As Taijiquan has become increasingly popular, many people have inquired into its origins and development. Answers can be found in the Chen Style, the original method from Chen Village, Henan Province in the People's Republic of China. This book guides the reader through the historical development of the system, its philosophical roots, and through the intricacies of the various training methods of this unique form of Chiinese boxing. Legendary exploits of the Chen family are included to inspire today's practitioners.

Chen Family (or Chen Style) Taiji is the ancestor of all Taiji systems. Unlike many of the easy, meditative Taiji forms practiced in the West, Chen Style Taiji is a highly evolved martial art. Newcomers to the art will find useful information on how to identify a qualified instructor, while the martial arts theorist will find a thorough discussion concerning the origins and evolution of Taiji.

This is the book Ken Gullette wishes he had been able to read when he first began studying Tai Chi, Bagua and Xingyi in 1987. It gets to the point, stripping the mystical mumbo jumbo away, leaving detailed, real-world explanations of the six fundamental body mechanics that everyone should know when they study Tai Chi (Taiji), Bagua and Xingyi. For the first time, these body mechanics are organized and discussed clearly, with more than 250 images and highly-detailed but simple language. If you are a student or even a teacher of these arts, you should be able to learn something here that will deepen your own insight into the arts. Ken has studied with some top internal arts masters, and during the first ten years he was teaching, he boiled down the body mechanics he learned into six key concepts. In this book, he explains them in the same step-by-step detail that he uses in teaching his students, building on each of the concepts until you have a clear roadmap of what you need to practice for high-quality internal structure and movement. As Ken explains it, "The true intent of the internal arts is self-defense. The body mechanics in this book are the starting point you need to develop the structure and internal strength that is required for the relaxed power, the iron wrapped in cotton, that the internal arts are known for. This is the starting point upon which all other skill is built." Ken has studied these arts since 1987, is a tournament champion, winning in empty-hand and weapons forms, no-contact, light-contact and full-contact matches, and he has students worldwide who have studied his DVDs and his website, www.internalfightingarts.com. Concepts covered in these pages include: the ground path, peng jin, whole-body movement, silk-reeling energy, Dantien rotation, and opening/closing the kua. From the explosiveness of Xingyi to the relaxed power of Tai Chi and Bagua, the road to internal skill is long and difficult, but very satisfying. There is nothing "soft" about these arts. They are powerful arts of self-defense. And it all starts here.

Your go-to illustrated guide to the practices, history, and philosophy of the popular Yang style of taijiquan Fu Zhongwen's classic guide offers the best documentation available of the Yang style of taijiquan. The superbly detailed form instructions and historic line art drawings are based on Fu’s many years as a disciple of Yang Chengfu, taijiquan’s legendary founder. Also included are concise descriptions of fixed-step, moving-step, and da lu push hands practices. Additional commentary by translator Louis Swaim provides key insight into the text’s philosophical language and imagery, further elucidating the art’s cultural and historical foundations.

Few arts are more misunderstood in today's fast-paced digital age than Taijiquan. Typically it is represented in one of two diametrically opposed, but equally misleading ways. In the world of martial arts movies Taijiquan masters are portrayed as almost supernatural individuals capable of defeating opponents with little more than a touch. Alternatively it has come to be viewed as the slow and simple exercise practised by old people in the park as they try to hang on to some degree of mobility and suppleness. Neither depiction is adequate. Chen Taijiquan is one of China's most ancient fighting systems with an unbroken lineage stretching back almost 400 years. While today many people look exclusively towards the health and exercise benefits of the system, the true face of traditional Taijiquan is its unique method of developing martial skill. Like all traditional South-East Asian martial arts, it combines high levels of self discipline, spiritual awareness and combat skills. Perhaps more than any other discipline Taijiquan presents a seamless integration of philosophy and martial arts. Chen Taijiquan: Masters and Methods is the third book by Davidine Siaw-Voon Sim and David Gaffney. It is the product of some two decades of ongoing research into the oldest of the five traditional schools of Taijiquan. Involving more than twenty visits to China, as well as trips to South-East Asia and throughout Europe to experience and document the insights of some of the foremost elder practitioners of Chen Taijiquan including: the late Feng Zhiqiang, a senior disciple of the legendary seventeenth generation master Chen Fake; Chen Xiaoxing, Principal of the Chenjiagou Taijiquan School; Chen Xiaowang, Chen Zhenglei, Wang Xian and Zhu Tiancai often collectively referred to the "Four Buddha's Warriors" of Chenjiagou; Chen Yu, the Beijing based son of the eighteenth generation master Chen Zhaokui; and Yu Gongbao, author of the world's first dictionary of Taijiquan and China's first Professor of Taijiquan.Chen Taijiquan: Masters and Methods draws together a record of the teachings of a generation of Chen Taijiquan masters who still had a foot in previous times before the commercialisation and mass propagation of Taijiquan. A time when the discipline was passed orally from one generation to the next reflecting it's importance as a means for defending self, family and community. It enables the reader to join a conversation with some of the great masters of Chen Taijiquan and take away fascinating insights into the true nature of the system. Taken together their words present a clear exposition of the theoretical and practical standards which define and shape the art.