the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

The New Large Frame of Taijiquan returns to Chenjiagou

Today's what he could call mainstream Chen Style Tajiquan is derived mostly from the teachings of two key teachers that originated at Chenjiagou but resided elsewhere. These were Chen Fa'ke (1887-1957) who brought Chen Style Taijiquan to Beijing in 1928 and Chen Zhaopei (1893-1972) brought Chen Style Taijiquan to Nanjing in 1930 (originally was in Beijing then invited Chen Fa'ke to take over) and taught for over eight years.

In 1958, Chen Zhaopei whom resided in Zhengzhou at the time visited Chenjiagou for Chinese New Year. It was his first time back in decades. Chen Zhaopei whilst advanced in years (65) felt that it was a shame that there were no longer any practitioners in Chenjiagou. He was saddened that there were no successors in the birthplace of Taijiquan and no serious practitioners left in Chenjiagou. It was a difficult decision because at the time both his wife (second wife) and son (whom had a good job and family in Zhengzhou) were against him returning to Chenjiagou. He also had to retire from his work (Flood Control Committee) earlier foresaking an increase in his pension. Chen Zhaopei however against all odds felt a sense of responsibility and returned to the Chenjiagou during his retirement years. Unfortunately this was not going to be an easy quest for there were still a number of CCP initatives that impacted the ability to propagate and teach Taijiquan during those years. The Great Leap forward was distracting and in 1966-1976, The Cultural revolution saw the repression of traditional teachings including martial arts. Facilities were closed down and practitioners were prosecuted. Chen Zhaopei was said to have been persecuted by the red guards and even attempted suicide during those years. His legs were injured for almost two years and had to use a stool/walking assistance during the time. Much of the training had to be conducted in secret and many elements (eg weapons) a challenge to practice in confined space so mostly only the laojia yi lu was taught. After Chen Zhaopei's death, Chen Zhaokui (Chen Fa'ke's youngest son) continued teaching at Chenjiagou. The local secretary of the CCP for Wen County, Zhang Weizhen also invited Feng Zhiqiang to teach. Feng Zhiqiang visited three times for short intensive teaching sessions.

As a result the teachings at Chenjiagou were distinguished into the old (Chen Zhaopei's) and the new (Chen Zhaokui's) frame of practice. The Taijiquan practiced by the older generations would find a new home in Xi'an and become known as Chen Small Frame Taijiquan. Whilst the descendants of Chen Fa'ke would derive a number of different versions of Taijiquan practice (sometimes called Beijing Chen Style Taijiquan) including Li Jingwu, Lei Muni, Tian Xiuchen and Feng Zhiqiang amongst others.

GrahamB wrote:(Not sure of the accuracy of this report, but it *sounds* about right).

Bob wrote:Feng Zhiqiang & Chen Zhenglei at 2:35 mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn_UlT14O-k

"There are about 3000 villagers now," observes Chen. "That grew from 2000. In the past, 80% of the villagers practiced taiji, but now only about 60% of the people practice." The village has only one school - the Chenjiaguo Taijiquan Xuexiao under the direction of Chen Xiaowang's younger brother, Chen Xiaoxing. Beyond that, there are a few scattered private instructors that teach out of their home. "There's also about a 1000 Chen villagers now living in Xian," adds Chen. "We had a big drought. There was no food so many went to Xian." But apart from that, most villagers never leave Chenjiagou.

Robert wrote:...the idea that there were only a few people left to carry on Chen taiji seems absurd.

Steve James wrote:Well, what's the timeline for the demographics. I.e., was there a time when all the people in Chen village practiced tcc (or the Chen martial art)? In YLC's time, for ex., how widespread was the practice? Were all the practitioners doing it for the same reasons (professional, etc)? I dunno. It's always seemed to me that the art was fairly restricted. Why were so many people practicing, if that was the case? When did the reasons change, since few went on to become caravan or personal body guards (afaik).