1). To start, can you tell us what first got you interested in the Martial Arts? (How old were you?)
 
When I was about nine years old the TV show “Kung-Fu” and other shows like the “Green Hornet”, movies like “Enter the Dragon” came out. These made me want to learn Martial Arts. However, I lived in a small town in Iowa with less then three thousand people and no Martial Arts school. It wasn’t until I moved out of Iowa and was living in Colorado that I had the opportunity to study Martial Arts.
 
2). So, was Kwai Chang Caine, on “Kung-Fu”, your first glimpse of the Asian Martial Arts?
 
The character in the “Kung-Fu” was one of the first, but Bruce Lee In “Enter the Dragon” and other movies and seeing Bruce Lee in episodes of “The Green Hornet” also sparked my interest in Asian Martial Arts.
 
 
3). Speaking of Kung-Fu, did you want to begin studying Kung Fu or did you begin reading books on the Martial Arts and Kung Fu.
 
I started by reading books on Kung Fu and other forms of the Martial Arts before I began studying any Martial Arts forms. I was trying to find out what form of Martial Arts I wanted to study.
 
4). As Caine practiced “Pseudo” Kung-Fu on the show, why did you decide to study T’ai Chi.
 
When I was a senior in high school my parents moved from Iowa to New Mexico and I moved with them. In New Mexico, I had a girlfriend that was doing Tai Chi and she would practice and show me what she was learning in her class. I started to read up on T’ai Chi and became interested in the movements. When I moved to Colorado I had a job handing out flyers and invitations for a local art gallery and visited several Martial Art schools while on my rounds. Most schools did T’ai Chi as supplement to their Martial Arts training but one of the schools did T’ai Chi as there main Martial Arts training and it is there that I started my training in Martial Arts.      

5). As a follow up question, had you begun studying other Martial Art forms prior to deciding on T’ai Chi and if so, what were they?
 
I started my training with the short Yang Style form. When a student at the school finished the short Yang Style form, and other students also finished the short form, a new advance group would be formed but only when there was 15 or more students at that level to start a group.  I finished the short form faster then the other students at that time so my instructor started me on Kung Fu animal forms because he was a Kung Fu Master before he switched to focusing on T’ai Chi. When the advance group started, I was still working on learning Kung Fu while at the same time, the group class was working on the long Yang form of Tai Chi. (The Yang Chen Fu form.) After that, I worked on the Sword form, two Staff forms, Broadsword, Chen Man-Ch’ing form, You Long Gong Taiji form and the Chen style of Tai Chi.  
 
6). At what age where you when you truly began studying under a teacher of T’a Chi, and did you first study the Ch’uan Style”? (What do you remember about your instructor and their teaching?)
 
I started my T’ai Chi training In 1988 when I was 23 years old and I have always done T’ai Chi Chuan. There are five styles of Tai Chi: Chen, Yang, Wa (Hao), Wu and Sun. All of them, in turn, trace their historical origins to the Chen Village in China. The word T’ai Chi means “Supreme Ultimate” and Chuan means “Fist”.
 
My favorite style of Tai Chi would be Chen because that is the origins of all the other forms of Tai Chi.
 
I have had only one primary instructor and through him I have worked with other instructors like Mike Sigman.
 
7). What made you want to become an Instructor and at what age did you begin teaching?
 
At first, I became a student instructor. I had the ability to learn forms fast and retain them easily. I was at my school four hours every day and also worked on forms outside of class. After I had been at the school for six years I moved to a new town and didn’t want to lose what I had learned over the years so I started to teach.
 

I started by teaching at a local City Recreation Center. The recreation center at the time mentioned that they had tried to offer T’ai Chi previously but could only get enough students to offer the class for 6 months.  I have since been teaching at this Recreation Center for 15 years now.
 
To be Continued
 

As I had mentioned a few times earlier, T’ai Chi, (along with other forms of Martial Arts), was at times heavily frowned upon in China due to certain situations happening there. One reason this happened is because the Martial Arts were sometimes considered a threat to those in High positions. This may, in part, be due to an event that happened in 1900, which encompassed all of China and greatly affected much of the world.
 
This event was, and is to this day, known as the “Boxer Rebellion”. (No, we are not speaking of the shorts here folks!)
 
China had for years been an isolated country ruled by Emperors, which ruled with an Iron Fist. These emperors did have armies however these armies were barely strong enough to control the populace, let alone more powerful countries such as Germany, the British Empire and America. Even though to us in the West, Japan was considered the Far East, it too was considered the West to the Chinese and as such their presence was also unwanted. It was during this period that the Chinese began taking a “Nationalist” approach to the Western influences invading their country. The Chinese, one must remember, had been pretty much isolated to the world except for the Silk, Opium and Tea market for centuries. With the Western invasion that happened during the 19th Century, many new and unwanted things were affecting the average Chinese citizen. Especially the Chinese peasant, many of which lived in small villages and outlets away from large cities such as Beijing. Including such villages as Master Chens.
 
The average Chinese citizen was afraid that Western encroachment was going to destroy their way of life and in actuality, make their lives even more difficult than it already was. For instance, China did not have a rail system until Western companies came in and began constructing them in order to speed up the “Rape” China’s natural resources. The peasants that built the rail system constructed it, by hand, yet could not afford to ride the trains that rode on the tracks they laid. In most cases they were even forbidden to ride on them. Certainly, the Chinese Emperors, or Empresses, and the wealthy class were enjoying the Western Expansion as they were only garnering the fruits of their subjects labor.
 
Not the average Chinese citizen however.
 
Thus, a Rebellion began amongst the Chinese lower class of which the bulk consisted of peasants, workers, farmers and even Chinese priests, against Westerners living in China at the time. This Revolt became known as the “Boxer Rebellion”. It was named such by the British forces as they noticed that many of those revolting against westerners were using self-defense methods known as “Boxing” in China. (Think Martial Arts here)
 
A group of these rebels, in 1899, began attacking westerners all over China and this group called themselves “I Ho Ch’uan” which literally translated into “the Righteous and Harmonious Fists”. Sound familiar? On June 20th, 1900 these “Boxers” attacked the Western complex in Beijing, which housed the diplomatic areas and killed many Westerners, including the German ambassador. This “force” of I Ho Ch’uan numbered at around 100,000. As each country occupying the Western Quarter had minimal protection, the “Boxers” burned many churches, buildings and even destroyed the Peking Rail system in Beijing. As this greatly concerned the Western Powers, all these countries, including Japan, Germany, Russia, the United States, France and Great Briton, form a Multi-National Force of which eventually took control of Beijing and suppressed the I Ho Ch’uan all the way to Northern China. In fact, after it was all over, the Emperors/Empresses of China were forced to pay almost $300 million dollars for the damages caused by the I Ho Ch’uan.
 
This was just the beginning of China becoming a “Subject Nation” under the control of outsiders and in the Peking Protocol, signed in September 1901, China would hence force have occupying armies and groups like the I Ho Ch’uan were disbanded and outlawed.
 
Thus, this was the beginning of the “Suppression” of the Martial Arts, including but not limited to T’ai Chi Ch’uan, in China, which sadly continues to this day. Tragically, thousands were put to death simply for wanting to protect their culture and families from subjugation.

In case you have not figured out by now, Chen’s first name is pronounced Fay Key.  I just do not wish that if you ever bring his name up in conversation, well that you sounded as if you knew what you were talking about.
 
As Fake is responsible for bringing the Chen style T’ai Chi Ch’uan to the masses, I felt we should end the postings about his legacy with a look at who has, and is, carrying on this style and tradition.
 
If you will recall, in my last posting I wrote about Chen Fake’s sons’ and daughter, however there is one other close relative of Chen Fake, a distant nephew, named Chen Zhao Pi, (1893 – 1972), who’s father, Chen Dengke also taught Martial Arts. When Zhao Pi’s father was away on business, he sent his son to the Chen Village to study under Master Chen Fake. Like his master, and being but a few years younger, he also suffered greatly during the Cultural Revolution and World War II.  When he turned 21, he left the Chen Village to go to the city of Gansu to teach “boxing”. In 1928, he left Gansu and went to Beijing to teach and it was there that the Mayor of nearby Nanjing watched Zhao Pi teach and he invited Chen to come to his city, on behalf of the cities government, to teach his boxing style. Zhao Pi however did not wish to leave Beijing and as such, suggested that the mayor instead invite his Master, Chen Fake, to go in his stead.  So, in actuality, it was a distant relative that brought fate into his Masters life.  
 
Chen Zhao Pi retired at the age of 65, in 1958, and with his free time he authored four books on the Chen Style.
 
“Cases of Chen Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan”
 
“Beginner’s Guide to T’ai Chi Ch’uan”
 
“Illustrated Guide to Chen Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan”
 
“Thirteen Theories of Chen Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan”
 
In addition, four of todays top proponents of the Chen Style form, Grand Master Chen Zheng Lei, Grand Master Chen Xaio Wang, Grand Master Zhu Tian Cai, and Grand Master Wang Xi An are students who studied directly under Master Chen Zhao Pi. (As a side note, all of those I mentioned above, Master Chen Zhao Pi’s students, can be found online and even on Facebook.)
 
Following is simply a list of some of Master Chen Fakes’ most notable students for you to research on your own;
 
Jaizhen Shen, (1891 -1972)
 
Tang Hao, (1897 -1959)
 
Yang Yichen, (1904 – 1959)
 
Zhang Xuan, 1905 – 1984)
 
Pan Yong-Zhou, (1906 -1996)
 
Hong Junsheng, (1907 – 1996)
 
Gu Liuxin, (1908 – 1991)
 
Lei Muni, (1911 – 1986)
 
Zhong Minggao, (1911 – 1998)
 
Li Jingwu, (1912 – 1997)
 
Chen Yunting, (1912- )
 
Wang He-Lin, (1915 - ?)
 
Tian Xiuchen, 1917 – 1984)
 
Feng Zhiqiang, (1928 – 2012)
 
 
The list is endless…,
 
So, in conclusion, Chen Fake left the world a legacy of his Martial Arts Style of T’ai Chi, (boxing), which will carry on for centuries. He was an inspiration to all who studied under him and thankfully, his teachings and style will be left for many, many more who wish to envelope his thinking of what was , at the time, a practice meant to bring harmony and balance into peoples lives using nature as a

If you recall, in the last posting here, I mentioned Hong Jun Sheng, ( when writing about Chen’s daughter and her Sword Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan. As Hong Jun Sheng was important in Chen Fake’s life, I thought it relevant to write a little about him.
 
Hong Jun Sheng was born in 1906 in YuXian, China in 1928 so he was at least thirty years younger than Chen Fake. He was born into a wealthy Merchants family and his “Private” schooling was directed towards one day taking over the family business. However, just as with Chen Fake, he was an ailing child and to correct this, at around the age of twenty he began studying the Martial Arts under Master Liu MuSan. Liu taught the Wu Tai Chi style and was a highly regarded and much sought after teacher.
 
While studying under Master Liu, an important and historical event occurred, 1928, that would forever change Hong Jun Sheng.  Being one of Liu’s better students, Hong Jun Sheng was invited to see a Martial Arts demonstration in which the “First” form of T’ai Chi was to shown. This form, the one above all others, was supposedly the predecessor of the Yang and Wu styles. Expecting the demonstration to last hours, due to the slow style and movements they had learned from their master, the students, along with Hong, expected a long day away from their studies.
 
However, in less than twenty minutes, the demonstration was over and all those who viewed it were left baffled and in complete awe.  To them, this demonstration did not resemble T’ai Chi as they knew it. The slow fluid movements were gone and were replaced with stops, forceful stomps, changes in speed and direction and most of all.., Force.
 
Who was the Master giving this demonstration? Chen Fake.
 
Hong Jun Sheng, unlike all the other witnesses to this flurry of speed and force was not as taken aback as all the others who watched in amazement.  He thought quite opposite in that he saw the benefits and merit in Chen’s demonstration and was particularly astonished that even with all the forcefulness in the fighting, Chen remained calm and relaxed. Master Liu, Hong’s teacher also saw this in the exhibit and encouraged his students to study under Master Chen before deciding on what style of T’ai Chi they wished to study further. This advice began a long and lasting discipleship between Hong Jun Sheng and his new master, Chen Fake.
 
As Chen was not at all wealthy, quite the opposite in fact, and Hong was, he invited Chen to live with his family and even use his families house to teach the Chen style, to which Chen graciously accepted. As Hong was still not in the best of health, he would allow his fellow students to practice the Chen style while he simply sat back and observed. As such, he was able to not only see the demonstrations and hear what Master Chen was telling his fellow students, he was also able to see the routines over and over again thus when it came his time to practice with his Master, he knew the movement by rote.
 
Within a decade however things changed. The Hong family fell on hard times and at the same time, as Chen was much sought after as a teacher, situations reversed themselves. In turn it was the Master that took in the student, but only for a short period as Hong felt he was imposing on his Masters generosity and moved his family to the village of Jinan. He did however continue to study under Chen for the next fifteen years. While in Jinan Hong became a member of an Anti- Communist, along with an Anti-Japanese movement as this period in Hongs life happened during the Japanese occupation of China. His association with these groups labeled Hong as an “Undesirable” and a political dissident. As such, this caused the Hong family to suffer, which led to even more poverty for the Hong family. This sadly led to the members of the Hong family to denounce Jun Sheng and he literally lived on the streets.
 
Once again, fate stepped in as China began to slowly open up which found Hong a new life in teaching the next generation of T’ai Chi Ch’uan followers and in this period Hong also wrote a book on Chen Fake’s principles. So, in the end, not only did the student learn from the Master, the student became the Master in the long run.
 

Hong Jun Sheng in his latter years. 
 
Image credit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/329959110174221095/
 

As Chen Fake is most notably known for the Chen Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan, he is also noted for raising children that went on to further his styles, techniques and name. Chen Fake had three children, two boys and a daughter, all of who followed in their father’s footsteps. Thus, the Chen style Chen Fake that begun around 1900, is still taught and practiced very much the same way it was over 100 years ago.
 
Chen Zhaoxu, (1912 – 1959), was the oldest of Chen Fake’s children, (Chen Fake had another male child but this child died quite young), and was trained by his father at an early age in the Chen Style. He was so good at what his father had taught him that, at his father’s request, he returned to the Chen Village and continued the family legacy. Sadly, he was coming of age during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which stagnated and tried to halt all Martial Art’s forms, Zhaoxu suffered greatly and died quite young. (More on T’ai Chi Ch’uan and Martial Arts in China during WW II and the Cultural Revolution to follow)
 
However, Zhaoxu did have sons that also carried on the Chen style. His second son, Chen Xaiowang, (b. 1945), is now living in Australia and is considered by many as one of the leading practitioners and teachers of the Chen style T’ai Chi Ch’uan today. His youngest son, Chen Xaioxing, (b. 1952), along with his own son Chen Ziqiang, continue to teach and practice in their home village in China today.
 
Chen Yu Xia, (1924 – 1986), was Chen Fake’s only daughter. She began studying under her father’s tutelage at the early age of eight and was soon one of the most proficient of all his students. Most notably the “Sword Form”. When students of Hong Junsheng, (a disciple of Chen who had seen the Master Chen preform the Chen style T’ai Chi Ch’uan while still in training and of whom I will speak of later), asked their Master about the Sword Forms, he immediately gave them the name Yu Xia as he said she was the “only” one who still understood the vast intricacies of the form and directed them towards her. She remained one of the utmost authorities on Chen style, and in particular the Sword style, until her death.
 
Chen Zhaokui, (1928 – 1981) was the youngest of Chen Fake’s children and it was he who trained many of the T’ai Chi Ch’uan practitioners that remain in China to this day. His son, Chen Yu, (1962 -), is to this day teaching the Chen Style around the world.
 
There are many, many students of Chen Fake and later we will look at some of the most notable however, as I do not wish to take up pages, upon pages of who was who and who taught what and where, we will simply conclude that Chen Fake has quite the enduring legacy. If it were not for he, there may not be today a Chen Style form of T’ai Chi Ch’uan, nor the Push Hands or the modern Sword Forms. If Chen Fake had not been asked to come to Beijing to teach his style of T’ai Chi Ch’uan, the form quite possibly could have been lost to the ages.
Chen Fake..,  Photo credit  “pinterest”.   https://www.pinterest.com/pin/391109548861808691/
 

​So, when we last spoke of Chen Fake.., he was on his way to Beijing.  Prior to Chen’s arrival, T’ai Chi Ch’uan was based only on the Wu and Yang styles. As these forms are based on relaxed, slow movements, Chen was looked at with skepticism. As Chen’s style of T’ai Chi Ch’uan was full of fast, explosives moves, they thought he had lost his quan. (Quan simply means “mind”, so they thought Chen crazy)
 
In order to prove this, other martial artists in Beijing would openly challenge Chen, hoping to prove him a charlatan. As he was facing many different martial artists using many different techniques, many of these “challenges” were quite physical and even dangerous. There were no rules, no preparations and no officials overseeing these bouts. For the following thirty years, Chen was undefeated, thus establishing himself as one of the best Martial Artists in China.
 
Chen was a very down to earth and humble man and never once belittled other martial art styles or martial artists. It is said he even admonished anyone who did, especially his students. He, Chen, was even quoted as saying, “The pillar of socialization is loyalty and the method of dealing with people should be based on modesty and cooperation. Loyalty fosters truth; modesty encourages progress; and cooperation befriends people. Modesty and cooperation should be based on loyalty not hypocrisy.”
 
One of Chen’s students recalled a Lei Tai Tournament in which Chen was an advisor/referee. As this tournament involved several hundred martial artists, time and how to decide a winner of a match was of concern. As a traditional match was fifteen minutes in length and with the amount of competitors, this Lei Tai would have lasted days. (A Lei Tai is literally a raised platform in which martial arts bouts are fought.) Chen mentioned to the other advisors that any true martial arts match could be judged in a three count, or even in a one count scoring system. To prove this point, Chen had fellow martial artist, two hundred pound Li Jinghua, simply touch him on the elbow. Before anyone witnessing the demonstration could bat an eye, Chen had thrown Li several feet into a nearby wall. To the amazed onlookers, Chen simply said, “When the gonfu, (Kung Fu/Gong Fu), is deep, there is no need for power to come out. The oncoming force will cause an automatic reaction to cause the attacker to fall forward or backward into emptiness. With Jianhua’s power, I enticed and then issued.”
 
So with this in mind, using ones opponent’s actions to cause an instantaneous reaction, please keep in mind that it is NOT the size or strength of an opponent, but rather the invisible weakness ones opponent does not see.
 
The style of T’ai Chi Ch’uan had originated was not one of attack, but rather it was the use of your opponent’s attack as a means of winning them over.
 

                                “Who is Chen Fake, and Why Should you Care?”
                                                             By: J. Parker
 
Just getting away a bit from Forms and Exercises, I think we can take a look at some of the Modern Master and what they have done with the original T’ai Chi Ch’uan style and how it has evolved.
Of the most notable is Chen Fake, born into the original Chen family in Chenjiagou, China in 1887. (Chenjiagou simply means “Chen Family Village) The Chen village area was known as a center for Martial Arts going back to the date 1374. Fake’s great grandfather, Ch’en Chang-hsing, (Chen Changxing, 1771-1853), was an Armed Profession Escort, or what we today would call a “Bodyguard”, so his Martial Arts skills had to be top notch. 
Not being born until his father was in his sixties, and his older brothers having already passed in life, Fake was not in any competition to follow along in his families Martial Arts practices. (He was also a sickly child and as such remained in bed or indoors most of his childhood) It should be noted that Chen Fake was by NO MEANS a Scholar so what is known of him has been gleaned from his sons and students. What is known is that Fake’s father went to Shangdong Province around 1900 to teach the family of Yuan Shikai martial arts. As this trip meant that Fake’s father would be away for an extended period and as such, asked his relatives to look after his family and Fake. One evening, while his father was away, Fake happened to hear his relatives talking about how he, Fake, had not lived up to the Chen family tradition of Martial Arts. This upset him deeply and he vowed to prove them wrong. He vowed that he would master the martial arts and for the next three years, after having completed the days chores, and while all the rest of the family relaxed and rested, Fake studied every form of the families Chen style T’ai Chi Ch’uan. Fake decided that he would one day master every form of T’ai Chi Ch’uan and if he was lost, or did not understand a certain exercise or form, he would seek out those in the Chen village that could help him. In so doing, within three years, Fake was considered one of the best practitioners of T’ai Chi Ch’uan in the whole village.
Around 1930, a relative of Fake, Chen Zhaopei, was teaching T’ai Chi Ch’uan in Beijing and was asked to teach the Ch’uan method in the city of Nanjing. Not wanting to leave his students without a Master so that they could continue their studies, Zhaopei suggested that they ask Chen Fake to take his place. So, it was through this that Chen Fake moved from his humble family village and moved to the bustling city of Beijing.
What happened next…, well you’ll find out within the next few days..