Jian Jia Chen Popular Books

Jian Jia Chen Biography & Facts

The Chen-style tai chi (Chinese: 陳氏太极拳; pinyin: Chén shì tàijíquán) is a Northern Chinese martial art and the original form of tai chi. Chen-style is characterized by silk reeling, alternating fast and slow motions, and bursts of power (fa jin). Traditionally, tai chi is practiced as a martial art but has expanded into other domains of practice such as health or performances. Some argue that Chen-style tai chi has preserved and emphasized the martial efficacy to a greater extent. History Origin theories It is not clear how the Chen family actually came to practise their unique martial style and contradictory "histories" abound. What is known is that the other four tai chi styles (Yang, Sun, Wu and Wu (Hao)) trace their teachings back to Chen village in the early 1800s. The Chen family were originally from Hongtong County in Shanxi. In the 13th or 14th century, later documents claim that the head of the Chen family, Chen Bu (陳仆; 陈卜), migrated to Wen County, Henan. The new area was originally known as Changyang Cun (Chinese: 常陽村; lit. 'Sunshine village') and grew to include a large number of Chen descendants. Because of the three deep ravines beside the village it came to be known as Chen Jia Gou (Chinese: 陳家溝; lit. 'Chen Family Creek'). According to Chen Village family history, Chen Bu was a skilled martial artist who started the martial arts tradition within Chen Village. For generations onwards, the Chen Village was known for their martial arts. The special nature of tai chi practice was attributed to the ninth generation Chen Village leader, Chen Wangting. He codified pre-existing Chen training practice into a corpus of seven routines. This included five routines of 108 form Long Fist (一百零八勢長拳) and a more rigorous routine known as Cannon Fist (炮捶一路). Chen Wangting integrated different elements of Chinese philosophy into the martial arts training to create a new approach that we now recognize as the Internal martial arts. These included the principles of Yin Yang, the techniques of Daoyin, Tui na, Qigong, and the theory of meridians. Those theories encountered in Classical Chinese Medicine and described in such texts as the Huangdi Neijing. In addition, Wangting incorporated the boxing theories from sixteen different martial art styles as described in the classic text, Jixiao Xinshu written by the Ming dynasty General Qi Jiguang. Chen Changxing, a 14th generation Chen Village martial artist, synthesized Chen Wangting's open fist training corpus into two routines that came to be known as "Old Frame" (老架; lao jia). Those two routines are named individually as the First Form (Yilu; 一路) and the Second Form (Erlu; 二路, more commonly known as the Cannon Fist 炮捶). Chen Changxing, contrary to Chen family tradition, also took the first recorded non-family member as a disciple, Yang Luchan, who went on to popularize the art throughout China, but as his own family tradition known as Yang-style tai chi. The Chen family system was only taught within the Chen village region until 1928. Chen Youben, also of the 14th Chen generation, is credited with starting another Chen training tradition. This system also based on two routines is known as "Small Frame" (Chinese: 小架; pinyin: xiǎo jià). Small Frame system of training eventually lead to the formation of two other styles of tai chi that show strong Chen family influences, Zhaobao tai chi and Hulei jia (Chinese: 忽雷架; lit. 'thunder frame'). However, these are not considered a part of the Chen family lineage. Other origin stories Some legends assert that a disciple of Zhang Sanfeng named Wang Zongyue taught Chen family the martial art later to be known as tai chi. Other legends speak of Jiang Fa, reputedly a monk from Wudang mountain who came to Chen village. He is said to have helped transform the Chen family art with Chen Wangting by emphasizing internal fighting practices. However, there are significant difficulties with this explanation, as it is no longer clear if their relationship was that of teacher/student or even who taught whom. Recent history During the second half of the 19th century, Yang Luchan and his family established a reputation of Yang-style tai chi throughout the Qing empire. Few people knew that Yang Luchan first learned his martial arts from Chen Changxing in the Chen Village. Fewer people still visited the Chen village to improve their understanding of tai chi. Only Wu Yuxiang, a student of Yang Luchan and the eventual founder of Wu (Hao)-style tai chi, was known to have briefly studied the Chen Family small frame system under Chen Qingping. This situation changed with the fall of the Qing empire when Chinese society sought to discover and improve their understanding of traditional philosophies and methods. The current availability and popularity of Chen-style tai chi is reflective of the radical changes that occurred within Chinese society during the 20th century. In the decline of the Qing dynasty, the creation of the Republic of China and subsequently the Chinese Communist Revolution, Chen-style tai chi underwent a period of re-discovery, popularization, and finally internationalization. In 1928, Chen Zhaopei (1893–1972) and later his uncle, Chen Fake moved from Chen village to teach in Beiping (now known as Beijing). Their Chen-style practice was initially perceived as radically different from other prevalent martial art schools (including established tai chi traditions) of the time. Chen Fake proved the effectiveness of Chen-style tai chi through various private challenges and even a series of lei tai matches. Within a short time, the Beijing martial arts community was convinced of the effectiveness of Chen-style tai chi and a large group of martial enthusiasts started to train and publicly promote it. The increased interest in Chen-style tai chi led Tang Hao, one of the first modern Chinese martial art historians, to visit and document the martial lineage in Chen Village in 1930 with Chen Ziming. During the course of his research, he consulted with a manuscript written by 16th generation family member Chen Xin (陳鑫; Ch'en Hsin; 1849–1929) detailing Chen Xin's understanding of the Chen Village heritage. Chen Xin's nephew, Chen Chunyuan, together with Chen Panling (president of Henan Province Martial Arts Academy), Han Zibu (president of Henan Archives Bureau), Wang Zemin, Bai Yusheng of Kaiming Publishing House, Guan Baiyi (director of Henan Provincial Museum) and Zhang Jiamou helped publish Chen Xin's work posthumously. The book entitled Chen Style Taijiquan Illustrated and Explained (太極拳圖說 see tai chi classics) was published in 1933 with the first print run of thousand copies. For nearly thirty years, until his death in 1958, Chen Fake diligently taught the art of Chen-style tai chi to a select group of students. As a result, a strong Beijing Chen-style tradition centered around his "New Frame" variant of Chen Village "Old Frame" survived after his death. His legacy was spread throughout China by the .... Discover the Jian Jia Chen popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Jian Jia Chen books.