It was twenty-one years ago when I embarked my Tai Chi chuan journey in St. Louis, Missouri. My classmates and I were intrigued by the art and thirsty for the knowledge on the forms, the principles of Tai Chi, and the history of the art. Back those days, Chen Tai Chi was lessor known in the West, especially in St. Louis. Resources were hard to come by and there were little information online. YouTube did not exist until 2005. Amazon.com didn’t sell books on Chen Tai Chi chuan. Years later, through a friend of a friend, we got a copy of Chen Style Taijiquan: The Source of Taiji Boxing, written by Masters David Gaffney and Davidine Siaw-Voon Sim of Great Britain. We were elated. We read the book as bible and guarded it as treasure.
David Gaffney learned Asian martial arts in 1980’s and focused solely on Chen Tai Chi chuan since 1996. His wife Davidine Sim started learning Chen Tai Chi about the same time. They are dedicated to the art and made numerous trips to China and Asia to study and research the art and learned from many Chen Tai Chi masters. David was accepted as an Indoor Disciple by Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang, who later introduced David and Davidine to his younger brother Grandmaster Chen Xiaoxing, who is the principal of Chenjiagou Taijiquan School in the Tai Chi birth place Chen Village or Chenjiagou. They both studied diligently from Grandmaster Chen Xiaoxing, who later accepted Davidine as his Indoor Disciple. The duals were certified at sixth Duan (level) of Tai Chi mastery by the Chinese Wushu Association and hold Advanced Instrutor’s Certificate awarded by the Chenjiagou Taijiquan School. In 1998, they were authorized to open Chenjiagou Taijiquan School Great Britain. Besides Chen Style Taijiquan, they co-authored The Essence of Taijiquan and Chen Taijiquan: Masters and Methods. Their books have been translated into multiple languages.
I received a copy of their latest publication Chen Taijiquan Illustrated right before my recent trip to Taiwan. I tossed it in my suitcase. Due to COVID, the Government in Taiwan requires visitors to be in quarantine for 7 days, which allows me to read the new book without interruption. With a cup of tea and the book in hand, my quarantine was enjoyable.
The new book is written in a unique format. It is like someone’s notebook or training log. There are no pictures but artistic illustrations of Tai Chi movements and most of them are past and current masters of Chen family, i.e., the creator General Chen Wang Ting, the 14th Generation Chen Changxing, the New Frame creator Chen Fake, famous author Chen Xin, Chen Ziming, Chen Xiaowang, Chen Zhenglei, Wang Xian, Zhu Tiancai, Chen Ziqiang, and more. It also has illustrations of significant Tai Chi and martial art heroes Zhang Zongjun, Wu Yuxiang, Sun Lutang, Yang Luchan, General Qi Jiguang, etc. I prefer these drawings to 2-dimensional photos because the the drawings convey the dynamics of Tai Chi movements as soft and fluid flow, swift kicks, powerful punches or quick Chin Na maneuverings. There are thick hand-drawn arrows throughout the book to lead the trends of thought, similar to how I take notes. The languages used in the book are simple and direct; after all Tai Chi chuan is complicated enough and we don’t need to read between lines to figure out what it really means from complex and compound sentences.
Most Tai Chi books address the history and philosophy first but not this one. Aside from the Introduction, Chen Taijiquan Illustrated has three major sections, which are Body Rules (both shape and energy), Practical Use/Application, and Philosophical Roots. In my opinion, this is the sequence how Tai Chi chuan should be taught.
I can vividly recall the anxious expressions that some of my students exhibit when they start to learn the art. In introduction, authors cite the Chen Village precept: “Training must progress from simple to complex with each skill being mastered before moving to the next,” and “Throughout the process there cannot be any sense of hurry or impatience to learn advanced techniques.” I think this is a good reminder and all practitioners should take this to heart. “Ultimately there is no limit to the levels of subtlety this art can be taken to,” add the authors. Learning Tai Chi chuan teaches people to be calm and patient and the learning process can be life time and rewarding.
Chen Style has many body rules. David and Davidine select Zhan Zhuang (Standing Pole or Post), Chansijin (Silk Reeling Energy), Song (Loose), Rou (Pliant), Man (Slow), 14 Body Requirements, Zhonzhen (Central and Upright), Dantian, and Dang Yao Jin (Crotch and Waist Combined Force) in Section 2. They point out the connection between hand twining (or reeling) and Dantian energy moving, which is profound. Rou is commonly translated into softness, which can be misleading. They clarify Rou is not just softness, it is pliant with “flexibility, suppleness, and an ability to yield in the face of force.” They interpret it so well. Crotch and waist are the command center during Tai Chi practice. The authors provide a recipe to effectively and efficiently maneuvering Dang and Yao to create critical Dang Yao Jin.
In Section 3, the authors continue to lay out the body rules on Shou (hands), Yan (eyes), Jian & Zhou (shoulders and elbows), Xiong (chest), Bu Fa (footwork), and Tun Tu (absorbing and emitting) but with the emphasis on practical usages and explain why it matters to follow the rules. They include examples of how these rules applied in the various movements in Chen forms. Peng (ward off), Lu (divert or roll back), Ji (squeeze), An (press or shovel), Cai (pluck), Lie (split) Zhou (elbow), and Kao (bump) are recognized as Tai Chi Ba Fa or Tai Chi Eight Methods. Many instructors teach them as eight different movements. Master David and Davidine enlighten readers that they are actually eight different Jin’s or energies. They also instruct how to create the energies successfully.
After the training on body rules and Ba Fa, the authors address how to Ting (listen), Dong (understand), Hua (neutralize), and Fa (release) Jin or power. They explain how the form practice relating to Push Hands and introduce the Chen Tai Chi Push Hands training methods, four general Push Hands strategies, and applications of Chin Na (joint lock).
They admit that Chen Taijiquan has a wide and comprehensive training curriculum and it is not possible to cover everything in one volume. They have planned for the second book to cover the rest, for example: various strength training techniques and conditioning methods; auxiliary energies in Chen Taijiquan; weapons training; a deeper look at some of the philosophical aspects.
Masters David and Davidine point out in the beginning of the book that Taijiquan is an art of paradox. They have done a good job explaining the elements of the body rules and principles to depict how seemingly conflicting requirements can be executed in a harmoniously way within a form, for example slow and fast. In Section 3, they go to the root of Taijiquan philosophy, which is based on Book of Change (Yijing) and its foundation is duality of Yin and Yang. In a way, they sum up the logic of paradox well.
Even though this book can be read by beginners, long-term practitioners will definitely get more out of it. If readers can overlook the examples of Chen movements cited in the book, this book is just as useful for Tai Chi practitioners of all styles. After all, Tai Chi chuan principles are the same across all styles.
The book is in a casual format with serious discussion on Tai Chi fundamentals. During the reading, I would sometimes put the book down and played a little Tai Chi just to experience the Qi flow and then picked up the book again. In any Tai Chi chuan quan (school) in Chen Village, there is always a tea set with a small tea pot and tiny tea cups. During breaks, Sifus (teachers) and students will sip fine tea from tiny cups and chat about Tai Chi theory and techniques. That is Tan (talk) Chuan (boxing) Lun (discuss) Dao (principles) and considered as a scholarly refined lifestyle. Even though I was stuck in a room by myself, I actually had invigorating Tan Chuan Lun Dao sessions with David and Davidine over tea.