June 6-10, 2006 Workshop Weekend

 

On July 7th through 10th, Asian Arts hosted a series of workshops and a talk by Grandmaster Chen. On Thurday July 7 at the Chinese Community Center, Grandmaster Chen gave a talk on the origins of taiji, its relation to Qigong, and the movement of qi through the body. He then led the audience through a series of simple, effective movements for activating qi, and finished by demonstrating Chen style taiji in both its "hard" and "soft" varieties. A very enthusiastic audience! We thank translator Lee Hua for her exemplary efforts, which made this talk possible.

The next three days were full-day workshops. Friday Grandmaster Chen taught a small but dedicated group the last sections of the Lao Jia Yi Lu (old frame first routine). Next was a 2-day workshop of the entire Chen 18 Essentials short form. With Grandmaster Chen and his "indoor" student C.P. Ong interpreting, this was an incredible learning experience.

Monday night was the final workshop, on push-hands. Grandmaster Chen taught the 8 energies, underlining that the principles behind both taiji and the push-hands 2-person form are the same. There was plenty of laughter among the participants when we attempted the 8 energies on our own as we got it sometimes right, sometimes not quite so right.

Asian Arts would like to thank Grandmaster Chen  and C.P. Ong for providing an excellent learning opportunity. We would also like to thank everyone who participated in the workshops for making them a particularly enjoyable experience.    

For information on upcoming workshops or classes, or to join our mailing list, please contact us at info@AsianArtsGrp.com.

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