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.
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.
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