A
Day with Grandmaster Chen Xiaoxing
Written by Ken Gullette in 2005.
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Until this week, I would have only had the opportunity to study with Grandmaster Chen Xiaoxing if I went to Chen Village. Luckily, he arrived in the U.S. a few days ago for the first time, the first leg of his visit (in San Francisco) and I was invited out to spend a day studying privately with the Grandmaster. I couldn't pass that up, so I flew to San Francisco.
Chen Xiaoxing is the younger brother of Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang, and he is in charge of all Tai Chi training in the Chen Village.
To train with people of this caliber is a humbling experience, to say the least. During several hours of training we focused on Laojia Yilu. Chen Xiaoxing offered corrections on both posture and movement.
Chen Xiaoxing does not speak English. His
demeanor is pleasant and his coaching direct. An interpreter was present, and at
the end of the day I was given a few key areas to work on -- but enough to keep
me busy for months.
I
enjoy training with a group, and even attending seminars, but I've found in the
past year that private instruction, where the focus is on my technique alone, is
more helpful to me than a weekend with a larger group. Training with him and Chen Xiaoxing
is enough to make one de-pressed, when you see how long the road is ahead
of you. I'm told that some students who travel to Chen Village come back
and are tempted to give up Tai Chi because of the skill gap between them and the
people in the Chen Village. But I look at it a different way -- you can't
improve by living in self-delusion, you can only improve by getting input from
people at a much higher level. I was very lucky to have this training
opportunity. To witness Chen Xiaoxing's fa-jing in person, and to
experience hands-on corrections (as in the photo at right) is an opportunity no
one should miss. After he leaves the San Francisco area, he will spend
time in San Diego and with Master Ren Guangyi in New York before returning to the Chen
Village.
After I said goodbye on Sunday morning, I drove my rental car back to the San Francisco airport. I had time to kill, so I pulled off the Interstate at Dublin, California, and quickly found a school playground that was open and deserted on Easter Sunday. I got out and began practicing Laoja Yilu, trying to remember all of the corrections from the day before. After a while, a friendly Chinese woman approached. She had seen me practicing from her nearby townhouse, and asked if she could join me. She said she had studied for five years. Quickly realizing that she only knew the Yang simplified 24 form, I agreed to drag it out of my memory and try to practice with her. She easily kept up with me, and at the end she smiled, gave me a thumbs up, and said, "You are very perfect." After the training and corrections of the previous day, I could only laugh. Soon, my new tai chi friend walked back home, and I got into the car and headed for the airport.