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Date Posted: Mon, Jun 26 2006, 2:22:16 PDT
Author: Jampa Mackenzie Stewart
Author Host/IP: cpe-66-68-143-196.austin.res.rr.com / 66.68.143.196
Subject: Re: Bruce Kumar Frantzis
In reply to: Isaac 's message, "Re: Bruce Kumar Frantzis" on Fri, May 27 2005, 8:49:19 PDT

A sincere discussion on an old theme. Will the real Chen Pan-Ling style please stand up? No, it won't, because it's lying in the grave with Mr. Chen Pan-Ling! Even Mr. Chen's versions would have varied over his many years of practice, changed as he evolved and matured himself. His students who learned from him in his early days and then left him would probably not recognize what his later students learned. Taiji is a work in progress, not something static and unchanging that can be stuffed into the Smithsonian, preserved and viewed as "the real Yang style, real authentic Chen style, etc." Cheng Man Ch'ing modified Yang Cheng-Fu's style; William Chen and T.T. Liang modified Cheng Man-Ch'ing's style; their students modify further. They're all called Yang style. Taiji itself is based upon the Yijing or I Ching, the Change Classic. Its basic premise (from which the philosophy behind Taiji is derived) is that the universe is in a constant state of flux, yet that flux has a certain order to it. By mastering and identifying the stages of change, we know when to advance, when to retreat, and when to wait. Then we can be masters of our lives.
So Taiji forms change, too, yet there's a certain inner consistency as well: the Taiji principles, which are at the heart of the form.
B.K. Frantzis is truly a great master of the internal martial arts. He, more than most, knows what he's doing. Bruce learned his Chen Pan-Ling form directly from Wan Shu Chin in Japan, who in turn had learned it from Chen Pan-Ling. Wan was also a master of Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua (he trained in Xingyi and Bagua with the famous Hung brothers in Taiwan), as was Chen Pan-Ling and B.K. Frantzis.
The Chen Pan-Ling Taiji style is like a post-doctoral level study of internal martial arts. The form contains not only Chen, Yang, and Wu style Taiji influences, but also Sun style Taiji, Liangyiquan, Xingyiquan, and Baguazhang influences thrown in for good measure. I've discovered that there's a huge amount of Wu style influence in it (the way of performing White Crane Spreads Wings, Step Back and Repulse Monkey, Step Up to Form Seven Stars, and Retreat To Ride Tiger, to name but a few that are solidly Wu style).To really apprectiate Chen Pan-Ling style in its fullest, you would have to have studied all or most of these styles under a good master to some degree of depth. So to really master Chen Pan-Ling style Taiji, you need to study all these various styles to unlock the secrets within the movements.
Du Chien Tong was Chen Pan-Ling's student, but his love was more of Shaolin than Taiji. Apparently Du changed the stances so that the front foot was toed in about 30 degrees and parallel to the back foot (facing the same direction) so that the front knee would protect the groin. Very hard on the knees, though; not good for health. Kai Sung passed on this change, which I changed back ( with Kai's approval) in how I taught my students after developing knee problems and consulting with Sonia Young, a great Wu style master and Qigong healer in Rochester. I later looked at the footwork charts in Chen Pan-Ling's book and found that my changes were in accord with his original form.
Kai also practiced and taught Shaolin as well as Taiji. Kai's movements were unusually beautiful and fluid, and his applications were generally excellent, but he had not studied Push Hands to any depth at all. Neither had YW Chiang, although he did have some interesting Push Hands drills to add to the mix. According to RW Smith, who knew both YW and Chen quite well, Chen Pan-Ling's Push Hands skills were not great either compared to Professor Cheng's. However, Chen's overall martial arts knowledge was encyclopedic; he had studied over 60 different styles of martial arts with some of the greatest masters in China. So despite his so-so Push Hands, he was no slouch at fighting!
YW's real love was Xingyi, and perhaps that's where his greatest skills lay. He practiced mainly Xingyi every morning with Chen Pan-Ling for about 15 years in Taiwan. I learned all this from him firsthand when we spent a rich and memorable evening together the first time he came to meet me in Rochester with Pat. Wonderful man; I'm sure he is missed.
Anyway, it's late at night and I'm just writing in stream of consciousness here. The differences between the outer styles are minor points compared with whether you have real internal power, real Qi flow, real intention (Yi or I) and real gongfu behind it. Each movement has at least nine applications (can you find them?). As you start to become partial to one of these applications, your form will start to change over time. Just as long as you don't forget the other eight possibilities, it doesn't matter so much what you show outwardly. The form is just like shorthand; it gives you a quick reference to a whole hidden world of possibilities. Most of the actual martial applications of the forms look quite different from the form itself in action. So I propose that we put this perennial discussion to rest and get out there and practice more, learn more, go deeper inside instead.

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