Okay people
Following on from the WC/hsing I thread, I am posting my experiences/thoughts as a beginner in Chen Taiji
About me: I have been practicing MA since about the age of 12 (I’m 25 now) but for the last 6 years or so my bread and butter art has been Wing Chun.
Lineage: Yip Man-Wong Shun Leung-Clive Potter-Me
I have just started Chen taiji
Lineage: Chen Xiaowang-Kinthissa-me
And on this thread I shall be relating my thoughts/questions/experiences/impressions etc.
Stay tuned…
Any info on your Chen teacher?
Try This link
The text version…
Kinthissa was born in Rangoon in 1952. She studied Far Eastern art and philosophy at Vassar and London, where she encountered the taijiquan she had glimpsed as a child on her way to school. She was then apprenticed for 10 years to Gerda Geddes who, inspired in Shanghai in 1949 by the sight of an old man playing taijiquan along the Yangtze estuary, later studied with Master Choy HawkPang (student of Yang ChengFu), and pioneered the teaching of taijiquan in England upon her return.
From 1977 to 1989, Kinthissa taught Yang Style 108 Form, mainly in London and Basel. She learned from Tew Bunnag the Beijing 24 Form and practised his method of combining taijiquan with samadhi bhavana in the running of silent retreats. Between 1982-89, she worked with students at the London Contemporary Dance School to find ways for them to regenerate energy and maintain awareness during strenuous training. In China, Kinthissa learnt Flying Crane Qigong, Sword Form, and the modern 48 Form. She teaches at her home in Lunigiana, in England and in Iceland.
Since 1995, Kinthissa has been studying intensively with Chen XiaoWang, the 19th generation representative of the Chen family of Chenjiagou, Henan Province, China. The profundity of Master Chen’s taijiquan and the clarity of his teaching have drawn to him serious practitioners of the art from all over the world. Following his advice and under his guidance, Kinthissa holds classes in the fundamentals of taijiquan and form, including Master Chen’s chanssujin (“Reeling Silk”) exercises which are easy to learn and offer a lifetime’s exploration, forging and dredging the energetic pathways of the body.
I myself just switched from wing tsun to chen taji.I only had one class but it’s definately different.i learned a few silk reeling excersises and just worked on that.I know im in for learning a new level of relaxing and body connection.if i keep this up im going to have legs of freakin iron.ive been told that the two arts are similar yet at the same time very different(the differences are quite obvious)im just gonna try it out and see how it goes.The teacher seems very good and its really close so thats definately encouraging.Good luck in your training and keep us up to date!
Originally posted by zultan
[B]
i learned a few silk reeling excersises
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Me too. We did them
They were done to a 4 count i.e.
And so on…
The teacher used terminology Im not familiar with i.e. 1) - 4) correspond as follows
If anyone can explain these I’d be grateful.
Originally posted by zultan
if i keep this up im going to have legs of freakin iron.
Yeah I know the feeling- we started with 45 minutes of Jam Jong/standing post. Is this also called Zhuang something?
Anyway..My legs were shaking like jelly!
Originally posted by zultan
Good luck in your training and keep us up to date!
Thanks v much. I have my 2nd class tonite!
“Is this also called Zhuang something?”
Zhan Zhuang.
45 minutes of standing seems like a bit much for a beginner. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?
45 minutes of Zhan Zhuang for a first timer?.. A very demanding teacher indeed.
Or perhaps it was a test to observe the student’s limitations and/or resolve.
In any case, I say “Kudos!” to Nick!! Many would have given up where you persevered!
I have heard that some teachers (in China) require a student be able to stand for an hour before they are taught the first posture of the form. Training for this first challenge can take a year or more. By the sound of it, you are most of the way there already!
Peace.
Ive been to two classes so far and we stand for about 20 min. at the beginning of class,then i did silk reeling.Today(my second class)I was shown the first few moves of the 19 form (i think thats what it was called).I believe its a short form to introduce the student.The guy that teaches is a student of Ren GuangYi.
I would imagine different teachers have their own ways of teaching.Nick,ask them to perform the sword form for you.Its a very cool looking form.
2nd Lesson 21/06/2004
Originally posted by zultan
Today(my second class)I was shown the first few moves of the 19 form (i think thats what it was called).
Yeah Ive started doing this too. We went through the whole thing and then broke it down into sections. Last week we cocnentrated on the middle section, this week we concentrated on the first section. I can just about remember the opening which she called
5 steps to preperation
Then
Then the form begins
We got up to double hands push after the forward steps and the punch
We also did a stomach rubbing excercise combined with a slight shifting of the weight.
Does anyone know what this is called?
Originally posted by looking_up
45 minutes of standing seems like a bit much for a beginner. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?
Erm..It may not have been this much although it certainly felt like it at the time…perhaps it was more like 30 mins. The teacher did say last night that when she started she had to do it for 30 mins.
You can stand for 30 minutes, and then you can stand for 30 minutes. I.e. if you do it right it is very hard, but in the beginning it is just good to stand and the results will come naturally. In other words, rock on brutha.
The rubbing the stomach exercise is a sort of finishing exercise, we don’t really name it but it is rotating the dantien. After doing qigong or forms it is a good way to bring the energy and attention back down to the dantien.
Congrats on training in chen taiji, that’s good stuff. I also train under an instructor who trains under CXW.
I believe the rubbing belly thing is basically a silk reeling warm up and it can cover the second moving principle (??) of side to side rotation.
Since you created the thread with “blog” in the title, why not start up a training/martial arts weblog with http://www.blogger.com/ ?
good luck 
w.
Another reason for rubbing the stomach in that way is that it aids digestion by stimulating peristalsis (sp?).
nick,just wondering how you would compare wing chun and chen?Did you completely stop wing chun or are you doing both arts?
nick,.are you dropping wing chun or doing both arts?
im just dabbling at the moment but i will eventually just do one of the arts.as cool as chen is, its hard to get those wing chun goggles off
crap.didnt mean to post the same question twice.i thought the first time didnt go through
Hey Zultan,
Im just looking into chen. Ive been wanting to broaden my horizons for a while- not because i have any doubts about WC - in fact every time I train with my instructor i become more convinced that i am on the right path.
But..It is a big world out there with lots of cool things to look into.
Bottom line is this- Whether chen is better than wc or wc is better then chen i dont know and frankly i think its a red herring. The question is who is the best teacher you have available and how much work ar you prepared to put into it. This is what determines your ultimate success.
I have a very good WC Pedigree (WSL) and looking into taiji the name that kept coming up was chen xiaowang so when I saw a local class i lept at the chance.
I try and train almost every day and I have a couple of reg. training partners so I am not sacrificing WC for taiji. You may not be so lucky but where there is a will there is a way!
Anyway good luck!
Update
My Chen teacher is abroad for a couple of months so my taiji training is on hold till then…
But rest assured I will keep practicing standing post and silk reeling:)