Ren Mingming was born and raised in Chenjiagou learning Taijiquan from childhood. Multi-talented, as well as being a highly accomplished Taijiquan practitioner, he is an acclaimed artist holding a number of exhibitions of traditional painting and calligraphy in Beijing. In 2013 he established the Beijing Ren Mingming Taijiquan School. In the following interview he gives his views on Taijiquan including; some of the common pitfalls of Taijiquan players; and the mentality and methods required to make progress in one’s Taijiquan training.
Q: It is said that many people practice Taijiquan, but very few achieve success. Why do you think this is?
Ren MIngming (RMM): This is often because their mind is too concerned with the outcome and results, and they don’t have a stable valuation of the art. They do not know themselves exactly what it is that they want from the training and what it is they want to learn. People with this kind of impetuous heart always feel uneasy - there are doubts that they are not learning the ‘proper’ thing, that the teacher is keeping something from them and not teaching them sincerely etc. [Training with this mindset] suspicion and distrust are the cause of the serious imbalance between practice and theoretical principles.
Nowadays, most people learn Taijiquan but they don't have the patience to internalise what they have learned into their own. For example, whether it is the practical aspects or theory learned from their teachers, they set it aside instead of using and applying what they have learned flexibly. Whether it is Taijiquan jibengong (basic training), chansigong (silk-reeling exercises), or taolu (form) - to them the different elements don’t seem to have too much of a relationship, and to them these practices have no bearing on their wider worldview, moral cultivation and so on!
As a result although thousands of people practise Taijiquan, those that can really understand the Taiji thought, Taiji concept are few and far between. Hence the saying “myriads of techniques are easy to get, the intrinsic principle is hard to understand!”
Q: Why do so many people take up Taijiquan?
RMM: Broadly speaking there are three typical motives for taking up Taijiquan. The first is the desire to practice a martial art. This approach is mostly pursued by young people. The pursuit of martial arts has a different approach and method of training to that of pursuing the art solely for health. The second reason people come to Taijiquan is for health. Health is more of the pursuit of the middle aged and older, but nowadays more and more younger people are concerned with their health issues. Taiji for health pays particular attention to nurturing the body’s qi. Nurturing qi stresses the free movement and non obstruction of the whole body. Training for health involves cultivating in order to stave off future ill health. This should be important not only to the elderly but also to younger practitioners and ideally people should pay equal attention to physical training and nurturing the body. The third common reason for taking up Taijiquan centres on the approach of understanding it from the perspective of an intellectual pursuit. This group of practitioners are usually intellectuals who are interested in finding out what Taijiquan is, seeking to get to the root of the art, and viewing it as an academic study. These practitioners often think too much and do too little.
Q: Can you say something about the stages of learning and the appropriate method of training for each level?
RMM: All Taijiquan movements are either round or arced. In learning, people go through a process whereby beginners should first draw big circles and then medium circles. Finally return to no circle, which is the highest order of Taijiquan. The desired effect is to be able to “hit a person within a breath.” This is in line with the boxing proverb that says "externally exercise the bones and muscles (the physique); internally train a breath of qi.” This breath of qi is in the higher realm of neijia boxing, and is the fundamental for the health element of Taijiquan. But in order to achieve this, what is needed is gradual progression in a natural way. Specifically, this progression can be divided into the following three stages of learning boxing:
1. Learn the rules In Taijiquan the basic rules are built around fulfilling specific requirements for the hands, eyes, body and footwork. For example, commonly quoted requirements such as keeping the head lifted, sinking the shoulders and dropping the elbows, containing the chest and pulling the back, loosening the waist and relaxing the kua, rounding the crotch and wrapping the knees, toes gripping the ground etc... This is the stage of “pan jiazi” (examining the body structure), and is equivalent to the "familiarisation" stage within the boxing theory. This is absolutely necessary if you want to practise good Taijiquan and without the establishment of these rules, nothing can be accomplished.
2. Follow the rules At this second stage, the rules of Taijiquan should be “melted into your flesh, muscles and bones.” The new exercise habits arrive at the point where they become natural, as if the muscles themselves remember. Generally, to be able to reach this stage is very good. However, the impetuous modern generation often do not have time to practise and also cannot take the hardship, so very few people are completely in line with the rules of Taijiquan. From the point of view of health it is not completely necessary [to be so strict].
3. Break out of the rules When you have internalised the rules and are able to exhibit them at will then you don't have to consciously follow the rules anymore. For instance, like Chen Taijiquan master Chen Fake who culminated his knowledge into creating the New Frame First and Second Routine. The new creation does not stray from the essence of Taijiquan, which is equivalent to the "god is the rule" of boxing theory. By the time an individual has reached this level, the rule is still the same rule, but it can be used freely, beyond the strict confine of the original rules. In spirit, it has reached the superb realm described by Confucius as "following the heart's desire without breaking the rules."
With regards to the specific training methods at different stages: The primary stage of shaping is the process of the teacher “moulding the frame” (nie xiazi). During this stage, the teacher takes the main role and the student is in the supporting role. Teachers are active, students are passive; the teacher is like a sculptor, the student is like the work in the hands of the sculptor. As we all know, the clay sculptor first use a steel frame, and then ties grass, clay etc. to this to form a rough shape. Only after the big shape is done can he add the final expression. When the teacher is moulding the shape of a student the step is similar to the clay model. The student’s skeleton is put in place first, just like the steel frame that supports the clay model. This is very important, deciding and shaping the entire form. Therefore, most attention must be paid to this. Then [when this framework is established] the teacher: adjusts the parameter and torsion range of each joint; relaxes the student’s muscles; uses language to guide the student’s thinking - Through this process letting the student feel the subtle changes in their body –which represent the germination process of internal qi.
The next stage is referred to as “examining the frame” (pan jiazi) during which students correct themselves at the teacher’s request. Generally speaking, to reach the stage where they can self-examine requires in the order of three years of intense training with a good teacher, with a student themselves practicing for three to five hours per day. At this stage, students become their own masters, but students often do not know how to discipline themselves. As they repeat their practice, some days may bring pretty big results, other days no feelings at all. This kind of phenomenon is very normal, there’s only one thing to say - “get over it!” and persevere until you succeed. Even Taijiquan practitioners of several decades of practice are still constantly (and need to constantly) self-examine.
Q: What kind of mentality is required to train Taijiquan correctly?
RMM: Basically what is required is mindful Training. Doing the form mechanically twenty or thirty times a day does not bring a good result and is in fact counterproductive and can cause harm or injury. Training Taijiquan is not like completing a task. There’s no need to set yourself set numbers. Train spontaneously when you are in the right mindset. With the right frame of mind and focus you get more benefit and improvement. At a certain stage of development the technical methods are no longer important. This means that your level has reached an upper realm.
Take, for instance, Taijiquan’s chansijin (silk reeling energy). In essence chansijin is realised when there is no part of the body that is not spiralling. In practice, try not to make chansijin too complicated. Chansijin consists of a kind of spiralling motion. Like the rotation of a drill, the force is very strong, and at its strongest cannot be held by the hands. Chansijin is divided into shun chan (same direction winding) and ni chan (reverse winding). Movements follow the general law of gathering during shun chan and extending during ni chan. This spiral motion ultimately leads to the overall motion of "when still everything is still, when moving everything moves" that integrates the whole body. This is a significant feature of Taijiquan’s regimen, which not only exercises important parts of the body such as the spine, waist and viscera, but also exercises all the small parts of the body.
Learners should practice Taijiquan with the aim to gradually improve the body's level of self-control. There are two hundred and six bones in the human body, and there are seven large joints such as shoulder, elbow and knee etc. When we don't practice Taijiquan, we tend to think that we can control our bodies very well. For example, if you want to drink water, you can reach for a cup. However, when you start practising Taijiquan you will find that your usual method of exertion is clumsy and laborious. You want to fangsong (let go of tension) but you cannot. This is especially true for the aforementioned seven big joints, which are like wild animals that without strict training will not be tamed and obey your commands. So practising Taijiquan is also a process of domesticating the body to obey the mind. For the purpose of domesticating the body, the mind is especially important. No matter which Taijiquan movement is being performed a common concept runs through - the intention has to move first. When the mind has reached the point where the motion of the body can be done without any thought, then the mind and the force can be united, thus leading to the realisation of the stage of enlightenment of the unity of man and nature.
Q: Can you speak a little about how we can develop Taijiquan’s jin (trained power)?
RMM: One of the most difficult stages is to develop the jin in Taijiquan. As the saying goes, “a thousand tricks are easier to acquire, one jin is hard to get.” [Understanding and achieving this] is the essential difference between Taiji exercise and Taijiquan. There are many kinds of Taiji strength, the most basic of which are the eight fundamental kinds of jin -which respectively are: peng jin, lu jin, ji jin, an jin, cai jin, lie jin, zhou jin, kao jin. Although they differ in form, they are all based on whole-body integrated force (also called internal force). All Taijiquan practitioners hope that they can develop internal strength, but in fact not many people are able to bring it out. An important reason for this situation is the lack of basic skills (jibengong). Even after solid basic skills have been established, there’s still the need to be adept with the movements of the routine (taolu) and gradually and in time train out the shaking elastic force.
Q: Chen Taijiquan is often associated with low and deep postures. What are your thoughts about this and is it better to train in high, medium or low stances?
RMM: Taking a low stance is very photogenic, aesthetic, as well as an effective way to enhance the strength of the lower plane. But I would caution against rushing to take a low stance too early [in one’s stage of development]. Training the wrong method not only is not conducive to the relaxation of the upper body, but it is also easy to hurt the knee. Beginners should start from the high stance, and only after the lower plane is strong enough, then can move to the middle stance, and lastly low frame. It is acceptable for young people to train with a low stance but for the majority of more elderly practitioners they should exercise more in the higher stance. In fact, whether a person is training with an elevated, medium or low frame, this not the most important thing. The most important thing is looseness and naturalness. Beginning learners should always keep this in mind.
Q: Do you have any final thoughts or words of advice for practitioners on their own Taijiquan journey?
RMM: Taijiquan is the culmination of the experiences of our ancestors and elders. It is closely related to life. It is in itself not a mysterious thing and is not really too complicated. But on the path of learning the art it is inevitable to make mistakes. After all, who does not make mistakes? Even a master may not be always right. Therefore practise with an inquiring mind. The role of a teacher is to show you the right way to do boxing but the key is for you to have the capacity to understand (ti wu). ~