Chen Taijiquan Practical Method: November 2009

Chen Taijiquan Practical Method in the Bay Area

The information on this blog is intended to serve the Practical Method taijiquan community of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method was developed by Hong Junsheng, disciple of Grandmaster Chen Fa-Ke. We practice the form as taught by Hong's disciple Chen Zhonghua (Joseph Chen).

Special workshops and private lessons on Taijiquan theory and practice are available. Check out the calendar or the classes section of the website (chenstyletaiji.org) for specific class times and information. Or email nathan.heintz(at)gmail.com.

Nathan Heintz is a student of Chen Zhonghua, the International Standard Bearer of the Practical Method art. Through this blog I will be sharing training notes, relevant videos, photos, and reflections on taijiquan practice and theory. I also intend to provide a bit of a portal into the vast world that Grandmaster Hong's art has spawned. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

For more on the Practical Method, check out the main website at practicalmethod.com

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Master Chen Zhonghua

Lake Shawnigan British Columbia, October 2009.

Nathan to begin teaching in the SF Bay Area

I am constantly impressed by the different and wonderful forms that Chen Taijiquan takes on, and have a great deal of respect for the many Chen Stylists who are out there carrying on this really great art with a tradition of development, integration and innovation.

I have been working on mustering up the courage to begin teaching for some time now, as Master Chen has requested, and it has really come to the point that the further development of my taiji depends on it. While I am certainly not a master, I am a student of one, and I believe I have something to offer. So if you are interested in learning the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method "Yilu" (First Set), I will be very happy to teach it. I also look forward to inviting Master Chen to the SF Bay Area for workshops and seminars, which he has expressed interest in doing. I will start by teaching in Walnut Creek and Oakland, California, and hopefully, over time, begin serving the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

Students Comment on Chen Zhonghua

Nathan Heintz and Chen Taijiquan

I have been a student of Master Chen Zhonghua (Joseph Chen) since the summer of 2007, when I spent 3 months studying the Practical Method full time on Daqingshan mountain in Shandong, China. Prior to that, since 1998, I trained the Chen Style Hunyuan Xingyi Taijiquan system of Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang under Courtney Blackburn of Santa Cruz CA, disciple of Chen Jin Hong (Gene Chen), who was respectively Master Feng's first disciple. I am very much in Courtney Blackburn's debt for his generous teaching and friendship, and although I never got the chance to meet him, to Gene Chen as well.

In the summer of 2011, I returned to DQS for 1.5 months of immersion in Chen Taiji with Master Chen Zhonghua.

My studies of the Chen Taiji Practical Method with Master Chen Zhonghua have enriched my practice and my life immeasurably over the past few years. I feel that it is my honor and responsibility to be true to the teachings of Chen Fa Ke, Hong Junsheng, and Chen Zhonghua to the best of my abilities, and it is in their big shadow and in their name that I practice.

From the time of my initial exposure to taiji, I have known that it is a worthwhile activity. In fact, it is one of the only activities that I can say with certainty is truly worthwhile. It is an activity that enables the growth and development of the whole human being, and that never ceases to be challenging. It is an activity that is grounded in constant learning and therefore requires humility to be successful, and an ability to admit when you are doing something incorrectly. To really admit this and live with a beginners attitude and thereby maximize my learning is my real aim in training taiji. In this regard, I am very grateful to my teacher, Master Chen Zhonghua, for being a great friend and ally, for generously welcoming me into his taiji family and for leading a way for his students.

Chen Taijiquan Practical Method

Chen Taijiquan Practical Method in the Bay Area

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Master Chen Zhonghua

Nathan to begin teaching in the SF Bay Area

Students Comment on Chen Zhonghua

Grandmaster Chen Fa Ke

Grandmaster Hong Junsheng

Master Chen Zhonghua

Nathan Heintz with Master Chen Zhonghua

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