This summer I attended the “16th International Seminar on Taiji and Qigong” in Zibo, Shandong, China, July 29-August 3, 2014. It was organized by Master Wang Feng-Ming of the World Chen Style Hun Yuan Taiji Association. The first three days were on practicing collecting, cultivating, and circulation of Qi, and the last three days were on practicing the “Chen Style Hun Yuan Taiji 48 Form” with Master Wang demonstrating the martial applications of each form. More discussion on the contents of this seminar may be discussed in the future. In this article, I want to briefly report on several testimonials on health benefits from practicing Chen Style Hun Yuan Taijiquan [1].
Chen Style Hun Yuan Taijiquan was formulated by Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang, who integrated Chen Style Taiji from the legendary Chen Style Grandmaster Chen Fake and Qigong from the reknowned Qigong Grandmaster Hu Yaozhen. This integration of these two arts gave rise to Chen Style Hun Yuan Taijiquan which is both excellent for health and for martial arts. That was why until his death in 2012 at age 84, Grandmaster Feng was considered by most people as one of the best, if not the very best, Taiji master in the world during the last 50 years. He had hundreds of disciples all over the world. The following testimonials appeared in the proceedings of the Third International Hun Yuan Taiji Conference held in Beijing in 2011 in honor of Grandmaster Feng. [2]
The following testimonials came from an article written by Fengping based on the experiences of his students at the Ganzhou Mentor Taiji Club at Ganzhou, Jiangxi.
Testimonial 1 – Mr. Hu Regains His Confidence in Life: Mr. Hu was born in 1948, retired at home. He was strong and young, and with his sophistication and knowledge, he was able to amass a small fortune, but at the same time exhausting his health. In his early twenties, he suffered from diabetes. With aging year by year, his physique got worse and various complications appeared in his body. Before practicing Hun Yuan Taiji, Mr. Hu had practiced Taiji for four years. But it didn’t seem to help him to overcome sickness and to improve his physique.
In the Spring of 2005, when he went with me (Fengping) to learn Hun Yuan Taiji at Beijing, the trip, however, made him feeling hope again. When he returned from Beijing, at five o’clock every morning he went alone to a quiet place in a nearby park, and practiced Wuji Stance for forty minutes. Then he practiced Hun Yuan Taiji and Silk Worm Reeling exercises, and practiced Hun Yuan Taiji 24 Form twice. He did this day in and day out, no matter what the weather was like.
Gradually his complexion improved, and his vigor was getting better and better. He goes to the club every Saturday, and he shares his improvement in health, as well as his happiness and exaltation because of his physique changes. Half a year later, his black toes from complication of diabetes gradually turned red, and his blood sugar level was moving down little by little. Then he added 30 minutes of practice after his afternoon nap. Three years later, his toes recovered to normal complexion entirely, his blood sugar level turned to normal level, and his former prostate problem went away without treatment. He is now full of vitality and feels much better than when he was in his twenties or thirties.
Testimonial 2 – Shopkeeper Lai Pleasantly Surprised: One evening in 2010, a fifty year-old man who was teetering was brought to our club. I found out that the gentle man was shopkeeper Lai. Without knowing what is going on, he saw that his legs below his two knees became swollen. Checkups at local hospitals did not find what was causing the problem. So he was hospitalized and under observation for two and half months, but his feet were still swelling and became as big as his leg, and he was unable to wear his footgear.
I looked at his swelling and red feet, and recruited him to come to work out at our club, because I thought that it might be a problem of a lack of microcirculation. After practicing for three months, it was a miracle that the swelling of the of his left foot had subsided to normal, and the swelling of his right foot was greatly reduced. After another half a year of persisting practice, Shopkeeper Lai’s feet recovered thoroughly.
Testimonial 3 – Police Officer Weng Said Goodby to More Than Ten Years of Gout: Weng is our local prison police, of dark complexion and stocky physique. Although only a little over 40, he has been suffering from gout for more than 10 years. At the beginning, gout would come once or only a few times per year. Later, it came more than 10 times every month, and the pain from the gout became larger. So he was often kept in bed without being able to walk, thus often keeping him at home for months for treatment. It was a nightmare and generated a lot of anxiety waiting for the illness to strike.
In 2007, Weng came to the club to learn Hun Yuan Taiji. He was a diligent student and strictly followed the instructions of his teacher to practice Hun Yuan Taiji. After three years of persistent effort, Weng has been normal without suffering gout for two years, and he has become a faithful club member.
Testimonial 4 – The Little Friend, Lee Jiatong Changes Quietly: One summer, a seven year old child named Li Jiatong came to our club to learn Taiji. He had already been learning kickboxing for two years, and he liked it and was an outstanding performer. However, his father wanted his son to learn Taiji instead, because his father observed that his son was restless and hyperactive, and kickboxing made him even more restless, as well as aggressive and impatient, which would be detrimental for his future learning and behavior development.
Lee Jiatong’s complexion was fair and clear, but all over his body he had tinea, a fungus infection of the skin. I thought that this could be blood heat symptom. So after the summer was over, I advised Lee and his father to come to the club to practice Hun Yuan Taiji every Saturday and Sunday when the club is opened, and his father should also lead him to practice Hun Yuan Taiji at other times. When the following spring came, he was no longer restless as before and his manner became quiet and polite. Furthermore, his tinea had disappeared.
Concluding Remarks: Although results are not always as positive as in these examples, the number of such successes and the general improvement in health in most cases do give credence to the belief that practicing Hun Yuan Taiji does have positive impacts on practitioner’s health.
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[1] The words Taiji and Taijiquan are often used interchangeably. “Quan” means fist in Chinese; so Taijiquan reminds people that Taiji is also a martial art, i.e., a fighting art.
[2] I wish to thank Mr. Gao Yuan, Vice Director of the Beijing Chen-Style Hunyuan Taichi Martial Art Center and grandson of Grandmaster Feng for meeting me at his center and giving me a copy of these proceedings.
