That said, within
the school there is still a palpable sense of tradition. A portrait of Chen
Xiaoxing, the current principal of the school looks down from above the
entrance to the room. The opposite wall is decorated by portraits (left) of his direct
ancestors: his father Chen Zhaoxu; grandfather Chen Fake creator of the New
Frame routines; another three generations back, Chen Changxin who reclassified
the older forms of the system into the Laojia routines; back to Chen Wangting creator
of Chen family Taijiquan.
With all the changes,
some things are refreshingly familiar. For instance the importance Chen
Xiaoxing places on zhan zhuang (standing pole) as the primary means of
realising and training Taijiquan’s jibengong (basic training). Taijiquan’s
training methodology is built upon an implicit understanding of the ultimately
limiting practice of building strength and fitness on top of dysfunction.
At the most obvious
level zhan zhuang helps to establish the required body shape - hips and
shoulders level, crotch rounded, head upright and balanced, shoulders relaxed
and elbows sunken etc… requirements quoted, but often not manifest to a
sufficient degree. Beyond this zhan zhuang training provides a means of
beginning to physically understand and manifest critical but far from obvious aspects
of Taijiquan.
During his camp at
Tomlin, Slovenia in August 2018 Chen Xiaoxing spoke at length about the
importance of zhan zhuang training:
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Zhan Zhuang (photo by Rob Steenkamp) |
Chen Xiaoxing jokes
sometimes that the thing his students fear the most is standing. Where some
people emphasise standing training as a relaxing meditative experience, with
him it is also a physically and psychologically challenging practice. Training
two sessions a day, every session begins with half an hour or so of zhan
zhuang. During our recent visit a film crew spent several days shooting around
the school and surrounding village. The German-New Zealand-China collaboration,
documenting the many “Colours of China” had spent a year filming around the
country. The German project manager was fascinated with the paradox of
Taijiquan training - on the one hand the quietness of the practice, and on the
other the intensity. The way that everyone in the room’s legs seemed to be
shaking with the effort the instant they were adjusted and corrected by the
teacher.
During the visit we spent ten days working through and refining the Xinjia Yilu routine. If our motivation for training is functional efficiency, then a critical goal of training is the development of non-telegraphed movement. Where modern practitioners often talk about effective martial training, in reality practice is often geared more towards performance and demonstration. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with this in terms of fitness and health, self-expression etc. But, in a real situation telegraphing your intention can lead to a disastrous outcome. Anyone who has taken part in competitions where there are real physical consequences for making mistakes realise quickly and painfully the importance of hiding what you are going to do. Chen Xiaoxing often repeats the phrase “if you can see it it is too much.” For example as a practitioner shifts weight from one side to the other, the intention is to move the waist in a narrow almost imperceptible arc. Just as not engaging the waist is a fault, over-turning is also an error. So we need to look beyond aesthetics and the desire to show everything.
Key points emphasised by Chen Xioaxing:
· Guarding against the danger of movement being overly stylised
During the visit we spent ten days working through and refining the Xinjia Yilu routine. If our motivation for training is functional efficiency, then a critical goal of training is the development of non-telegraphed movement. Where modern practitioners often talk about effective martial training, in reality practice is often geared more towards performance and demonstration. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with this in terms of fitness and health, self-expression etc. But, in a real situation telegraphing your intention can lead to a disastrous outcome. Anyone who has taken part in competitions where there are real physical consequences for making mistakes realise quickly and painfully the importance of hiding what you are going to do. Chen Xiaoxing often repeats the phrase “if you can see it it is too much.” For example as a practitioner shifts weight from one side to the other, the intention is to move the waist in a narrow almost imperceptible arc. Just as not engaging the waist is a fault, over-turning is also an error. So we need to look beyond aesthetics and the desire to show everything.
· Guarding against the danger of movement being overly stylised