A New Home For Wu Taiji & Qi Gong
Finally we have opened new Association training rooms in Finsbury Park, North London. Just a short walk from Finsbury Park station at 20 Blackstock Rd. It’s got our name above the door and occupies the ground floor space below the Seven Heavens Acupuncture clinic all of which is run and managed by two of my senior students.
Threshold in Taiji Quan
If you want to achieve the real experience of Taiji Quan, if you want the Gong Fu, then you will have to put in the time and the effort because the learning curve for achieving that level is steep and long. This is because the art of Taiji quan is multilayered, counter intuitive, technical and both physically and mentally demanding. But don’t let me put you off because it is also fascinating, rewarding, challenging and all embracing as well as being an Art for Life! The rewards are worth it all.
BAI SHI
Several of my senior students recently undertook the traditional Bai Shi ceremony to become ‘Indoor Students’. This means they are now ‘Men Ren’ or ‘ Gatekeepers’ of the Wu Style of Taiji Quan that I was inducted into by my Master, Li Li Qun. This makes them 6th Generation successors. This is counted from Quan You, the originator of the style, to Wu Jian Quan to Ma Yueh Liang, to Li Li Qun and then to me. In the absence of my Master I hope I’ve done the right thing. The greater Wu style family grows each time a successor is appointed, but as we all know that does not always mean that there is harmony in the bigger family.
QI GONG IS A PROCESS
Occasionally, I receive a call or an e mail from someone interested in studying Qi Gong with me. I always ask if they have done any Qi Gong before and what was their experience of it. Often I am told that they learned some movements or perhaps even one of the Traditional methods/forms and most likely add that they like the experience of Qi Gong but do not practice much anymore.
USE YOUR MIND NOT FORCE
One of the most important achievements in the study of Taiji quan is ‘use mind not force’. This is such an important ingredient that it could be said that if you do not achieve this you are not doing Taiji quan at all. Outwardly this achievement shows itself in the calm demeanour and ease with which the highest level practitioners can divert, move or throw an opponent and exhibit extraordinary levels of control and hence a ‘martial understatement’ that seems as if Taiji quan is a martial art that is not a martial art!
TAIJI QUAN – A Dual Personality
The popular understanding of Taiji quan is mostly based upon film footage of old people in China doing early morning practice in the parks. It is generally referred to as a health practice.
Wu Style Master Liu Ji Fa
I first met Liu Ji Fa on a recent trip to Shanghai to visit my now retired and aging Taiji and Qi Gong Master Li Li Qun. Like Li, Liu was also a disciple of Master Ma Yueh Liang and also like Li he had held a senior positions in the Jian Quan Taiji Boxing Assoc.
Wu Shi Taiji Kuai Quan
Anybody doing a search for the Wu Style of Taiji quan on the web would quickly find clips of Wu Ying Hua (daughter of modern Wu Style founder Wu Jian Quan) demonstrating the slow hand form (Da Man Quan) and also her husband Ma Yueh Liang ( Senior disciple of Wu Jian Quan ) demonstrating another hand form known simply as Kuai Quan or Fast Boxing. It is easy to see that the two forms are recognisably related and follow the same sequence though the Kuai Quan also includes additional movements that are not in the slow form and is distinctly martial in character.
Dr Li Li Qun
In May 2006 Dr Li LI Qun and his wife arrived in London from Shanghai for a 4 week teaching programme. Dr Li is a fourth generation Wu style Master (Quan You, Wu Jian Quan, Ma Yueh Liang, Li Li Qun) and a Qi Gong Grandmaster.