What is Important in Chen Taijiquan and What is Not

When you see Chen Taijiquan practitioners demonstrating their form, whether in person or on video, one of the first things you will notice that almost all of them do parts of certain postures differently. That includes the 4 current Grandmasters (Chen Xiaowang, Chen Zhenglei, Zhu Tiancai, and Wang Xian). I discussed in a previous article why this was: personal expression, physical and psychological type, and so on. In this article, I want to explore another reason for this perceived difference between practitioners; simply that some aspects of a given posture are vitally important to perform properly and some, quite frankly are not. So just  how do you tell what is important when performing a movement and what isn’t?

The key to determining what is important and or not in a posture requires an understanding of the movement’s application. As most practitioners of Chen Taijiquan know, every posture has an application. There are no “transition” or “flowery” movements. To decipher and understand applications however, it is essential to have mastered the routine (taolu). When I asked my teachers in China about applications, they all said, “Concentrate on perfecting the routine  first”. I like to say “the truth of the application is found in the taolu”. The genius of Chen Wangting and succeeding generations is that the for an application to work, it must be done exactly like the posture in the taolu.

That being said, there are some parts of a posture that are not that critical. Many students, especially in the West believe that there is only one right way to do a movement and any variation is wrong. This contradicts the concept of Yin/Yang which is one of the foundations of Chen Taijiquan. According to Yin/Yang theory, something can partially Yin and Yang at the same time. Although the theory is vast and complicated, for the purposes of this article we simply  need to be understood that something can be both “correct” and “incorrect” simultaneously.

Such an example is “Six Sealings, Four Closings”. When bringing the left hand towards the right, some teach that the palm should be facing up, some facing down, and some that it should be facing inward. Which one is correct? It doesn’t matter. These variables all depend on the incoming attack. Against a shoulder height attack, it may be better to turn the palm upwards. Against a chest height attack, a palm inward position might be better. Against a low level attack, a palm down position is the only viable option. It also doesn’t matter the height of the hands when doing the push. Low, middle, high: all are valid depending on the position of the opponent. So which hand position should you practice when doing taolu? It really doesn’t matter. Pick one and stick with it. I show my students my preferred way of holding the left hand and height of the push but if they choose a different position, I don’t correct them. I show them the implications of each hand position and then let them decide which they prefer. Sometimes even I do them differently depending on what feels the most natural at the time. This could be confusing for the students but because they understand why the position may change, they have a lot more confidence that they are doing the movement correctly.

Grandmaster Chen Xiaoxing performing Six Sealings, Four Closings

What is vitally important in this case however is the movement of the left or attacking hand. It must use Reeling Silk to spirally twist the opponent’s hand while the right hand guides the elbow downward. Without the Reeling Silk energy you are going to be dragging the opponent’s arm downward which can be easily countered. With the proper application of Reeling Silk energy however, the unbalancing is almost effortless. Therefore there can be no compromise in the use of Reeling Silk energy. Unfortunately, most beginners have not gotten to the level where the use of the energy becomes instinctual. Therefore, more practice in the basic Reeling Silk exercises and the taolu forms are critical. This is what my teachers always said and I now finally understand why.

Other variations can be observed when watching videos of the four Grandmasters. One can be seen in “Single Whip”. When stepping out with his left leg, Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei shifts his weight all the way to his left before shifting it back to his right and then back to the left again in coordination with the left hand. This double weight shift is what I call “The Bump”. Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang does not do this.  As he steps left, his weight remains on his right until it shifts left with his left hand. This was the way I was trained to perform the movement. My apprentice, on the other hand, comes from GM Chen Zhenglei’s lineage and was taught “The Bump” from the beginning of her training. After many arguments, I finally realized that both were correct. It is my belief that the weight shift left is a kao or strike with the hip. The kao can be applied with “The Bump” or without. I believe that GM Chen Zhenglei has, for whatever reason, chosen to emphasize that movement while GM Chen Xiaowang prefers to leave it implied. Of course, without speaking to each of the Grandmasters we’ll never know for sure but based on my very limited knowledge, I believe both methods are equally valid. Therefore I no longer correct my apprentice when she does “The Bump” and we are all much happier. (Note; in a video from the early 1980's, GM Chen Xiaowang can be seen doing this variation. However, I have never seen another video of him performing “The Bump” so I feel confident performing it the way I remember being taught.)

So how are you supposed to deal with these apparent inconsistencies? It is impossible for a beginner to decide what part of a movement is vital and which is not and it is a great mistake to try and do so. There are so many levels of Chen Taijiquan that trying go too deep too soon will lead disappointment and frustration. As always, your teacher is your guide, provided of course that you are learning from a competent instructor. You must trust that your teacher will guide you step by step. Some teachers may not choose to discuss subjects like this with beginners, fearing that they will only confuse them. This is certainly valid. A beginner has enough to do simply learning to perform the movements in the proper order. You have to trust that your teacher has a deeper understanding of the art and will reveal things when they believe you are ready for them. Concentrate on learning the forms exactly as your teacher does them and don’t worry about possible future variations.

That being said, I personally like to give my students as much information as possible to enrich their knowledge, show them the depth of Chen Taijiquan. When I learn something new, I personally immerse myself in the subject and try to use all possible resources. I’d like to think my students do the same but in reality, most of them are quite happy to just follow along and not worry about the bigger picture. I know that I tend to over teach but  I believe that being aware that there are valid variations can relieve some of the anxiety that comes with learning the form while trying to do each movement perfectly. I also hope to plant seeds of knowledge that I hope will bloom when the student is ready. So while I encourage them to do their own research there is so much information available via the internet, that this can easily create more questions than it answers. I try to prepare them for what variations they might see; what performances are closest to what I teach, and what are straight up mistakes and/or frauds.

Of course, not all movements contain viable variations. For most they must be performed in the strictest possible manner. There a few movements however that are open to interpretation. It is useful for teachers to know what these may be so that students don’t become overly rigid either physically or mentally. After all, Chen Taijiquan is all about being natural and spontaneous. Knowing that occasionally there some movements that are legitimately variable can make for a more relaxed learning experience for both the teacher and student.