˙Ţs T R E N G T H T R a I N I N G I N T a I J I Q U

By David Gaffney

In the West people often pic- ture Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) as an easy option. Who can blame them when most of what now passes for Taiji is so diluted from the original battlefield system? Chenjiagou Village, in Chi- na’sHenan province, is the place where Taijiquan was created some 350 years ago. Its creator, Chen Wangting (1600-1680), was a general at the end of the Ming dynas- ty. Since then successive generations of Chen family boxers have carried on and developed his system. Many made their living as body- guards or biaoshi to mer- chant caravans travelling through China’slawless inte- rior. In more recent times Chen Taijiquan has been used to protect the region from roving gangs of bandits and to fight against the Japa- nese invaders in the mid twentieth century. Practicing Taijiquan in Chenjiagou allows one to cut through many misunder- standings and to taste the time-honoured means of ac- quiring skill.

Chen Taijiquan requires the The author working with a heavy stone weight body to be used in a unique disciplined way and has a hand forms, push hands, begin with the basics. With wide-ranging training curricu- weapons and supplementary time and conscientious prac- lum encompassing standing- equipment training. In com- tice, the body is strength- pole exercise, single- mon with other sports or ened and one discovers a movement exercises, bare- martial arts, it is essential to new means of moving.

27 Long pole training

While Chen Style Taijiquan four areas: suzhi ods such as pole shaking includes many kicks and (constitution; the physical and practicing with heavy strikes within its arsenal, in condition); liliang (strength); weapons continue to be essence it is a close range jishu (technical skill) and used up until today. throwing and grappling sys- gongfu (cultivated skill). tem. It is not possible to fast-track Over the centuries strength, The realities of combat ne- gongfu or fluency with a endurance, and agility have cessitate that a practitioner broad range of techniques. been physical attributes be well versed and comforta- These aspects are only pos- highly valued within Chinese ble during close-quarter sible with time and experi- military circles. According to fighting. The system is re- ence. However, it is possible Chinese military historian nowned for its joint locking, to fast-track physical Stanley Henning, military throwing and takedowns all strength and “body condition- training has utilised activities built on its unique coiling and ing”. This article focuses up- such as weight lifting, long spiralling energy. on the second quality – distance running, jumping, physical strength. climbing, and swimming As the practitioner reaches a alongside the development more accomplished level, the While it may come as a sur- of martial arts prowess. use of supplementary exer- prise to many, strength train- cises with a variety of train- ing is not a new phenome- General Qi Jiguang’straining ing equipment can further non in Taijiquan. In the past, manuals - inspirational in amplify this energy. it represented one aspect of Chen Wangting’screation of Skills such as neutralising, an all-encompassing training Taijiquan - outlined a com- yielding, qinna (joint-locking) process. In Chenjiagou, with- prehensive training regimen and explosively releasing in the garden where 14th which included: “maintaining power are more efficient Generation Chen clan mem- an overall strong fighting when backed up by greater ber Chen Changxin is said to constitution (through remain- physical strength. have taught Yang Luchan, ing “lean and mean”); strong Chen Ziqiang, chief coach of founder of Yang style Taiji- hands and arms through the Chenjiagou Taijiquan quan, can still be found an training with heaver than nor- Martial Arts School, ex- eighty kilogram stone weight mal weapons; strong feet plained that “to become a that they are said to have and legs through running good taiji combatant a stu- regularly trained with. Tradi- over 600 yards without gasp- dent must be proficient in tional strength training meth- ing for breath, using ankle

28 weights (bags of sand) while running; and overall bodily strength and endurance by training while weighted down with heavier than normal ar- mour”.

Chen Wangting had been through the Chinese imperial military examination system where candidates, in addition to tests of ability in archery while mounted and on foot, were examined in bending a 12 catty bow, brandishing the 120-catty halberd and lifting a 300-catty stone. (A catty is a Chinese unit of weight equalling 1.102 pounds). Quite naturally he included similar exercises in his new system.

Lifting heavy stones is done as a means to training the waist and lower body. Chen Ziqiang explains “the strength training method is highly specialised. You are not training to develop “stupid strength” (brute or localised strength). This is training strength in the waist. Taiji ball training Your hand strength is like the hook you use when you are long pole as a means of in- either a pole form that con- towing a car. You have to creasing the amount of pow- sists of thirteen methods that remember that your hand is er that can be transmitted have been compiled into a the hook. Your strength is from the dantian (the dantian sequence, or by training indi- coming from the waist and is a point about three fingers vidual movement drills. how you push into the beneath the navel and ap- The seventeenth generation ground, combining the proximately an inch beneath master Chen Fake, one of strength of the car and the the surface - it is held to be the most renowned practi- rope. The hook is only the the bodies centre of energy tioners of the modern era, is implement that connects the and balance) out to the ex- said to have performed three two. So when you lift the big tremities. hundred repetitions of the rock, it is the strength of the The pole is at least three me- "pole shaking" exercises. legs and waist… ”. tres in length and is used as In Chenjiagou both the spear a means of increasing whole and the long pole are typical- Also popular, to this day, is body power and explosive- ly made from a particular the exercise of shaking a ness. The practitioner trains kind of wood called bailagan

29 Chen Ziqiang training with a guandao

Students in the Chenjiagou Weapons training is another 白腊杆 (white wax wood), a Taijiquan School today use a means of developing strong but flexible wood that basketball filled with sand to strength in the Chen Taiji- allows the practitioner to train the system’sunique spi- quan curriculum. The most transmit force through it and ralling and rotational move- widely practised weapons bends to absorb impact pre- ment. Through a range of are the straight sword, venting damage to the weap- coiling movements the prac- broadsword, spear and hal- on. titioner works towards a berd (guandao). As well as form training for stage where the movement whole body strength, a num- of their dantian leads the Each have their own unique ber of two-person “sticking” movement of the ball. characteristics and condition- drills are also practised with ing benefits. The sword the pole to enhance the There is also the Taiji Bang trains flexibility and the full ‘listening’ability and combat - a short stick used to devel- extension of one’sbody; the skill of practitioners. op seizing, locking and es- sabre is fast and explosive caping skills. Usually about and could be likened to Taiji Ball training is used to the length of one’sforearm, plyometrics in modern athlet- strengthen the torso, condi- the bang is used for twisting ic training; while the spear tion the muscles, and in- and stretching the tendons trains agile footwork and up- crease physical power. Sto- and developing the strength per and lower body co- ries are handed down of past of the grip and forearms. ordination. masters training with stone balls weighing 60kg. Weapons Training One common method of in-

30 creasing strength is to train ty kilograms. Its practice is with heavier weapons based on thorough ground- WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? ing in the core skills of Taiji- ANSWER IN NEXT ISSUE The guandao, also known as quan, as it demands a stable the “spring & autumn broad- lower plane, good upper sword”or less prosaically as body strength, and excellent the “big knife”is regarded as spatial awareness. Chen Taijiquan’sheavy artil- lery. Unlike the spear and Though rarely seen in the the pole, the spring & au- wider world, within Chen- tumn broadsword historically jiagou knowledge of a wide was the most often deployed assortment of traditional weapon by Chinese military weapons has been pre- officers. Due to the exclu- served up to the present. sive and expensive nature of Some, like the two section the weapon, it became a pole form, have evolved from symbol of military rank, and agricultural tools to gradually was often ornately decorat- become incorporated into the ed. The name guangdao de- Chen Family Taijiquan weap- rived its name from the leg- ons syllabus. Others have endary Chinese general been handed straight down Guan Yu, who was respect- from the battlefield. fully given the title of Lord As well as the aforemen- Guan (Guangong ), from tioned, weapons practiced the tumultuous “Three King- today include double swords, doms”period of Chinese his- double broadswords, double tory. He reputedly used a maces, and the 3 and 8 weapon weighing eighty-two movement pole forms. jin 斤 (one jin is about five Maintaining the tradition of hundred grams). training in these classical This was also the favoured Chinese weapons enhances weapon of Taijiquan’screa- an individual’soverall skills, tor Chen Wangting. Be- preserves an unbroken tradi- cause of this he acquired the tion of martial culture and nickname “Equal to Guan greatly increases one’sphys- Yu” ( ) because of his ical and cardiovascular fit- military exploits and his profi- ness. ciency in the use of the guandao. The dynamic na- ture of the guandao form, David Gaffney is co-author of with its sudden changes in The Essence of Taijiquan direction, sharp turns and which can be ordered through explosive leaping move- www.chentaijigb.co.uk ments makes it a wonderful body-conditioning tool.

Today’s practitioners use weapons ranging from a few kilograms to more than twen-

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