Tai Chi

One must understand that it is a method that gradually changes the body into a complete working unit. Four very important rules which if followed, produce good Tai Chi. The first is touch. You must touch your opponent to listen to his body with your body. The second is follow. You must follow your opponents movement to hear his body. The Third is empty or lock. When you feel your opponent you can tell if he is on or off balance. If they are off balance they are considered empty or locked. The fourth is hit or throw away. Therefore, you touch your opponent and listen. You follow his energy until he becomes locked or empty. You then hit or throw the opponent using their own force.

Chen Style Tai Chi

Documents of this period indicate the Chen clan settled in Chen Village, Henan province, China, in the 13th century and reveal the defining contribution of Chen Wangting 1600–1680. It is said that he was a sucessful candidate in the imperial military examinations at the provincial level in the late Ming dynasty. He engaged in military expeditions against rebel forces commanded by Li Zicheng in Shandong. Upon the fall of the Ming, his opportunities for advancement ruined by the change of dynasties, he moved to Chen Village. he fused techniques from the teachings of the Ming general Qi JiKuang with traditional medical theory and taoist breathing techniques to form a unique yielding form of martial art.
Chen Style Tai Chi combines many principles of movement along with the cultivation or movement of chi. Chen style uses hard, soft, fast and slow movements to create a motion for offensive and defensive techniques. This is achieved while providing a method of promoting good health, preventing sickness, and reducing stress which provides greater potential for quietness. Chen Style contains strikes, parries, throws, seizing, sinking, rolling, pushing, dodging, jumping, and kicking. Most of the kicking and punching is unique as it involves an explosion that is unitarily connected. All techniques of Chen Style flow together and interact with each other.
Chen style Tai Chi movements are large and stretching, Footwork is brisk and steady, the body is naturally straight, the entire body controlled by internal energy. The exercise requires the close coordination between mind-intent, internal energy and the body. The outer appearance is an arc and the internal energy travels along the path of a spiral, the energy winds around so that the external action appears soft but corresponding internal action is hard.

Key For Chen Style Tai Chi