chen tai chi

Chen Tai Chi or Taijiquan has been passed down generation to generation for over six hundred years and is the eldest of the five main styles of Tai Chi most popularly taught, however despite this it is not the most common. Chen style first entered the history books around the 1600’s where the Chen clan of Chen Village in the Henan province of China appeared and so gave the style its name. How the Chen family came to hold the system of Tai Chi before that is unknown but what we do know is that the other four styles of Tai Chi are all derived from the original teachings of the Chen style and the Chen family making Chen Tai Shi the original form.

There are legends of the Chen family and the master Chen Pu who first settled at Chen village had originated in the Shanxi province and brought the system with him, at this time this is the same province that both Bagua Zhang and Hsing-I both arrived from being taught by Taoist monks from the mountains. All three systems share the same biomechanics and teachings of internal kung fu.

Chen Tai Chi is said to have been created at the period when the current Emperor outlawed all forms of military and martial arts to attempt to prevent any rising power challenging his families rule, at this time this system was created to allow martial arts to be practiced in order to defend ones self while not looking like an obvious marital art and more of a dance. This system is also created as all the Taoists systems were to embody the principles of Taoist philosophy and apply then to the human body, as in the west we say, “as above so below” meaning that the body is a microcosm to the macrocosm of the universe just on a compressed scale. Tai Chi teaches this by having the body work with large and small circles, transferring force through the body with balance and being able to absorb and use that force to overcome stronger opponents. In modern day culture and even more now in these more recent years in the west in particular have forgotten that Tai Chi can be used and was meant to be used as a martial art as we so readily employ Tai Chi only as a health benefit in classes and teachings. It is the duty of this school to ensure that all aspects of Tai Chi are passed on to its students through our online lessons and coaching as to understand the art fully you must learn all of its facets as it was created.

Chen style specifically is considered the hard style, but the name is a misnomer. The style itself is the most internal of all the Tai Chi as it does not sacrifice a single movement to unaligned posture, every circle of the wrist to every tuning of the foot are linked with timing and also muscular connection as one turns the other to turn itself. Due to this the movements can appear fluent but also ridged at the same time with a straight back at all times, deep stances, and straight wrists, the style will strengthen the body and teach you how to move force within and without. There are also more explosive elements to Chen when their same aspects are used to generate power in the form and so unlike some forms the speed of the movements changes throughout to demonstrate this.

This concept is further exaggerated by the use of the two forms in the system. The first form or the old form is the most common and is for the most part made to look like a Tai Chi form would be imagined looking. However, there is also a second form called. Pao Chui or Cannon Fist. This second form is shorted in length but far more complex and demanding of the body, using the lessons and mechanics of the first form more explosive and clearly marital movements are used including strikes, jumps, kicks and grabs to present a wider set of applications for the use of its internal power. Because of this and the second forms explosive nature we always ensure the first form is well practiced before teaching cannon fist as the internal structure can become lost if not held as the primary teaching over the second.

The Practical – The First form is broken down into a combination of sections and movements in order to aid teaching but also to teach certain ideals each movement has within the form. You may also notice that there is a total of sixty-four movements, this is no coincidence as this is the same number as the hexagrams of the I-Ching, as previously mentioned the form was created on top of Taoist Philosophy to embody it within the structure of the human body. And so in this course you will have the option to study the I-Ching if this is something you would like to look into.