Tang Ying has practiced Chen Taijiquan for many years and is Instructor at the Chenjiagou Taijiquan School’s branch on the east coast of Shangdong province. In the following interview she describes her awakening to what authentic Taijiquan is. She touches on the need to understand the core principles and to incorporate them within our everyday lives.
Q: How did you first come in contact with Taijiquan?
Tang Ying (TY): Taijiquan and I have had a quite a long relationship. A lot of people started because they have a wuxia dream [wuxia literally means “martial heroes”, and is a genre of Chinese folklore concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. It forms a part of popular culture in many Chinese-speaking communities around the world], or they suffer from ill health. For me when I started I was very healthy, I didn’t have a wuxia dream, and I never thought about teaching professionally in a wu guan (martial arts school). I was developing a hobby that I would be able to continue when I retire from work when I’m older and a pursuit I can carry on doing for the rest of my active life. My motive was simple and straight forward. I was thirty-two years old at the time and set out to choose a quiet artistic pursuit and an active physical pursuit, following the tradition of being “adept with both pen and sword”. I chose the musical instrument guqin and Taijiquan.
My understanding of Taijiquan, based on what I know now, was completely erroneous. Firstly I thought Taijiquan is very easy. Many people think of it as an exercise for older people. Its requirements are firstly slow and secondly done in a half squat position. It’s that simple I thought. I joined a group and while the older people went every day, I went whenever time permitted. Many of my friends said to me that I’m still in my prime and it’s a bit too early for me to do Taijiquan. My reply was that I was making an early entry to a pursuit I could naturally step into when I retire. And so I started in the park. Soon I realised that the older people practised Taijiquan in a way that was monotonous and unchallenging for me. So I decided to learn from a professional and went to look for a local leisure club that offered Taijiquan. At that time there were not many leisure clubs that offered Taijiquan. But fortunately I found a centre that offered it not too far from my home. The instructor there taught the Yang Style 24 postures. I felt very good there, the form was beautiful and the uniform looked good. Really, it was all about beautiful expansive movements and good looking clothes!
Q: When did you begin training Chen Taijiquan?
TY: After almost two years Chen style was introduced in my leisure club - the Chen 75 postures. My first impression was that it was an extremely long form and how would we be able to complete it. It took us eight months to learn the form. That was when I began my first wrong perception. Besides being slow the stance was low. A person’s level [I thought] was determined by how low you could go. A ninety degree squat was considered the best and people who could hold that were greatly admired as having good skill. Soon many people suffered leg injuries and knee pain, including myself. Everyone persisted with the low stance, aiming for the ninety degree stance. Leg and knee pain were explained away as not having enough leg strength that simply required more practice. However our training was not systematic like today’s daily zhan zhuang, chansigong, repetitions of the form, taking out sections to focus-train weight shifts, fajin etc. We merely followed the instructor to do the form two or three sessions a week. So it was not intense enough to hurt your knees. However those of us who trained more intensively would suffer the pain. With this misperception I practised for almost ten years.
Q: How did you happen to go to Chenjiagou?
TY: Actually I had never heard of Chenjiagou and didn't even know that a birthplace of Taijiquan existed. I just knew Taijiquan was practised by the masses. Where it came from and what we were aiming for was not in our minds at all. It was enough to know that it brings health and fitness and is a safe exercise suitable for older people. I didn’t know there was a birthplace [you could visit] that provides history, legacy, and culture to the art we were practising. By chance, in 2012 after the Spring Festival, there was a notice in the club that said “In search of the root of Taijiquan - Chenjiagou”. For the first time I knew that Chen style Taijiquan originates from Chenjiagou in Henan’s Wenxian. That said, I wasn’t very bothered nor did I feel any great urge to visit it. However, following the suggestion of the leisure club I thought it might be fun to go visit it and see how close the form we practised was to that done in the birthplace. It was mainly curiosity, bearing in mind I had great confidence in my form and thought it was very precise and beautiful. By then I had competed successfully and from appearance there didn’t seem very much wrong with my taijiquan. I went with members of the club with the mindset of a tourist, driving together and stopping at various places along the way to sightsee. We went as a Taijiquan association with banners and uniform and had scheduled seven days in Chenjiagou.
Q: Can you relate to us your experience at the Chenjiagou Taijiquan School?
TY: Our main coach met with Chen Ziqiang the chief coach of the school to discuss a programme for us. It was decided that during the seven days we would be checked and corrected by Chen Ziqiang himself. We had the mentality that only the main guy should teach us! My first impression of Chen Ziqiang was good. From his demeanour, the expression of his eyes etc, we immediately felt a sense of admiration and respect. So it was ideal to have him coach us. In the first lesson I didn't think there was anything spectacular. He called out a count for each move which we thought was odd as we were used to doing each posture continuously instead of halting at each juncture. We didn’t understand it at all! Isn’t it just one sweep of a movement? Why are there so many stopping places along the circle? Before then we had never considered the points along the circle. Only after you understand do you realise that at every one of these points there’s a subtle internal and external coordinated adjustment. On the outside it may not be obvious but there is a sinking and gathering at each transition, a harmonisation of each of the joints, eg.kua/shoulder, knee/elbow, qi/shape etc...The master was fulfilling all these internally that we couldn’t see and so did not understand. Inevitably we were always ahead of him as we didn’t do any of it and just raced ahead with external movements. Another thing was that we were only focusing on the upper body, paying little attention to the lower half. The only thing we asked the lower body to do was to squat low, at ninety degrees preferably.
Chen Ziqiang didn’t come out to teach the next session. A delegation had arrived and he had to receive them. In his place a young girl of no more than twenty years old came to lead us. We were a little put out and insulted as we had travelled over 2000 km to be here to be taught by a master! To add to our disappointment she asked us all to take our places and do the beginning posture. We had expected to be asked to show our form in order to know what level we were. What could the beginning posture show? What followed actually had the most impact on me. She picked me out and asked me if I thought I was standing correctly. I didn’t think it was so difficult to stand for the beginning posture - feet together, whole body relaxed, hands on the sides. The whole group was standing like me and there was nothing significant to pick out. She asked me to look at her stance but I couldn’t see anything different. Looking at the mirrors in the training hall she asked me to look at my body from the side and then hers. I still couldn’t see anything. She came to me and adjusted my chest, kua and buttocks. She explained just one finer detail to me, that the kua should be loosened slightly inwards as the breath goes out, not fused as I was doing before, and the tailbone slightly rolled inwards but not physically pulled in. I felt a sudden relaxation of the upper body, a clear distinction of the upper and lower half, and felt my weight going down to my feet. Just a little adjustment! I felt very embarrassed. We had taken part in competitions and we considered ourselves at a good level and yet this unknown young girl, not the big master or chief coach, had adjusted us at this very basic level. I wasn’t even standing properly!
At that point I realised that in the birthplace of Taijiquan the standard of practice was definitely not the same. If the posture is incorrect in the first posture then for sure the other postures are not correct. I would have to relearn step by step, stitch by stitch. She corrected a few other people also with the same mistakes. My then instructor is 1.8m tall and very strong having practised martial arts from a young age. We always thought he had a beautiful strong form. He too had learned from an instructor by copying and practiced based on his own understanding. He was in the Lan Za Yi posture and again it was pointed out that his upper and lower body was fused together due to not correctly loosening the kua. As a result the body become a rigid piece and liable to topple at the slightest pressure. Loosening the kua enables the upper body to rotate, change and recover when pushed. The whole group was the same; we had no yin-yang distinctions in our body structures. We had all been moving in this way. Another strong man in the group was identified to have qi stuck in his upper body and was top-heavy. We were impressed by the fact that as she went round she corrected everyone according to their mistakes and not by rote or habit or one size fits all, showing her understanding of Taijiquan. Those seven days were a great leveler for us all. This was only a young disciple of Chen Ziqiang who had trained full time in the school for the last two years, not any great famous master. It also told us that the system is deep and profound. Looking back, it might be that Chen Ziqiang did not want to burst our bubbles at the first lesson and pull us completely apart so send his young disciple to show us how little we knew.
After the session with the young girl we settled down to study seriously. The arrangement was for correction of Laojia Yilu. Ultimately we requested him not to be in a hurry to finish the whole form, but to take us to as far it takes to understand the principles. We did just over twenty postures and what we learned was so far removed from what we had been practicing! We gained a lot of insight on that trip. Drawing from 400 years of history and a deep cultural root, there’re so much content in Taijiquan, The cultural root is what gives the system its core principle. Taijiquan has an old saying that it “can be sensed but cannot be explained in words”. To me it means that perhaps fifty percent of the art can be explained in words. You have to sense the other fifty percent. The other crucial element is hands on guidance by a teacher who understands this. The teacher sees your problem and guides your movements with his hands in order to take you through the correct path. You need to sense and feel what he’s trying to do. For example song kua (loosening the kua) to me in the past simply meant taking a low stance. When a teacher guides you physically you start to sense and then realise what it actually is, not what you think it is. The process is slow and gradual. It is not an action that can be transmitted by words alone. You need to have constant communication with your teacher. And you need a knowledgeable teacher who can spot your shortcomings and guide you to correct them.
Q: How often do you go to Chenjiagou these days?
TY: Since I became a disciple of Chen Xiao Xing, I go to Chenjiagou every year to see shifu and to be quality-checked by him. The biggest worry of a practitioner is to deviate from the path when there’s no one to check you. We all have our habitual movement patterns and our bodies tend to release jin and move away from discomfort when we’re tired or pressured. Take for instance during zhan zhuang, when the body gets tired it naturally find a position that eases the discomfort, for example: the shoulders start to lift in order to relief the lower body from the burden of supporting the weight of sinking; the buttocks start to stick out; or the kua begins to stiffen. These are the natural defence mechanisms of the body. In Lan Za Yi the weight distribution should be 70/30 into the right leg. Many people are not able to complete the final move of relaxing into the right and ‘cheat’ by not committing fully. It may not be evident outside, but you’ve moved away from optimum training at the same time obstructing the flow of qi to the area. This is more obvious in Liu Feng Si Bi. Often people take a 50/50 weight distribution and even though the left leg appears to be correct it is actually holding weight and you’d be unable to lift it without disturbing the body. We study and train Taijiquan for our own skill and benefit, ‘cheating’ in any way only affects our own development. The involuntary ‘cheats’ can only be corrected by the teacher. Therefore I make sure I come back to see him often. Twice a year or sometimes three times a year. I stay for about a month when I come, or for the duration of whatever training programme that has been organised for shifu, like the Labour Day or National Day Training camps.
Q: How do you balance Taijiquan practice with your work and family life?
TY: I’m free now as I’ve retired from work. So I have ample time. In the past when I was in my thirties I had to work and was often tired after work and had less energy for practice. But based on my understanding of Taijiquan now I think there should be no conflict. In my school I suggested to young people that they should start as early as they can. Because the younger body is still pliable it is not limited by bad structural habits. You can see if you observe people walking; they walk differently depending on their body structure and how they distribute their weight. The best time to start is when you are still a child. It’s much easier for a child to learn.
Many working people say that they have neither the time nor the energy to practise Taijiquan. But I say that when you have understood the method and are doing it correctly you do not feel tired. People who haven’t reached that stage are often physically fatigued after training. Taijiquan practice is actually a recovery process for the body. At a certain time Taijiquan becomes enjoyable. Standing forty minutes or an hour is no longer a chore. When you’re feeling under the weather, quiet practice regulates your body, your breath, your energy, your muscles, your head, and makes you feel better and more relaxed. Taijiquan should not be an activity that runs you down, instead it should heal and rejuvenate you.
Many working people say that they have no time to train and that after working all day they are too tired. This is a fundamentally wrong way of looking at Taijiquan training. Taijiquan is a practice that can be incorporated into your everyday life. “There’s no place under the heaven with no taiji”. Once you know the method you can train anywhere and anytime. For example during work breaks many people put their hands on their arms and try to doze for a while. Instead, recuperate the Taiji way. Find a quiet space, stand for ten-twenty minutes and let your mind and body relax. When you are in that relaxed zone the effect is like you’ve had a nap, except that your muscles and joints, meridians and vessels etc. are opened up. It’s much better than being cramped over a desk and finishing with numbed arms, stiff shoulders and body - blocked qi. Therefore, I didn’t experience too much work-practice conflict.
Whatever time you have to train, especially when training methods and principle: like how to keep the head lifted; how to sense the yin yang insubstantial and substantial in the body; how to train the lower plane etc. I might do a bit of slow chansi and work out when and how to relax the breath and let the body sink. If you bring Taijiquan into your everyday life you won’t feel that you have no time to practice. However, if you see Taijiquan as a form of exercise like running on a treadmill or lifting set numbers of weights in the gym that you need to set aside time for, then you’ll not have enough time. Many young people enrol in the gym but go for a burst perhaps at the weekends. Training like this the desired effect is hard to achieve. Taijiquan can be adapted into your daily life. When you’re at the sink washing your dishes you can practise loosening the kua, putting you back in the correct position and observe good posture. That’s zhan zhuang practice. “There’s nowhere in life where there’s no Taiji”. In everyday life, for example, when you’re carrying heavy things in your hands - adopt the Taijiquan principle - relax the shoulders and hang your arms, keep the joints relaxed and use the hands and fingers as hooks for the things you’re carrying. Once you’ve trained the method in everyday life then practice with consistence. Consistent practice in this manner makes and gongfu improve exponentially. For example, it is not easy to express fajin correctly with loose elastic force. If you haven’t got the method then it’s impossible to bring the jin out even if you put in many years of practice.
Q: What are your hopes and expectation for the future?
TY: I’m not really qualified to speak about transmission and propagation. I’m a passionate lover of Taijiquan and in the last ten years I have been exposed to what Taijiquan really is and through my own past errors am in a position to dispel misperceptions. Many people, although they like the practice, give up Taijiquan due to a lack of understanding and faith, or through injuries, especially the knees because of improper methods of training. I live in a seaside resort and there are many Taijiquan players in the area. I often get the chance to talk with them and I witness a lot of problematic practice. At times I feel saddened that such a great cultural heritage is so misunderstood even by our own Chinese nationals. Mistakes and wrong ideas are being transmitted and it worries me. I was an ardent practitioner, but for ten years I was presented with many puzzles that I couldn’t find answers to. Now that I have found the answers I feel the urge to share with the people who love the art but are on the wrong path. It is this that makes me go out to teach…I want to be a place where people seeking Taijiquan can visit and learn what Taijiquan is, its underpinning cultural principle, as well as its heritage. Not like I was, training for a long time without knowing what it is, where it came from and where it can lead to.