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Chen Pan-Ling began his matial arts
training with his father where he learned an External system: a traditional
form of Shao Lin. Later in his life, around 1912, he began his study of the
Internal systems, he learned: Xing Yi Quan from Li Tsun-Yi and Liu
Tsai-Chen; Ba Gua Zhang from Tung Lien-Chi and Cheng Hai-Ting; and Taiji
Quan from Wu Jian-Quan, Yang Shao-Hou, Ji Zu-Xiu and Xu Yu-Sheng. He also
spent a year (from 1927 to 1928) in the village of Chen Jia Guo to research
Chen's Taiji Quan. When Chen Pan Ling first studied Taiji the popular styles
practiced in China were Yang, Wu (Jian-Quan) and Hao styles. Arguably,
modern Taiji Quan can be said to have originated in Chen Jia Guo, as Wu (Jian-Quan)
style is originally from Yang and Hao style is from Wu (Yu-Xiang), and it is
probably, but not formally documented, that both Yang and Wu (Yu-Xiang) both
learned Taiji Quan in Chen Jia Guo.
In 1928, the Chinese Nationalist
Government established the Central Martial Arts Institute (Central Kuoshu
Institute) in Nanjing, which was the then capital of China. Chen Pan-Ling
was a notable scholar as well as a martial artist, he chaired the committee
that met in Chunjing, in 1941. This committee sought to standardise the
martial arts, taking the best from the various styles to develop a single
system.
The modern classic of
Chen Pan Ling Taiji Quan emerged after Chen Pan-Ling chaired a government
committee of renowned martial artists of the 1940's. The resultant form,
supported by scientific theory, incorporates the best from the Taiji Quan
styles popular, in China, at that time.
Chen Pan-Ling was an advocate of the
approach to standardisation and systematic teaching so that Taiji. In his
efforts to develop a synthesised form Chen Pan-Ling was conscious to combine
applications that told a story, were effective and properly representative
of the three schools of Taiji of which the synthesised form is comprised.
The result was a form which captured the undeniable martial arts nature
within the most beautiful movements.
The Yang and Wu styles are the most obvious
in terms of incorporation
and contribution to the development of the Chen Pan-Ling form.
There has been some debate on the significance of the influence that Chen Taiji Quan had
on the development of Chen Pan-Ling's form.
Chen Pan-Ling studied at Chen Jia Guo and assisted with the publication of
Chen Xin's book on Chen Taiji Quan, so his knowledge and understanding of
Chen Taiji Quan is indisputable. As to Chen Taiji Quan's influence on the
Chen Pan Ling form: the most obvious evidence is within the form itself and
the degree
of spiraling rotation on the vertical axis - silk reeling energy.
A Brief Description of the
Principal Styles of Taiji Quan
Chen style, developed by Chen Wangting, based
on "silk reeling energy" is characterised and known for its use of fast
movements and obvious power. The various Chen styles - Da Jia (Big Frame),
Xiao Jia (Small Frame), Lao Jia (Old Frame), Xin Jia (New Frame).
Yang style, developed by Yang Lu-Chan based on
Da Jia Yi Lu (Big Frame First Form), which Yang Lu-Chan learned from Chen
Chang-Xing, is characterised by slow, flowing expansive movements.
Wu (Jian-Quan) style, developed by Wu
Jian-Quan based on small frame Yang style, is characterised by tight,
compact, and apparent leaning postures with gentle and slow movements.
Wu (Wu Yu-Xiang/Hao) style, developed by Wu
Yu-Xiang, based on Da Jia Yi Lu (Big Frame First Form) from Yang Lu-Chan and
Xiao Jia (Small Frame) from Chen Qing-Ping, often called 'Scholar's Style',
is characterised by its upright postures and small, compact movements.
Sun style, developed by Sun Lu-Tang, combines
Xing Yi and Ba Gua Zhang movements using the Taiji Quan frame. It is a
unique dexterous, tight, and compact style with a high stance and fast
paces.
The Meaning of Taiji
Taiji s an
ancient philosophical term symbolizing the interaction of yin and yang
(opposite manifestations of the same forces) in nature. The term 'Taiji'
literally translated as 'Supreme
Ultimate' or 'Extreme', first appeared in the Yi Jing, the
Book of Changes. The Han Dynasty
Scholars who studied the Yi Jing chronicled that Taiji arises from the
motionless and undisturbed Yuan Qi, literally 'Original Energy'. When the
Original Qi starts to move, yin (female or negative energy) and yang (male
or positive energy) come into being (begin to flow), evolving from Taiji.
Taiji is considered the primary force, the originator of all things created
between heaven and earth. It is believed by the Chinese Daoist and
metaphysics philosophers that 'yin' and 'yang' exist in all things and in
every facet of life. Traditional
Chinese medicine has also applied the yin and yang theory to the study of
human physiology and anatomy ... meridian channels have all been classified
and labeled as either a yin or a yang channel. Consequently, when yin and
yang are in ultimate balance and have regenerated from each other, life is
then continually created. To take it one step further, when one cultivates
and nurtures one's original 'qi', one is cultivating and nurturing one's
life.
According to Chinese cosmology, Taiji
(Tai Chi) refers to the state of the universe from which Heaven and Earth,
Yin and Yang are born. A classic poem of Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) states
that Taiji is infinity. It is created from no limit. It involves dynamic and
static movements, the
mother of
yin and yang. In movement, it separates; in stillness, it combines.
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