Welcome to the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method Website! Chen Style Taijiquan was born of neccessity during a volatile period of hostility and banditry over 400 years ago. In order to protect the family, the village and the township, the Chen Family Masters had kept it a secret from the outside world until 1928 when 17th generation standard bearer, Chen Fake, took the art to Beijing for reasons that we cannot reveal here.
Up until this time, the traditional method of linear transmission to one person was maintained (i.e. one person in each generation was endowed with the fullness of the art). Chen Fake’s departure from the Chen Village, therefore, historically altered the path of Chen Taiji transmission. In a way, the Chen Style no longer resided in the Chen Village. Thanks to the modernization of China, however, its historical home has been restored. Today, not only does the Chen Village continue to be the source and major center for this art, many other places such as Beijing, Jinan, Zheng Zhou, Xi An, New York, London are all important transmission grounds for this art. Indeed Chen Style Taijiquan has become international and it is not lost at all. I had the good fortune of learning the original choreography of this art from grandmaster Hong Junsheng when I was a young man in China. Throughout my life, this art and the teachings of Hong Junsheng have guided me over difficult times and have always served me well. I cannot embezzle any of it. Like grandmaster Hong, I have an obligation to pass it on to the future generation. Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method is an inheritance and continuation of Chen Fake's original teachings. The choreography is kept intact while some of the movements that are contained in the detailed applications are added in order to make the form and application identical. Thus the title, Practical Method. When Chen Fake taught, he taught a form that was not entirely the same as the way the applications were done. The Practical Method is thus a fusion of these two ways. I am very pleased that my students and disciples are taking on the immense task of hosting this blog site to present my teaching materials to the world. I hope that practitioners of Chen Style Taijiquan world wide will benefit from this blog. I also welcome participation and contribution from readers and viewers in any form or method. I will personally monitor this site so as to ensure that I will learn from your input and your experiences. Thank you very much and have fun! Sincerely, Chen Zhonghua
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