Taijiquan History
History of Taiji Quan
INTRODUCTION
Taiji Quan is now known and practiced by a growing number of people around the world. Its characteristics of artistic movement, beautiful and elegant to the eye and, the undeniable effectiveness of its Martial applications make it a unique and invaluable treasure of ancient Chinese culture.
This increased popularity, however, is still accompanied by a good dose of ignorance on the topic. The image that often prevails is that Taiji Quan is in fact a kind of dance whose movements are soft and graceful. Taiji Quan is in reality a fighting art both very powerful and sophisticated, which besides being a very effective method of self-defence, is an art based on the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, and consequently for the reasons herein below mentioned, constitutes a highly therapeutic form of exercise used throughout the world. The majority of the forms of Taiji Quan, practiced today around the world, belong to the Yang style. These are in fact the sequences created in the early decades of the last century by Yang Chengfu. This style omits totally areas such as bursts of energy or changes of pace during their execution. In fact it was precisely these omissions which were responsible for their exponential popularity.
But these elements are not, as one might be led to think, alien to the practice of Taiji Quan. In fact these are present in the forms pertaining to the Chen school, which is now rapidly increasing in the world wide popularity, even though it is still relatively unknown. The Chen style is the oldest style , and all other styles Taiji Quan , including the very popular Yang style, have emerged from it.
THE ORIGINS OF THE CHEN SCHOOL
Although the origin of Taiji Quan is often attributed to the legendary Taoist hermit Zhang San Feng, the historical reality is quite different. In the 1960s, after a careful study of historical sources, it was concluded that the origins of this art must be traced back to Chen Wang Ting, a professional warrior who lived in the period between the decline of the Ming dynasty and the ascent of the Ching Dynasty. It seems that he was very renowned for his martial skills, and he was also reputed to have actively contributed to the struggle against the phenomenon of banditry. Having retreated into solitude after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Wang Ting devoted himself to perfecting his system of combat and to teach it to the young members of his family, so that it could be passed on throughout the succeeding generations to come as a treasure to cherish within the privacy of the clan.
The martial sequences created by Chen Wang Ting initially included five forms of Taiji Quan, five forms of Pao Chui (Cannon Fists), and a form of "Long Fist" named “Chang Quan”, comprising of one hundred and eight movements. Over the following centuries, however, the descendants of Chen Wang Ting had gradually abandoned the study of all sequences of the family fighting arts, and only a few family members continued practice professionally, presumably because the motivation to do so tended to diminish as a result of the changing historical conditions.
The introduction of firearms, for example, contributed gradually to the decline of these martial arts as they began to lose practical importance, whereas before such introduction, these arts had been necessary to defend one’s own life and to protect one’s own clan. Towards the 1700's almost all the sequences taught by Chen Wang Ting, except for the first sequence of Taiji Quan and Pao Chui had been lost. In this period, Chen Chang Xin (fourteenth generation of the Chen family) unified and systematized the material available to him, dividing it into two parts: the first form, called "Lao Jia '" (Old Style), which puts the emphasis on relaxation and smoothness, and a second form of Pao Chui, more complex than the first, which tends to develop strength, agility and speed. The form Lao Jia has undergone much refinement in the course of centuries, such as those made by Chen You Beng, who created a new sequence, called "Xin Jia" (New Style). Other additions inevitably came about with the further spread of Chen style outside the family.
THE CHEN FAMILY
In the last century we have had distinguished representatives of the Taiji Chen family, such as Master Chen Fake (1887-1957), who spread this style in Beijing, reaching an enormous reputation for its fighting skills. Very famous are also some of his students, Liuxin or as Qu Feng Zhiqiang. Other great fighters seem to have been Chen Zhaokui and Chen Zhaopi, the son and grandson of Chen Fake. Today’s important and outstanding descendants of the family are Chen Xiaowang, grandson of Chen Fake, and his cousin Chen Zhenglei.
OTHER SHOOLS OF TAIJI QUAN DEVELOPED FROM CHEN FAMILY STYLE
After Chen Wangting, Taiji Quan spread outside the narrow circle of the Chen family, thus undergoing considerable changes over the centuries . In the eighteenth century, Yang Lu’ Chan a student of Chen Changxing, brought this martial discipline to Beijing. The slight changes made by him and his descendants, which were also dictated by the historical conditions of China at that time, gave birth to a new school of Taiji, which is the Yang school. At the beginning of this century, Chenfu, grandson of Yang Lu-ch'an, revised the Yang style giving it the gentle outward appearance that we know it today. All the dynamic movements of the Chen style are almost completely missing in form of Yang Chenfu, and this is what contributed to its far reaching diffusion all over the world.
One of the sons of Yang Lu-ch'an, Yang Banhou, taught a series of more compact movements. This style was picked up by Wu Quanyou, who in turn passed on this boxing style to his son Wu Jianquan. This is why the Wu Taiji style portrays more compact movements in which the trunk is more inclined than in the Yang school.
Finally we can mention the Sun school, founded by Sun Lu-t'ang, expert in Ba Qua Zhang and Xing Yi Quan. Sun Lu-T’ang learned Taiji Quan from Mao Welzheng. Sun merged together these three techniques to create an original form of Taiji Quan. Other minor schools of Taiji Quan are those of Wu Wu Yuxiang, that of Hao, the Li School of Li Yiyu, and the style of Zhao Bao, direct derivative of the Chen style.
The 5 major schools of Taiji Quan are:
- Chen
- Yang
- Wu
- Wü
- Sun
CHARACTERISTICS OF CHEN STYLE TAIJI QUAN
The particular characteristics of Chen style are essentially two:
The RELEASE OF EXPLOSIVE POWER (Fa Jin), and that of a type of SPIRALLING ENERGY (Zhansi Jin).
The correct understanding of the latter is one of the keys, perhaps most important, to acquire proper martial skill in Taiji quan.
ZHANSI JIN (CHAN SSU CHIN) - Strength wrapped like a silk thread.
This is a particular way of using force, with spiral movements that run clockwise or counter clockwise. To define this force, the Chen school teachers use the term 'Force wrapped up like a thread silk ', because of its resemblance to a silk thread that unravels from the cocoon drawing spirals that move in space.
As for the upper body, inner strength wrapped in the normal sense ( Shun Zhansi Jin) starts from the Dantian, rises to the shoulders, rotates around the arm through the elbow, and moves the fingers. In contrast, inner strength wrapped in the opposite direction (Ni Zhansi Jin) begins with the fingers, and describes a spiral path passing through the elbows, shoulders, and ends at the Dantian. To have an 'idea of the movement of these forces, we could say by and large that this is comparable to the movement of a screw that enters and leaves a block of wood.
It is important to stress that Jin can occur only if breath (QI) is free to move without hindrance throughout all parts of the body. It is fundamental to relax all tension, and consequently it is therefore necessary to carry out intensive individual training in the study of the forms, which are to be performed slowly and correctly, accompanied by proper breathing. Contemporary masters have developed special exercises, both stationary and moving, which allow you to unlock qi in the body.
FA JIN – Explosive strength
Explosive strength (FA JIN) is issued during exhalation. The emission of energy that The FA JIN involves is today found almost only in the forms of the Chen style, and particularly in the second form (PAO-CUI), but probably this was also present in the oldest Yang style forms. It seems that Yang Lu-ch'an, the great founder of this school, was able to develop this strength. The disappearance of FA JIN techniques in the forms of training of the Yang style certainly has a historical reason. The Yang family Taiji Quan was taught at the Imperial court, and given the hatred that the Han (as the Chinese call themselves) for the Manchu dynasty, the Yang family kept hidden its martial features, promoting only the soft and healthy aspects in their school of boxing. However the family continued to produce good fighters, albeit in secret. Among these were Yang Banhou or Janhou Yang, sons of Yang Lu-ch'an (he himself was nicknamed the "unrivalled").
The issuance of this force is quick as a flash and happens almost unconsciously. Chen Yanlin writes: "The emission of force occurs without one being aware of it.” At the moment of release of energy, the less one is aware of emitting it, the more forcefully it is received by the opponent. Conversely, if the energy is issued with violence, it is not delivered with the desired intensity. The reason is that, if he who issues the energy harbours the sensation of force, this only means that not all such force has been emitted and delivered.
Another feature of the FA JIN is the rapidity of its issuance. Master Chen Fake said that this is a "force of acceleration." The Chinese consider the rapidity of the attack as being more important than its intensity. An ancient text says "unfathomable as the clouds, move with lightning speed". To achieve this speed a very slow motion is needed in order to gain the maximum precision. Only extreme slowness makes it extremely accurate. The FA JIN is issued like a spring let loose. Chen Zhaopi said “The body is like a bow and the force like an arrow.”
Two of the major contributions made by Chen Wang Ting for the development of this martial art were the combination of these basic exercises with the techniques of Daoyi (application of the internal energy) and Tuina (Deep breathing) , and especially the creation of Tui shou (Push hands) exercises.
