Does Tai Chi really extend your life?

(Above: Drawing of Tai Chi Master, Zhang San Feng, whom is believed by some to have achieved immortality.) Does Tai Chi really extend your life? Let the facts below to show you the truth. Tai Chi Master / Age Chen Style Tai Chi Masters Chen Chang Xin / 82 Chen Gen Yun / 79 Chen Yan Xi / 81 Chen Fa Ke / 70 Chen Zhao Kui / 53 Hong Jun Sheng / 89 Gu Liu Xin / 82 Lei Mu Ni / 85 Yang Style Tai Chi Masters Yang Lu Chan / 73 Yang Chen Fu / 53 Yang Zhen Ji / 86 Yang Zhen Ming / 74 Fu Zhong Wen / 86 Li Ya Xuan / 82 Tong Ying Jie / 64 Cheng Man Ching / 73 Wu Style Tai Chi Masters Wu Chien-ch'uan / 72 Wu Ying Hua / 90 Ma Yue Lian / 97 Hu Tu Nan / 105 Wu Gong Yi / 72 Sun style Masters Sun Lu Tang / 73 Su Jian Yun / 89 Copyright Huan's Tai Chi 2010

Is Chen-Style Tai Chi Real Tai Chi?

While I was learning Tai Chi from few different masters in China, one of them mentioned that Chen-Style Tai Chi is not real Tai Chi. The reasons he gave were that Chen-Style has moves like jumping that use “double-weight” and are therefore against the fundamental Tai Chi principle of single-weightiness. Chen-Style also embraces power-releasing moves that contradict another fundamental principle of Tai Chi: “don’t use force.”

As many people know, Yang Chen Fu (1883-1936) was the founder of the Yang form of Tai Chi that we are practicing now. Yang Chen Fu was the grandson of Yang Lu Chan (1799-1872) of Yongnian County, in Northern China. Yang Lu Chan came to Chen Village and learned Tai Chi from the Chen Family. In the years that followed, there was no one that did Tai Chi Chuan that had not, in some way, been helped by his influence, including his son Yang Jian Hou and grandson Yang Chen Fu. Yang Jian Hou made some changes and improvements to the original style he and his father learned from the Chen Village. When Yang Chen Fu came of age, he altered the style to more closely resemble the form we know today. He removed jumping, power-stepping and the lower stances, giving us the more open and relaxed, natural and lively, centered and round, simple but detailed movements that have become the standard Yang-Style Tai Chi form.

Today, Chen-Style Tai Chi retains many traditional movements. It is a combination of soft and hard, high and low, fast and slow, motion and stillness, power and emptiness. It has its own unique points. The long fist (1st Chen form) is combination of soft and hard. The Cannon fist (2nd Form), on power releasing, turning and jumping with a few soft movements.

Both Chen and Yang-Style Tai Chi Chuan are treasures of Internal Martial Arts. Yang-Style would not exist had Yang Lu Chan not learned from the Chen family. The real martial artist must respect and master both forms.

Copyright by Huan's Tai Chi

Why This Bird Can’t Fly?

I heard this interesting story about Yang Lu Chan, the creator of Yang Style Tai Chi. A bird landed on his palm one day. This bird tried very hard and flipped it’s wing, and it couldn’t fly away even Yang’s Palm was open. Yang’s friend observed this and found it’s very surprising.

Later, he found out that because Yang’s palm was really soft like cotton, it’s totally relaxed. When a bird try to fly away, it use it’s legs to push Yang’s palm in order to get Yang’s resistance force to push the bird away. Since Yang is so good at Tai Chi,
he soften it’s palm and follows the bird’s energy. The bird can’t get any resistance force to help it launch.

This story tells us how soft is so important in Tai Chi. Relaxation leads to softness.
When we talk about Tai Chi Push hands, we often mention the four important words, They are “ Relaxation, Flexibility, Bounce and Shake”. Relaxation is mentioned first but it’s so hard to archive. Many people practice so many years but still can’t relax. The most important reason is that they haven’t experienced what is the real relaxation, so they don’t know how it can’t be done.

A good teacher play an important role on getting this goal done. He/she can guide you to that but he/she can’t do it for you. In Chinese, we say “ Sifu bring you into the door, practice is up to yourself.” It’s up to you to get really relaxed and soft in Tai Chi.

Tai Chi under the Table

( Picture on right: Wu Tu Nan doing Push hands)
Famous Wu and Yang Style Tai Chi Master Wu Tu Nan is a Mongolian Chinese. He had a lot of sickness and had to take medication every day while he was a child. Wu Tu Nan passed away 1989 and was 105 years old. Tai Chi really helped him to stay healthy and live longer.


Even though there is a debating that if he really learned from the Yang family, he is truly a Tai Chi Master. According to the book he wrote on his life on Tai Chi, he was sent to Quan Yu’s Tai Chi school (creator of Wu Style Tai Chi) to learn Tai Chi when he was 9 years old. Quan Yu asked his son Wu Jian Chuan to teach him. After 8 years learning from Wu Jian Chuan. He then learned from Yang Shao Hou ( Yang Chen Fu’s brother). Yang Shao Hou trained him really hard. When Yang taught him martial arts application, Yang bounced him to the chair. Chair’s back fell off. Without a back, the chair became a stool. Later, he fell on the stool again because Yang taught him more applications, and the stool just broken completely.


Another thing that Yang trained him is to have Wu practice Tai Chi under the oil table. Oil table is a higher kitchen table that Chinese chef use which you don’t have to bend you back to cut the meat and veggies. Still, it’s much lower than regular stance. It’s really hard for the legs. Yang use this to train Wu’s “Seven Inch Lean” which is a technique you use your shoulder to lean on opponent’s lower leg’s seven inch point. You can see how low it is.


Now, some students asked me how low they can practice Tai Chi. I told them that they can see the limit from Wu Tu Nan.

Copyright 2009 Huan's Tai Chi

In Memory of Madam Wang Jurong

I was organizing some of my father’s Kung fu notes and doing some cleaning the other day. I saw this Chinese traditional looking blue booklet. I remembered this is a booklet the Wang family published in memory of Grandmaster Wang Ziping, whom was considered to be one of the most famous martial arts heroes in China. During the time my father, Zhang Lu Ping, Phd. was in Shanghai, he studied under one of the most famous master there, grandmaster Cai Hong Xiang. Cai was honored as one of the "Ten most famous Chinese marital arts master". Many famous masters sent their students to grandmaster Cai to get critiqued. After my father learned Martial Arts From Cai, Cai sent him to Grandmaster Wang Ziping to get critiqued. That’s how my father got to know Madam Wang Jurong.

Madam Wang Jurong is the daughter of Grandmaster Wang Ziping. I have never met her in person, but I heard a lot about her from my father. Once my father want promote Kung Fu in his hometown, Pinghu, a small city outside Shanghai. He believed that people can practice kung fu to become healthier. He wanted give free classes to help the community. He asked for Madam Wang’s help. Madam Wang traveled by boat with group of her students included her daughters. The boat took many, many hours to reach Pinghu. They came to give demonstrations to the people in Pinghu. The whole city was so excited by this demonstration. It’s a big honor that Madam Wang came to the city. After that, many people started martial arts and people started to have a more healthy routine for their life. Many older people in the city can still remember the visit of Madam Wang. Madam Wang’s husband, Dr Wu is excellent on Chinese Medicine. My father once injured his wrist by practice sword. Dr Wu gave him little bottle of medicinal wine to apply on his wrist, and he healed quickly. After many years, my father hurt his wrist again. He found that little bottle. The wine has almost dried out. He putted some warm water there, shake the bottle and waited for few minutes. He applied it to the wrist, and after few days, he felt much better. It’s amazing it still worked. Madam Wang’s father, grandmaster Wang Ziping contributed a lot to the Chinese Martial arts society. Madam Wang not only contributed the martial arts to China, but also to the world. She and Her husband moved to the US and began to teach in Houston. Many people benefited from their teaching. It’s a tremendous loss for both Chinese and US martial arts society that Madam Wang had passed away December 25, 2005. Fortunately, madam Wang’s three daughters, Master Wu Xiang Ping, Grace Wu and Helen Wu are still teaching martial arts in Houston, Canada and Kansas.

Huan Zhang

http://www.huanstaichi.com