​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..