Cheng Man Ch’ing (Zheng Manqing) was known to be a Tai Chi Master but there are a few problems with that.
Chief among them is that Taiji is a martial art and at one time was one of the most powerful of all martial arts in China.
Chen Fa-ke when he first arrived in Beijing was challenged (normal in Chinese society) many times. If you open a martial arts school in China you can be expected to be challenged, and not to a Push Hands contest, but to open warfare. A real no-holds-barred fight.
When it was found that he easily defeated his challengers, they started coming in twos. There are reports that he even had to fend off more than two attackers at a time, but he never lost.
We know that Chen Fa-ke and his forebears were not only bodyguards but also protected caravans from bandits who attacked with weapons, intent on killing and stealing.
There is no doubt that these people could actually fight, and that they did so with Internal skills.
Now try to imagine CMC in the ring with a serious challenger. Someone well-trained who is going to do their utmost to beat him down.
A group of us studied with T T Liang, the Number One Disciple of CMC. Liang often pulled out his Disciple Diploma to show us. Proof positive.
Liang and Cheng had a falling out and Liang ended up beating Cheng, by accident.
CMC was famously a drunk. This is documented and inarguable.
At a celebration with all his disciples attending CMC was in his cups, feeling no pain. He came upon Liang who had his back to him. CMC slapped Liang hard on the back. Why we do not know, but we do know that Liang’s reaction was to spin about from the unexpected attack and palm CMC who flew several feet away and landed on his butt.
CMC was not a forgiving man. Still on the floor, he commanded Liang to leave and never show his face again. Liang was stricken from the record because of this petty squabble. Even though he tried several times to re-ingratiate himself, CMC would have none of it. In a train station when Liang saw CMC walking towards him he prostrated himself in front of CMC. He walked on by not even making eye contact. Pretty harsh treatment for a friend, travel mate and #1 Disciple.
So how good was CMC? If you have a trained and critical eye you can see that he was clearly not very good at all. He floated rather than rooted. He wobbled rather than Rotated. He showed no evidence of Internal mechanics at all.
This is not surprising as he was never taught Internal Mechanics. He claimed to have studied briefly with Yang Cheng Fu but never offered any proof.
Even if he did, the Yang family only taught other family members and Indoor Disciples the secrets to Internal Mechanics. CMC was obviously not one of these.
In my opinion, CMC had little to offer. My opinion was formed after many years of ring fighting, street fighting, and now over 40 years of Internal training with “Masters of proper lineage”.
When he and Liang first came to America, Tai Chi had never been seen before, at least not outside of Chinese communities. It was new, he was new, it was all very exciting.
But gaze upon his students.. not a fighter among them. Mostly academics and hippies. Not that hippies are bad, they aren’t, they were right about almost everything. But they most definitely were not fighters and did not understand fighting.
CMC offered something mysterious and exotic; they ate it up with nothing to compare it to.
If you promote CMC, or his students you have not done your homework.
Let’s look at William C. C. Chen. And BTW William, you have spent much of your life studying what you thought was Tai Chi. Right here and right now, I offer you a chance, before you die, to experience Real Taiji. Take me up on it. And no it is not a beating that I’m offering, but a chance for you to go to China and meet a real Master. Ignore the offer at your own peril.
William was one of CMC’s favourite students. Liang was his best student.
William was kicked out of CMC’s group because he would not stop fighting, and CMC did not like that. William was warned many times but still would not listen. CMC finally booted him out.
People in my group studied with William on several occasions. I was hit by him, a demonstration to be sure but surely not an overwhelming hit, and not in any sense of the word Internal. Just a hit like many I received when doing External training.
William curtailed his own education by refusing to stop fighting. So we know he is poorly trained in Tai Chi on several points.
His teacher CMC was never taught Internal Mechanics so could not pass them on.
WIlliam was kicked out, and what little CMC could have taught him he didn’t receive.
William has adopted a modified form of Boxing into his non-internal version of Tai Chi. I will assume that to some extent William can fight, but that’s not the question. The question is, ‘Can he fight with Internal Principles intact’? And the answer to that is no. Such a shame. But my offer stands. William is old now, not much time left.
Yang Jwing Ming is a famous author. He is known for his White Crane Gong Fu, his Yang style Tai Chi, some Shaolin, and his Chin Na.
I worked with Jimmy on many occasions, and he is best at Chin Na. I can’t comment on his White Crane because I never studied it with him. Of Tai Chi, he knows very little and most often confuses White Crane mechanics with those of Tai Chi. Illustrating that he does not know Tai Chi Internal Mechanics. Why else would he teach White Crane’s method of power release in place of real Fa Jin?
YJM owes everyone who bought a Tai Chi book from him an apology and a refund. His books are full of misinformation and confused translations. His books are fraudulent, IMHO.
At one time he had a Silk Reeling video for sale. It was a complete joke, but he sold it and made money from it, all the while knowing that it was a complete sham. At least he should have known, he’s a smart guy.
Silk Reeling is not tracing the Yin/Yang symbol with your hands, Jimmy!
If you have any doubt about what Silk Reeling is, go over to YouTube and search for Zhang Xue-Xin Silk Reeling, or Feng Ziqiang Silk Reeling. I’ll do it for you…
This is an example of real Silk Reeling, and it is not taught in Yang Style. No Internal Mechanics are taught in Yang style except to family members, or Indoor Disciples.
Most people who come to Tai Chi do so with few expectations. Mostly they are not interested in how qualified you are, or who your teacher was. That is left to us Purists. We care.
Right now, there are very few teachers or students who teach real Tai Chi. Mostly what is taught is empty postures, and the students are left on their own to try to figure out how to apply them.
This has resulted in a serious dumbing down of our art and left it tottering on the edge of death. Real Taiji is not just difficult to find, it has almost completely disappeared.
Who cares? Most people do not. I do.
From the moment I began studying Yang Style Tai Chi, I was curious about what the difference between Internal and External was. At that time I understood External very well. I had decades of experience with Judo, Karate, and competitive Kickboxing. I did not understand the difference between Internal and External and found it frustrating that none of my teachers could tell me, or show me, what that difference was. But my mates and I found it. It took a lot of years and a lot of training, but we found it.
It exists in China and descends directly from the lineage of Chen Fa-ke. Chen Fa-ke’s credentials cannot be disputed. Not only was he fully trained in China, by descendants of the people that created Taiji, but he was also the Standard Bearer for Chen Village. A rare honour.
From him the lineage we are in went to Hong Junsheng, the Man with Magic Hands, and from Hong it went to Grandmaster Liu ChengDe.
Hong was a fighter and was defeated only once early on. He was not a fan of forms, although he practised them assiduously. Mostly he spent his time with Applications and became so good at them that to touch him ‘was as though gravity had been repealed’.
Hong made Liu ChengDe his Applications Instructor. Liu is also a fighter and was so good he had to learn how ‘to not break arms.’
There are other people still alive who trained with Chen Fa-ke, I know of two, and there are several people still alive who trained with Hong Junsheng. But I do not know of other groups who still have the real art. It remains elusive.
Re: my offer to William, and to YJM. Go to Jinan, ask around where Liu ChengDe trains, and if you can find him ask for a demonstration. You will not be disappointed.
