Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong with TCCII [...]]]> Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong (陈全忠) is my Chen Tai Chi (陈氏太极) teacher. Today our students had the chance to meet him in person for the first time. At nearly 90 years old, he is the senior most Chen Tai Chi Grandmaster in China and has practiced the art his entire life.

Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong with TCCII Students in August 2011

He greeted our students and gave them a demonstration of his version of the Chen Tai Chi form. Grandmaster Chen learned from his father and several other teachers. He is the only living master to have learned directly from a 16th generation master.* Because of this it is believed that his version of Chen Tai Chi is the oldest one in existence.

The Tang Dynasty style courtyard of our hotel in Xian.

That afternoon our students enjoyed climbing the Xian city wall. There is nothing quite like doing stairs after several hours of horse stance training, so we took our students to climb the Xian city wall after lunch. Since that wasn’t enough for the hardest core group, they finished off the day with a visit to the Wild Goose Pagoda and shopping at the nearby marketplaces. When the day was done, we enjoyed the peaceful courtyard of our Tang dynasty style hotel.

Here is a three part video series based on the question and answer session Grandmaster Chen had with our students.

* Note: Although Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong learned from a 16th generation master and would ordinarily be considered 17th generation he is called 19th generation because Chen family blood descendants keep their family’s genealogy generation number. He is significantly older than the other 19th generation Chen masters such as Chen Zhengli and Chen Xiaowang.

Emperor Qin (秦始皇) is legendary for uniting China, burning the books, burying the scholars, and building the most impressive tomb for himself in the known world. Our students got to check out a little of his handiwork at the museum [...]]]>

The Terra Cotta Warriors of Emperor Qin were intended to protect him in the afterlife.

Emperor Qin (秦始皇) is legendary for uniting China, burning the books, burying the scholars, and building the most impressive tomb for himself in the known world. Our students got to check out a little of his handiwork at the museum for his terra cotta warrior (兵马俑)  army in Xian (西安). His tomb is close by, but it has not been excavated yet. When asked about it, the official answer is that it is so large and deep, there are too many technical barriers to excavation. But unofficially it is rumored to be well protected with traps and curses. No one seems willing to find out if this is true or not.

After a trip back in time to see the relics of a dead empire, we went to study one of China’s most important intangible cultural heritages. My teacher, Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong (陈全忠), welcomed our group to study Chen Tai Chi (陈氏太极) at his school. His son Chen Xili and his grandson, Chen Bin, performed demonstrations of Chen Tai for our students. Afterwards they held a special private seminar for them.

Enjoy this video of Master Chen Xili demonstrating a combination of old frame (Lao Jia, 老架) and new frame (Xin Jia, 新架) Taijiquan form movements.

Chen Tai Chi Introductory seminar in Washington DC. (陈氏太极拳 Chen Taijiquan)This is Part 2 of the video which answers questions received during the break, including posture principles (无极站桩 Wu Ji Zhan Zhuang) and similarities between Chen, Yang, [...]]]> Here is the second part of our introductory videos taken during our recent Qigong and Tai Chi Certification seminars.

Chen Tai Chi Introductory seminar in Washington DC. (陈氏太极拳 Chen Taijiquan)This is Part 2 of the video which answers questions received during the break, including posture principles (无极站桩 Wu Ji Zhan Zhuang) and similarities between Chen, Yang, Wu, Wudang styles of Tai Chi. Seminar taught in December 2010 by Shawn Cartwright, TCCII Execuctive Director. He is a 20th Generation indoor student of Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong, Xian China.

Chen Tai Chi Introductory seminar in Washington DC. (陈氏太极拳 Chen Taijiquan)This is Part 1 of the video which answers questions received during the break, including difference between Chen, Yang, Wu, Wudang styles of Tai Chi, origins and lineage. Seminar taught in December [...]]]> We’ve created some introductory videos from our recent Qigong and Tai Chi Certification seminars.

Chen Tai Chi Introductory seminar in Washington DC. (陈氏太极拳 Chen Taijiquan)This is Part 1 of the video which answers questions received during the break, including difference between Chen, Yang, Wu, Wudang styles of Tai Chi, origins and lineage. Seminar taught in December 2010 by Shawn Cartwright, TCCII Execuctive Director. He is a 20th Generation indoor student of Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong, Xian China.

          Today, before breakfast, Shawn continued teaching us the old Chen Style Tai Chi.  He does the original form, the one that dates back several hundred years.  He told us that we will notice a difference in the form when we watch videos of other Masters as most of them [...]]]> Day 8, Friday, April 23 (Xizhou)

          Today, before breakfast, Shawn continued teaching us the old Chen Style Tai Chi.  He does the original form, the one that dates back several hundred years.  He told us that we will notice a difference in the form when we watch videos of other Masters as most of them offer only the newer version.  The original style contains stomps and more angular movements than the Yang Style we’re so used to practicing.

            This was a slower paced day.  I hadn’t yet heard from my friend Xiao Yu who was to meet us in Kunming on the 26^th, but a kind guest from Beijing used her new cell phone to leave a message on Xiao Yu’s phone.  It turns out that since Xiao Yu’s battery was out, she didn’t know it was ringing.  I didn’t hear from her until the next day when the guest left me a message that Xiao Yu had called and would be at the airport at the new time.  (The plane time and airline had been changed.)

                        A tasty lecture on herbs and teas and flowers          

            We were directed into the breakfast room where Lei Lei had set out various teas, flowers (hua), and herbs on the tables.  She explained the uses of each one.  Then she instructed us to mix the herbs indicated for our constitution and blood weaknesses.  She then urged us to take some in a plastic bag that she handed us.  I took all but the licorice root. Lei Lei gave us glasses and hot water to make a tea out of our mix to drink when we moved into the conference room for Yinong’s lecture on Traditional Chinese Medicine.  My tea tasted healthy, but it wasn’t my favorite brew.  It needs a few different combinations which I’ve been trying since I got home with much more success.

I bought all but the licorice and rock sugar in China and found that I can get all including my favored Osmanthus flower on the internet or at the Asian Depot at home.  I mix the Jasmine flowers (Moli hua) with Osmanthus flower (Gui hua) for a heavenly tea which I have been drinking daily. 

Herbs and teas and indications:

Jasmine flower (Moli hua) helps:

            Gastrointestinal upset

            Expectorate phlegm and anti-bronchitis

            Flush liver of toxins

            Menstrual disorders

            Constipation and diarrhea (regulates system)

            Reduce blood pressure

            Aging (an anti-aging agent)

            Moisten skin

            Digestion

            Sooth nerves

            Boost immune system

            Prevent cancer

            Bloating

            Strengthen kidneys

            Detoxification

            Cooling

            And, if you want to lose weight, mix it with pink rose petals!

Chrysanthemum Flower (Ju Hua) helps:                                                     Increase blood flow

            Keep liver and eyes healthy

            Headache, sore throat and phlegm but not a runny nose

            Slow down diarrhea

            Lower blood pressure

            It comes in a powder or flower form.  We had the flower.

Licorice (gan cao) helps:

            Cooling

            Coughing

            Expectorate phlegm

            Palpitations

            Stomach ache

San qi (3/7)

You can find in flower and root ground into awful tasting powder.  The roots only are the best.  The Chinese make an IV to put San qi directly into the blood.

            Stops bleeding

            Lowers blood pressure

            Boosts qi (root only) and energy

            Helps cold sores

            Increases red blood cell growth

            Helps get rid of stomach ulcers

            Aids with constipation

Wolfberry (gouji)

You eat goji berries like a nut or put in tea or soup.  I soak in water for a few minutes and put in vegetable dishes or just throw in food.  They are tangy and delicious.

            Good for eyes and blood (Add to steamed egg)

            Good anti-oxidant (the best); Vitamin A

            Good for kidneys

            Good for night blindness (Boy, do I need this one!)

            Helps liver function

            Warming

Rock sugar

            Good for cooling

            Moisturizes lungs

    Yinong’s Lecture

Tea in hand, we listened to another of Yinong’s fascinating and informative lectures.  She has a gift of explaining the extremely complicated in terms that make sense.  This time she concentrated on Traditional Chinese Medicine, including the Five Elements as we were to be visited that morning by a TCM doctor and acupuncturist. 

Five Elements:

Each element is associated with a direction, a color, and an organ system in the body.  TCM is based on the principle of balance of the five elements.  When one organ is too strong or weak, it affects other organs.  Organs, Qi, Yin and Yang, and Blood should all be in balance and harmony with each other.  This can be determined from reading the pulse, looking at the face, hearing the patient speak, and examining the tongue. 

Fire (red)                    Heart, Heat, Summer

Earth  (yellow)          Spleen, Center, Late summer

Metal  (white)            Lungs, West, Fall

Water (blue)              Kidneys, North, Winter

Wood (green)            Liver, East, Spring

            Yinong’s lecture went into much more depth.  It gave me a strong desire to practice Tai Chi and Qigong daily for the rest of my life.  The movements of Yin and Yang and the deep breathing that accompany the moves reduce the drain on our Qi or life force and energy.  I certainly feel healthier since I have been practicing Tai Chi and now Qigong.  Certainly the balancing of our systems makes sense.  The practice of TCM is thousands and thousands of years old. 

                        Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor visit

            The TCM doctor (who also has a degree in acupuncture) accompanied by an acupuncturist came to explain TCM further and to give each one of us a diagnosis.  The doctor was beautiful in a gorgeous red dress with a poufy skirt and high black high heels.  She told us (via Yinong) that she was two years from the retirement age for women which is 55.  (Men retire at 65).  I bet all those old women in the fields didn’t get to retire! 

The doctor asked all of us to go wash our faces of makeup. She set up a few chairs at a small table on the long, building-length balcony outside the lecture room so that she could examine us in the light of day.  We each decided to take notes for everyone and compare those notes later. 

Then, for each one of us, she and her colleague examined our faces, our tongues, read our pulse, and heard us speak even if she didn’t understand what we said.  I don’t want to write the diagnosis for anyone else as that is private, but she found all kinds of things and was right on the mark with all of us.  All of us from Marco suffered from damp heat and mucus probably, as she said, due to the violent change in climate and altitude (from damp heat to dry cold and sea level to 7500 ft). 

Some of the suggestions were interesting.  She told one person not to eat too many cumquats!  She told another to cut the wine. She told another who had just been diagnosed with high cholesterol but wasn’t yet on medication that she suffered from high cholesterol—with no other test!  The doctor had no way of knowing beforehand.  

I was diagnosed with a Qi deficiency due to Qi and blood don’t flow together in harmony.   They are hindered by structural (auto accident, arthritis) and by stress (absolutely).  The doctor also said that my organs themselves were OK.  I have a Ying deficiency.  And, what was really interesting, she told me that I needed much more Omega 3 oils, just what my chiropractor had told me before I left to go to China!!!!  She suggested that I take Yu Ping Feng San, San Qi, and Moli Hua.  I couldn’t find the first one, but now take the second two.  I think they are helping although I find the taste of the San Qi a little hard to swallow.  Moli Hua is Jasmine flower. 

                                    Massage and various other things

            After our diagnoses, we practiced Qigong in the courtyard, caught up on a few things, ate, and had a massage.  I did a hand laundry then went downstairs to give a few things like my jeans to the office to send out to the “Chinese laundry.”  (They came back really clean and neatly pressed and folded, but it wasn’t cheap.)  I also called Mother and Chuck from the office later in the day.

            There were some French and some Dutch visitors at the Linden Centre, so I used four languages that day, having a nice conversation with two Dutch ladies who did not speak much English and with a French couple and their teenaged son.  Sometimes a talent for languages is useful, but I’d rather be able to paint.

            Lunch and dinner were excellent as usual.  It has taken me a while and two trips to China to be able to define Mainland China’s food from that which we get served in Chinese restaurants in the States.  No sauces!  Fresh, fresh vegetables!  Yinong told me that the dishes are made with the main ingredient in a fresh, home-made chicken broth that is cooked with ginger, kale, garlic, and celery.  The cook adds this broth to the veggies and meat or tofu in the wok after they cook a little in the oil (usually sesame). 

            I tried it.  It worked.  Yinong also told me I could throw in some peanuts, cilantro, and wine vinegar.  I noticed that we were served peanuts often and that many of the dishes we ate were flavored with cilantro and garlic.  No wonder a Chinese diet is so healthy.  With a broth made of mushrooms, celery, and kale in it, along with really fresh vegetables, they eat a perfect mix.  Kale is so good for you, yet we eat very little of it in America.

            The masseurs were all deaf!  Apparently a deaf school had taught all its students the art of massage.  Lei Lei had to translate via writing and hand gestures what each of us needed or wanted.  I asked her to tell the masseuse (I got a lady) to stay away from my neck.  Since Lei Lei wasn’t in the room with us, I reminded the masseuse again by body language and hand gestures.  The massage was really rough, and I was afraid that I’d be bruised and sore for a few days, but my back did feel better after she got through with it.  She still knocked out C7/T1.  It settled quickly, though. 

            Jan and I slept the sleep of the dead after a restful afternoon and the massage even though her masseuse had left her a little bruised and hurting.  I think mine had been more gentle.