Fighting to promote a martial art
Although more than two years have passed, Chen Bing is still excited when he talks about the moment China's taijiquan was added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on Dec 17, 2020.
The then 49-year-old was the first to appear demonstrating the classic moves of the traditional martial art, also known as tai chi, in the introduction film that was submitted to UNESCO. On its website, UNESCO describes taijiquan as "a traditional physical practice characterized by relaxed, circular movements that work in harmony with breath regulation and the cultivation of a righteous and neutral mind".
Influenced by Taoist and Confucian thoughts, and the theories of traditional Chinese medicine, the practice has developed into several schools or styles, usually named after a clan or a master, such as Chen-style and Yang-style. They are passed down generationally within the clan, or through the master-apprentice model, and are built upon the yin-and-yang cycle and the cultural understanding of the unity of heaven and humanity, according to UNESCO.
Chen , one of the masters of the Chen-style taijiquan, has been practicing the martial art since he was 6 years old, under the tutelage of his uncles, Chen Xiaowang and Chen Xiaoxing, two iconic figures of Chen-style taijiquan, in Chenjiagou, Wenxian county, Central China's Henan province. "Chen-style taijiquan boasts the longest history, and other styles directly or indirectly branched out from it," Chen Bing says.
Since November, Chen Bing and 100 masters from Wenxian have been conducting classes via livestream on video-sharing mobile apps like Douyin, the Chinese iteration of TikTok, and Kuaishou, which drew in more than 400,000 viewers. Chen Bing has held nothing back in imparting his taijiquan wisdom during the online sessions.
Devoted inheritors
The rise of Chen-style taijiquan wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the efforts of "the four tigers" — Chen Xiaowang, Chen Zhenglei, Wang Xi'an and Zhu Tiancai, all tai chi masters who were chiefly responsible for taking the family art beyond the confines of their village walls in the latter half of the 20th century.
Chen Xiaowang sums up his work as "shedding light on the mysteries of taijiquan and making them understandable in a scientific way" through his decades of practice and study. He proposes the implementation of the philosophical thought of yin and yang on mental balance and stresses that the goal of practicing taijiquan properly is to cultivate one's moral character.
" Taijiquan requires its practitioners to be upright and peaceful, and act from the perspective of others, which reflects Confucianism's emphasis on self-cultivation and benevolence," Chen Xiaowang explains.
Moreover, the martial art advocates using gentleness to overcome toughness, and utilizing weakness to conquer strength through one's subjective experiences and self-awareness, which is consistent with the wisdom of Taoism, according to Chen Xiaowang. Taijiquan also features the interplay between movement and stillness, emptiness and reality, opening and closing, and rigidity and gentleness, which is "a perfect embodiment of harmonious coexistence and unity in diversity", he says.
Overseas following
The efforts of taijiquan masters like Chen Xiaowang have helped the martial art take root in foreign lands. For the past three years, come rain or shine, Ren Guangyi, one of Chen Xiaowang's disciples, has never failed to lead a dozen of his students in practicing taijiquan at Central Park in New York every Sunday. He has also been invited to give private lessons to celebrities and business tycoons, including actor Hugh Jackman and cosmetics mogul and philanthropist Leonard Lauder.
Daniel Richman is a pain management specialist who has often recommended his patients try the martial art, which significantly helped his own neck pain. Ren is snowed under with invitations to give lectures across the US and other countries. In his early years in the US, Ren says he would be out on the road for six months, demonstrating taijiquan.
He has been acutely aware of the rising popularity of taijiquan abroad, especially compared with how things were when he first arrived. "People are not strange to taijiquan and have a very high understanding of it when they approach me," Ren says. "Some of them actually already practice well and just want to refine their skills out of their fondness for the Chinese martial art," he adds.
