Victoria Chen Taiji Academy

Chen Zhonghua left his home town of Weifang, Shandong province, for the city of Jinan to attend college. At that time he was looking for a new martial arts master. In his home town he had developed a reputation for his skill with the hard style martial arts but at this time he had no teacher and realized that to progress he would have to find someone new. When he arrived in Jinan a fellow student told him about an old man that no one could beat.

Being sceptical about this he inquired further about the old mans skills. "You mean no one in his style can beat him?". The person relating the facts to him replied that, "No, no one could beat him. It didn't matter what the style was." Still a bit sceptical Chen Zhonghua decided it was worth a visit at least and on a day off from his studies went to Black Tiger Springs where this man taught classes everyday.

When he arrived at the teaching platform there was a group of onlookers watching Hong Junsheng finish a lesson with a delegation of Japanese students. As Chen Zhonghua watched one of the men in the delegation challenged Hong Junsheng (the teacher) to show that his art was effective. The japanese man attacked Hong several times but was thrown out on each attempt.

 Chen Zhonghua was very impressed with what he saw and when the crowd broke up he followed Hong Junsheng as he made his way across a small bridge over the springs. When he caught up to Hong, Chen Zhonghua tapped him on the shoulder and boldly stated that he wanted to study with him. Hong replied that he must have mistaken him for someone else. "I'm just an old man walking home. ", he replied.

Undeterred Chen Zhonghua said he saw what he had done earlier, had followed him and knew that he was the right man. "Can I study with you master?", he said. Hong didn't say yes, but he didn't say no. Beginning the next day Chen Zhonghua started to study Chen style taiji with Grandmaster Hong Junsheng, the longest term student of the legendary taiji master, Chen Fake.

Chen Zhonghua studied with Hong Junsheng, in Jinan, from 1979 to 1986 when he immigrated to Canada. During the time Chen Zhonghua studied with Hong he was exposed to a true master of the art of taiji, his traditional methods of instructing and the disciples, students and challengers that surrounded Hong every day of his life.

When I first met Chen Zhonghua I had over twenty years of experience with taiji and more than thirty years experience with martial arts. Even with this experience behind me I could not make sense of the wayin which Chen Zhonghua moved. It didn't seem wrong it just seemed 'different.' He moved in a way I had never seen before and it was very puzzling. He didn't obey any of the rules of movement that I knew of. It was disturbing to me as I am used to being able to anticipate the movements of most people. Chen Zhonghua's movement was completely foreign but still I had a sense that there was something exciting and different going on.

When he demonstrated techniques on me it was very convincing. He was inescapable and always manipulated meas much, or as little, as he desired. His command was absolute. Having felt his strength I was motivated to think about his type of movement. Over a period of three months, three exposures to his teachings, I finally realized what it was that he was doing and also realized that finally I had found real taiji.

The way Chen Zhonghua moves follows exactly the taiji classics, but in an interpretation that is quite unique. Chen Zhonghua's teacher, Grandmaster Hong, wrote a book that describes the theory behind Chen taiji as taught to him by Chen Fake. This book has only been available in Chinese but recently has been translated, by Chen Zhonghua, into English. If you are interested in Chen taiji this book is invaluable as it not only goes into a lot of detail about Chen taiji but also exposes many misinterpretations and misunderstandings about taiji in general. The book is available at http://www.binhound.net/.

I have been studying with Master Chen for a little more than four years and in that time I feel that I have learned more about taiji than in all my previous years. If CZH (Chen ZhongHua) makes a statement about taiji he is always capable of backing it up with a physical demonstration. This is one of the best things about studying with Master Chen. Although his understanding of taiji theory is very deep it doesn't stop there. The theory is useless until it is in your body and available at will. This is the case with CZH. His teaching style is very accessible. He never refuses to test a theory or to let you feel exactly what it is he is doing with his body to create the result.

In the time I have been with Master Chen I have spent time with him at intensive camps several times. I have visited his home studio and spent time there, meanwhile living in his home. Master Chen has put on several workshops in my city and in all those exposures to him I have never seen him break taiji principles when he moves. Some people who encounter him have balked at his expression of the art and claimed that he was too strong. Master Chen is approximately five feet, six inches and probably weighs no more than 145 pounds. One person who claimed Master Chen was too strong was over six feet and over two hundred pounds. When Master Chen first moved him with ease the fellow claimed that he did it through strength :)

The central goal of taiji is to create a very powerful and effective martial art. If you are unable to display apparent strength your skill level is not very high. Taiji's type of strenght is different from hard style martial art but still have to be available. There is an interesting story about Chen Fake that illustrates a very basic misunderstanding about taiji.

When Chen Fake first arrived in Beijing from Chen village he was eagerly anticipated as most people had heard of his reputation as a highly skilled Chen Master.