In bewildering numbers, Tai Chi styles compete for the public’s attention. Some styles are quite old; some newly minted. Some focus on healing; some focus on self-defense. How then can we tell which is the right stuff, the real thing? This question was put to my teacher, Master Chin. Here is my recollection of Master Chin’s answer. Master Chin: “According to historians, the Tai Chi birthplace is Chenjiago village in Honan Province. This village is the home of the Chen family, the developers of Chen-Style Tai Chi. “From first hand experience, I can confirm that 65 years ago, the villagers did not practice Tai Chi. What then explains this contradiction? I asked a classmate from one of China’s famous martial arts villages. He said many people in Chenjiago Village were convinced that Tai Chi originated in their village. When the communists found out about this tradition, they proclaimed, “Since the legend says Tai Chi originated in Chenjiago Village, we make it so.” By decree, the communist made Chenjiago Village the birthplace of Tai Chi. “There is no single place that can honestly be called the birthplace of Tai Chi. If this is so, then what Tai Chi style can be called the real thing?” “Sometimes we hear “Oh, what is the real, the fundamental, the classical school?” Or the statement, "Well, that is not the right stuff!” Right stuff, wrong stuff, real stuff! Think of the Tai Chi movements as the characters of an alphabet. Use the alphabet to create your own language. That is the right stuff. Tai Chi is not about your alphabet. “As to how many movements there should be in the Tai Chi form, or which school one should attend, it actually makes little difference. The shape and order of the movements are just means for you to develop and control the flow of your Chi.” The style taught by Master Chin is the Yang-style, which is the style taught to him by his teachers in China over 70 years ago. See http://taichi-chikung.net .
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In bewildering numbers, Tai Chi styles compete for the public’s attention. Some styles are quite old; some newly minted. Some focus on healing; some focus on self-defense. How then can we tell which is the right stuff, the real thing? This question was put to my teacher, Master Chin. Here is my recollection of Master Chin’s answer.
Master Chin: “According to historians, the Tai Chi birthplace is Chenjiago village in Honan Province. This village is the home of the Chen family, the developers of Chen-Style Tai Chi.
“From first hand experience, I can confirm that 65 years ago, the villagers did not practice Tai Chi. What then explains this contradiction? I asked a classmate from one of China’s famous martial arts villages. He said many people in Chenjiago Village were convinced that Tai Chi originated in their village. When the communists found out about this tradition, they proclaimed, “Since the legend says Tai Chi originated in Chenjiago Village, we make it so.” By decree, the communist made Chenjiago Village the birthplace of Tai Chi.
“There is no single place that can honestly be called the birthplace of Tai Chi. If this is so, then what Tai Chi style can be called the real thing?”
“Sometimes we hear “Oh, what is the real, the fundamental, the classical school?” Or the statement, "Well, that is not the right stuff!” Right stuff, wrong stuff, real stuff! Think of the Tai Chi movements as the characters of an alphabet. Use the alphabet to create your own language. That is the right stuff. Tai Chi is not about your alphabet.
“As to how many movements there should be in the Tai Chi form, or which school one should attend, it actually makes little difference. The shape and order of the movements are just means for you to develop and control the flow of your Chi.”
The style taught by Master Chin is the Yang-style, which is the style taught to him by his teachers in China over 70 years ago. See http://taichi-chikung.net .
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