Green Forest Temple

There are many different styles or families of Tai Chi Chuan. The five, which are practiced most commonly today, are the Yang, Chen, Wu , Sun, and Woo styles. At Green Forest Temple we practice Chen Tai Chi Chuan. Chen Chan Xing developed this style and passed down to his son Chen Gung Yun, who in turn passed the art down to his son Chen Yan Xi. Chen Yan Xi taught Du Yi Zi the art while Du Yi Zi’s father, Du Yen, employed him as a bodyguard. Du Yi Zi carried on this art to many students one of whom was Adam Hsu who taught the chief instructor of this school, Scott Ripke.

Though the character of each of these styles is different, each follows the same principles. According to the classics Tai Chi must have hard and soft, fast and slow, substantial and insubstantial, in addition to opening and closing energies. The Eight Powers and the Five Elements constitute the foundation of the art.

In addition to benefiting health, Tai Chi Chuan must also have its martial worth. At Green Forest Temple we teach posture and function. The student begins with the movements and the form.  After your movements are more correct, the usage and functionality can be demonstrated and practiced with partners.

A certain movement may look soft, but there is an intrinsic connected force throughout.  The techniques should have spiraling energy that expands and contracts naturally.  Only in this way can you have soft strength. If it is all hard, then it is not tai Chi. If it is completely soft with no strength it is not tai Chi. The practice of Tai Chi should create a reconciliation between the hard and the soft and develop strong and supple muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, while cultivating and enhancing our internal energy. In this way we can develop not only physically but spiritually.

The practice follows fundamental principles:

1. The whole body is involved and coordinated to issue or redirect an opponent’s force. The waist, hips, pelvis and spine assist in generating the force, which is consolidated in the Dan tien.

2. Internal energy should be full and resilient in the same way a balloon full of air with elasticity.

3. The body alignment must be correct and connected.

4. There should be short within long and long within short.
This particular branch was handed down is an heirloom from a time when Chen style Tai Chi was plainer than the sinuous performance it has become. The Chen style of Du Yi Zi is far more conservative than what most people are familiar with, showing the characteristics of older Chen practice. 

Some of these characteristics are:

1. Relaxed wrists. Since the emphasis is on the Dan Tien first and foremost the wrist only the energies of the leg and waist. The circular actions of the shoulder are less emphasized, less accented than in the newer forms. The hand is not “kicked” to expose the little finger side (ulna) of the arm. While never showing stiffness the wrists are decided passive in reference to the energy generated by the torso and legs. 

2. Stances are shorter though just as deep. In newer versions the Kua Ma or 60/40 stance almost separates the hip. The paradox lies in fact that although this is an impressive position, it is actually easier to attain. The Tai Chi of Tu Yi Zi is constructed so a “horse” stance, for instance, resembles all the horse stances of Kung Fu history. The Reeling Silk Energy is manifested as an action of the legs along with the spinal rotation to assist in generating force to the extremities. Stances are more compact and lumbar region is also more continuously stable and engaged. 

3. Its movements might best be described as Zhong Jia or mid-frame. There is a distinct feeling of staying within the envelope – a common concern for fighters – and the movements have a natural proportion, which is maintained throughout. 

4. The footwork is less flamboyant and more substantial. This kind stepping is often forgotten in the execution of overly relaxed players. The feet “grind”. This means that all the weight is not shifted back and away from a foot before it pivots. This grinding step can be a little troublesome for beginners, but it is a building block that is martially oriented. The point is to set the foot immediately on the “right path” in an active manor. Rather than comfortably rolling the foot and ankle the player moves the foot flat and “seals” it to the ground immediately. There are no “lazy” steps in this style.

 

The following clip is the frame as performed by Du Yi Zi himself in 1975-