front of Sifu’s block of flats. My first visit to his home.

With Sifu’s mother, who is now in her nineties.

On February 23rd, I went to Gaoling to visit the school where Sifu’s father, Zhao Bin, was once a student. Some of Sifu’s disciples now go there twice a week to whip up young people’s interest in taiji and in wushu more generally.

With some of my Taiji brothers and sisters next to the commemorative plaque to Mr Zhao Bin.

Students getting ready for practice

Che laoshi pepping up a group of  students

Che laoshi is incredibly flexible…

…and it isn’t easy to emulate her!

March 4th. Taking advantage of a sunny spell to have lunch outside with Sifu and some other people

 

Arrival in Thailand.

With my friend Claire Hu, a long-time taiji practitioner.

From about 6 o’clock in the morning, Lumpini Park in central Bangkok becomes a practice area for countless fitness, taiji, bagua, etc  enthusiasts.
Lucy Gardner (author of The Tai Chi Companion) and Fred Behar (her partner and teacher) live in Thailand about half of the year. They practise and teach in Lumpini every day.
Fred is the founder of the Central Equilibrium School of taiji and also created his own style of tui shou.

With Lucy and Fred and their adopted Lumpini pets.

Time to say goodbye …

With the Yongnian taiji group in Lumpini. All of these people were taught by Mr Zhao Youbin and/or his disciples.

Our club has a new President

Dear Taiji Friends,

The year before last, at the end of December 2015, I announced my intention to step down as President of our club. I had been in that function since the very beginning, and it was high time someone else took over.

In healthy clubs, just like in healthy democracies, elections should be held on a regular basis.

It is for me a great pleasure to announce that our Executive Committee has unanimously voted for Ms Lida Vukmanović-Tabaš.

In other words, Lida is now the new President of the Zhao Youbin Taiji Quan Club of Montenegro.

I wish to congratulate Lida on her nomination. We all know how committed she is to teaching Taiji and Qigong and to making these wonderful arts more widely available.

Let’s all wish her the best of luck and continue to give her as much support as we can.

John

The ‘Donyu’ and ‘Toryu’

As you probably know if you’ve visited this blog before, I first practised Taiji Quan in a group when I was a student at Edinburgh University in the early nineties. The classes I attended where organised by the local branch of the Taoist Tai Chi Society, a world-wide network of instructors and practitioners founded by Master Moy Lin-shin.

It is while practising with the TTCS that I learned the second set of “warm-up exercises” that I now teach in my own Taiji Quan classes.

My favourite exercises from that set were always the don yu and the tor yu. I could feel that they were doing me good, but I knew nothing of their origin. It is only recently that I decided to try to find out more.

If you explore these two very informative and well-researched sites

http://neijiatao.wordpress.com

and

http://benotdefeatedbytherain.blogspot.ca/2013/11/yiquan-master-liang-zi-peng-bruce-lees.html

you will learn that these exercises are products of the Xing Yi Quan (= Hsing-I Chuan) and/or Yiquan tradition.

Xing Yi Quan and Yiquan, together with Baguazhang, Liuhebafa (= Lok Hup Ba Fa) and of course Taiji Quan, constitute the family of the so-called Chinese internal martial arts. Mr Moy Lin-shin learned all these internal martial arts. While in Hong Kong, he studied Yiquan with Master Liang Zi Peng (=Liang Zhi Peng / Leung Tze Pang / 梁子鵬), for whom the don yu and the tor yu, together with zhan zhuang, were “the three treasures of Southern Yiquan”.

There is a great video of Master Liang Zi Peng performing tor yus and don yus at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WOvsf3yR-g

This was filmed a long time ago, which explains the poor quality, but it is an invaluable historical document.

These exercises were later modified by Mr Moy Lin-shin in the same way as he modified the traditional Yang-style Taiji form.

Conversely, I do not teach the don yu and the tor yu in exactly the same way as I learnt them because I now teach a traditional Yang-style Taiji form – Mr Zhao Youbin’s.

This is the state of my research to date. I do not know if it is Master Liang Zi Peng who “invented” the don yu and tor yu, or if he learnt them from one or more of his own teachers. If I manage to find out more about the history of these great exercises, I’ll update this brief overview.

Meanwhile, let’s keep practising.

 Master Liang Zi Peng

 

You can’t bathe twice in the same river …

“Fan through the Back”

Yang Chengfu 1915 (aged 32)

Yang Chengfu 1934 (aged 51)

 

Push Hands Workshop with Nils Klug

On 16^th and 17^th September, the Zhao Youbin Taiji Club (Podgorica) had the pleasure to host a workshop run by Nils Klug. The aim of the workshop was to introduce participants to the art of tui shou (push hands) and to some of the martial applications of certain Taiji postures.

We already knew that Nils is a seasoned Taiji and push hands practitioner, and we soon discovered that in addition he is also an excellent and warm-hearted teacher. Although the group was very heterogeneous in terms of expectations and personal experience of Taiji, Nils managed very quickly to find some common ground and develop a programme which seemed to grow organically from our questions, while it also had a clear structure. A perfect example of a bottom-up approach!

We enjoyed the fine balance between theory and practice and also the fact that the programme had more depth than breadth. We have gained a better understanding of some of the things we do in our training and learnt a number of exercises that we can practise to strengthen our foundation … until Nils’ next visit, which we are already looking forward to.

By the way, Nils’ sites contain a wealth of information about Taiji and push hands. Do visit them!

www.taiji-forum.de
www.tai-chi-studio.de
www.push-hands.de

Just having a quick rest

I’m pushing, but …

The workshop in full swing

Grounded like a grand

Welcome!

An ending and a new beginning

A smile is worth a thousand words

It feels different now …

These four photos stubbornly refused to get rotated: