DEREK FIVE WINDS TAI CHI CHUAN
DEREK FIVE WINDS TAI CHI CHUAN
When it was announced a couple of months ago that the class at Meadowbank would be on holiday for the month of July I decided to book my flights to China. Last year I spent three months studying tuina massage, tai chi and yiquan, in Chengdu, Wudangshan and Beijing respectively. This year I wanted to use this opportunity to continue my tai chi and tuina practice. Both to me are very strongly linked, particularly with the use of body structure, sensitivity and focus. This time I chose Hangzhou, Shanghai and last but not least, Hong Kong.
Before setting off I visited Ian and Moira to give Ian a massage and to discuss my trip. As always it was fascinating to hear of their time in Hong Kong. I thought to myself how things must have changed out there over the last (soon to be) forty years when they first set out. Ian recommended I pop by Argyle Street in Kowloon, which is the address of the Hong Kong Tai Chi Association and the place where he first started training with Cheng Tin Hung in 1971. Before leaving I got in touch with Cheng Tin Hung's son Yan who asked me to pass on his good wishes to Ian and told me that he held a class on Sunday mornings at Highland Park. Although I've been told by a couple of people that the tai chi in Hong Kong has deteriorated in recent years I am still intrigued to see for myself what has been going on out there since Ian left and to try and to see if I can find people who follow the same style to practise with.
With only the plan to meet Yan and one week of clinical tuina practise at the Hangzhou Traditional University Hospital I decided to head off to see what else would come my way. My first destination was Hangzhou, which is located 180km West of Shanghai. It's famous for it's easy going (by Chinese standards) pace of life and it's beautiful natural scenery with the central feature being The West Lake. I managed to stay in a hostel close to the lake where I had been told locals went to practise their tai chi early in the mornings. Keen to check things out I headed off at 5am on the morning after I arrived. There wasn't a lot of action at that time, but things started to pick up between 6 and 7am with a host of people partaking in a myriad of morning rituals, including slapping, singing, walking backwards, playing musical instruments such as the harmonica and flute and as expected several groups and individuals going through various stretches, standing postures and practising tai chi, chi gung and daoyin.
I didn't come across any Wu or Chen style tai chi, only Yang, and as is the case with most of my experience of the internal martial arts both in China and in the West there seemed to be a lack of any unified system around. By that I mean most practitioners practice elements of tai chi, such as hand, fan and sword form, but no tui shou (pushing hands), self-defence or nei-gung. I was later told by at doctor I studied with that most of the tai chi in China are modern versions of the form developed by the government and introduced to schools and universities. I get the impression that good tai chi teachers in China (those who teach a complete system and promote the right focus and movement) are hard to come by. From what I have seen so far the standards are variable with many practitioners lacking any focus or co-ordination. However, you do get the odd individual who catches your eye and for short periods I have been captivated by an aesthetic quality which cannot be expressed with words. With no one to practise pushing hands with and the thought of my own practice in mind I spent my time in Hangzhou going through my forms and some nei-gung exercises in a quiet spot in the park.
At the end of my time in Hangzhou I was to be given my best demonstration of tai chi I had seen on this trip so far. Hanting, the administrator at the TCM hospital who organised which doctors I followed around the hospital knew I practised tai chi, and so she kindly arranged for my last afternoon to be spent with Dr Sun, a well respected doctor and tai chi practitioner who had won several competitions for his forms. Unlike the other doctors I worked with, Dr Sun was a very quiet and shy man. His way of working on patients was the softest out of all the doctors I followed. Before leaving we gave each other a short demonstration of our forms (whilst a patient lay on the bed receiving a cupping treatment!). Underlying his soft and gentle appearance was an admirable strength of movement driven by a depth of posture. Once we had got onto the topic of tai chi he came much more out of his shell. Through a translator he said it was important to keep the stance low and advocated zhan zhuang or standing postures as a form of basic training. He went on to demonstrate a low mabu stance (horse riding stance). I thanked Dr Sun for his demonstration and left the hospital privileged to have worked with some incredible doctors, both in their ability and personality.
Before leaving for China Ian lent me a copy of the book 'Road to heaven: encounters with Chinese hermits', which I've been reading during the evenings. It has some fascinating interviews with Taoist and Buddhist hermits, who describe their own processes and wisdom gained through solitary contemplation in the Chungnan mountains. Inspired by the book and out of my own interest in Buddhist meditation I thought I would spend my last day here visiting the ancient Buddhist Linyin Temple, which was originally built in 326 AD.
The temple is situated in a long, narrow valley between Fei Lai Feng (Peak flown from Afar) and North Peak to the northwest of the West Lake at Hangzhou. The name translates into 'The Temple of the Soul's Retreat' or 'Temple of Inspired Seclusion' for the setting has a quiet and beautiful grandeur that encourages a feeling of peace and for contemplation. The area is surrounded by caves with beautiful carvings of the Buddha. However, amidst the beauty Linyin has become a major tourist trap with masses of people who look anything but peaceful. After looking around the temple I managed to finally find a little spot behind a kiosk by the river where I could have some quiet contemplation for a few moments, before making my way through the crowds and along the traffic jammed roads back to my hotel. Now it's time for a well deserved massage before packing my bags and preparing for the trip to Shanghai in the morning.
CHINA TRIP
08/07/2010
CHINA TRIP
Derek’s spending the summer in China. Working in hospitals doing Tai Chi and visiting Ian’s old training ground in Hong Kong. Derek has kindly agreed to post a travel blog and some photos of his experiences