Chinese Culture Center Of San Francisco

Introduction: We offer Chen Family Taijiquan Classes (T’ai Ch’i Ch’uan). The instructor is Debbie Au. Visit Chinese Culture Center every Tuesday and Thursday, from 5:45 pm to 6:45 pm. Tuition: $65/month for non-members and $55/month for members Trial classes are avaliable, please call for more information. Debbie is certified to teach Chen Family Taijiquan by Grand Master Chen Qingzhou, a 19th Generation Direct Descendant of Chen Family Taijiquan and the Chen Family Taijiquan School in Wenxin, China (birth place of Chen Taiji). Special workshops will be offered from time to time to students of the class only. Are you under a lot of stress? Are you looking for stress relief and long term health benefits? Look no further. Come and join the Traditional Chen Taiji Class where you will learn and practice the health benefits of this ancient Chinese martial arts form. Along with the Taiji form, students will learn and practice silk-reeling exercises that will benefit the body joints as well as the proper body alignment. Chen Style Taijiquan is widely acknowledged as the oldest and the ancestor of all the other Taijiquan (Tai Chi) styles. Although it is characterized by low powerful stances, stomping and explosive releases of power that are mostly absent from the practice of other styles of Taijiquan, Chen Style Taijiquan can also be practiced with graceful, slow, light movements. The martial aspects and health benefits are still preserved and retained within the Chen Taijiquan system. Generally, there are 2 barehanded form sets in Chen Taijiquan, Yi Lu and Er Lu (known as “Cannon Fist” or “Pao Chui” ) of which the speed, strength and difficulty are all different. These variations are based upon the forms lineage and what a teacher is trying to explain. The first form, Yi Lu, is softer. This form is used as a tool to help develop a student’s strength, balance, coordination and understanding of basic Taiji principles. The strength of the form is based on the basic Chan Si Jing(spiral energy and force). Because of this characteristic, this became not as an essential form for beginners to learn but is beneficial to those who want to practice Taijiquan for health reasons. The second form, Cannon Fist, is more complex. It is geared more toward the development of explosive power and fighting techniques. There are many fast, powerful and hard movements. Traditionally, beginners always start out with the first form of Chen Taijiquan along with some basic exercise to get rid of body stiffness. Practicing the combination of the first form and the basic exercises correctly will help the beginner to develop “Chan Si Jing” (spiral energy). The second form then develops more explosive power. The Traditional Chen Family Taijiquan form will be taught at the Chinese Culture Center. It is straight forward and will build a strong Taiji foundation in the student. This form is suitable for a wide range of participants. There is no age, sex or health discrimination in the learning of this form. Students can learn and practice the form at their own pace and tempo.