Master Wang Zhi Ping

Wang Zhi Ping is the Principal of the School and a 20th Generation Chen Tai Chi Master.

He has been practising Yang and Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan for the last twenty – six years and has taught for most of those years as well.

His practise is beautiful to watch and extremely inspirational. He fills his movements with what he calls an open heart yet is technically perfectionist with the form at the same time. As a teacher though it is also his good spirit, patience and attention to detail that have made him stand out as a superb Tai Chi teacher.

As one student remarked he enthuses over good movement and posture expressing his level of pleasure in a delightfully vocal and charismatic way that leaps across cultural barriers. He enjoys the experience of movement in such a beautiful inspiring way that all around him want to share a little of what he has.

At he same time he is a very serious teacher, and once the student has move past the beginning stages he can be extremely demanding, pushing the student to work and work, whether it be in terms of leg strenghening doing Chan Si Gong or repeated performances of tiny movements.

Wang Zhi Ping is a 20th Generation Chen Tai Chi Master. His teacher was Wang Zhen Hai, a Kungfu and Chen Tai Chi Master whose main teacher was Chen Zhao Pei, the previous generation main lineage holder of the Chen family. Chen Zhao Pei’s teacher was Chen Fake, perhaps the most famous Chen Master from the past.

Wang Zhi Ping talks little of all this and prefers that students simply look at his Tai Chi movement with their own eyes.

Have a look at the pictures and video and make up your own mind…

Chen Style Tai Chi

Master Wang Zhi Ping in Chen posture Chen Style Tai Chi is amazingly beautiful to do and to watch when performed well. But it is difficult. The movements are circular, the stance is low and the pace alternates between periods of slower and quicker movement. There are also sudden releases of power called Fah Jing, the Chen explosive movements. The martial applications are quite evident in Chen yet it is a complete internal martial art unlike Kung Fu.

Chen Tai Chi is divided up into the Old Frame (Lao Jia) and New Frame (Xin Jia). Each Frame consists of the First Way (Yi Lu) and the Second Way ( Er Lu). For each of these there are many hand and weapon Tai Chi forms. The Yangshuo Tai Chi School mainly teaches Lao Jia Yi Lu although Wang Zhi Ping, Chang Chang and Cheng he Chang also practise Lao Jia Er Lu. Er Lu is more demanding and explosive than Yi Lu which contains the power more, making it harder to learn well. It may be offered to appropriate students but Wang Zhi Ping believes in learning the basics of Fang Sung movement and relaxed Fah Jing movements competently before tackling such difficult Tai Chi. This is also true for Martial Applications. The teachers can teach interested students the applications behind each movement they learn but Wang Zhi Ping is generally reluctant to teach too much until the student displays sufficient competence in the Tai Chi itself for this knowledge to be of any relevance. It’s important to learn to relax first and be empty.

The New Frame of Chen (Xin Jia) created by Chen Fake is much more complicated to learn and practise and is only relevant to the highest level of practitioner with a total life commitment to Tai Chi. We can demonstrate Xin Jia along with many of the other difficult Tai Chi Forms.

Yang style Tai Chi

Yang Style Tai Chi is also beautiful to do and to watch but in a different way to the Chen. It’s beauty is the simplicity of its movements which are easy to learn and perform even when a person’s health is not that strong. The movements are more linear, the stance is fairly high and the pace remains fairly even and gentle. Hence it achieves the purpose for which it was created which was to be a tool for achieving health, accessible for the majority of people. By being less demanding physically, it allows the practitioner to focus directly on achieving softness / Fang Sung in the movement and a state of meditative peace.

The school teaches Simplified Yang Style 24 which is ideal as a beginners Tai Chi. This style is taught all over China in the parks, but its important to find a teacher who can teach the movement with internal Qi otherwise it becomes simply a form of dance.

Tai Chi as a Martial Art vs Spiritual Practice (Way of Zen or Tao)

One of the interesting aspects of Tai Chi is that it manages to function both as a Martial Art and a Spiritual Practice. As such it attracts people from both backgrounds and to some extent they meet within the practice of Chen Tai Chi. Opposed to the External martial arts, such as Kung Fu or Karate, which rely on the limited power of strength and speed to exert their force, Tai Chi is a Internal martial art drawing from the unlimited power of the stilled-mind connected with the infinite universal energy source to produce feats of strength and action, far above what the average body is capable of, with wisdom and a peace of mind unsurpassed. As such, Tai Chi attracts people from both backgrounds.

Those from a more contemplative, meditative interest can benefit well from the Yang Style and then grow into the more ‘feeling’ side of Chen style. Those from a more martial background can find their needs met in the Chen with fast application and eventually martial applications. Most of the Chen practitioners in China are more on the martial side. In the end though both paths combine and good practice at the highest level requires aspects of both.

Wang Zhi Ping has a strong interest in ‘Natural’ Movement with feeling as well as martial Tai Chi and is a long term practitioner of Internal Qigong or Nei Gong. He is unusual perhaps in his emphasis on the feeling side. Likewise, though the Internal Energy Qigong and the Tai Chi is totally meditative, the student benefited greatly from sitting Meditative retreats which developed the Hara or Dan Tien and quiet mind and Spontaneous Qigong work.

Meditation

In Tai Chi practise, meditation is the only way to become aware of one's Chi. After assuming either a simple sitting posture or an upright stance, the begging can easily achieve success in Tai Chi meditation by following these procedures:

1. Relax an entire body, as if you were asleep, making sure that there is no physical tension at all.

2. Calm your mind and concentrate on the total body, listening to its breath, sensing its pulse, and so on, until you can feel the body's natural rhythm.

3. Bring up your spirit by pushing up your crown point. Imagine an invisible string pulling your crown point from above. Gradually apply deeper breathing and inhale directly into the tan t'ien (an area located approximately three inches below the navel and two and one-half inches inward).

After practising for some time, you may start to sense a feeling that that flows with the rhythm of deep meditation breathing. This is Chi, the internal energy. As you progress, this feeling grows stronger, and you can begin to sense and control the flow of this energy without the assistance of deep breathing. At this stage, you can use your mind to guide your Chi's path of travel in your body.

Five-animal Play (Wu Qin Xi)

The five animals in the exercises are the tiger, deer, bear, monkey and crane. Each animal has two exercises corresponding to the five yin (Zang) and five yang (Fu) internal organs. Regular practise of this Qigong is said to improve functioning of:

- Liver/Gall Bladder (Wood Element - tiger)
- Kidneys/Bladder (Water Element - deer)
- Spleen/Stomach (Earth Element - bear)
- Heart/Small Intestine (Fire Element - monkey)
- Lung/Large Intestine (Metal Element - crane) respectively.

Muscle-Tendon Change Classic (Yi Jin Jing)

This is a relatively intense form of exercise that aims at strengthening the muscles and tendons, so promoting strength and flexibility, speed and stamina, balance and coordination of the body. The basic purpose of Yi Jin Jing is to turn flaccid and frail sinews and tendons into strong and sturdy ones. The movements of Yi Jin Jing are at once vigorous and gentle. Their performance calls for a unity of will and strength, i.e. using one's will to direct the exertion of muscular strength. It is coordinated with breathing. Better muscles and tendons means better health and shape, more resistance, flexibility, and endurance. It is obtained as follows:

- postures influence the static and nervous structure of the body
- stretching muscles and sinews affects organs, joints, meridians and Qi
- torsion affects metabolism and Jing production
- breathing produces more and better refined Qi
- active working gives back balance and strength to body and mind (brain, nervous system and spirit).

The Five rules of Yi Jin Jing are:

Quietness - Like lake water reflects the moon, a calm spirit allows energy to move inside the body.
Slowness - In order to use and flex muscles deeply, to get maximum extension and move Qi and Xue, slow movements are required.
Extension - Each movement must be brought to the maximum.
Pause - Efficacy comes through waiting and keeping tension for a longer time.
Flexibility - Limbs and trunk must be extended so that blood and energy can circulate, so we have flexibility.

Brain/Marrow Washing (Xi Sui Jing)

The main purposes of Xi Sui Jing training are to use the abundant Qi generated from Yi Jin Jing training to wash the marrow, to nourish the brain, and to fill up the Qi in the other six vessels. The main goals of the training are:

- To keep the Qi at an abundant level and continue to build up the Qi to a higher level from other sources. An abundant Qi supply is the key to successful marrow washing and nourishing of the brain for raising the spirit. Experience has shown that the genitals can be an important source of extra Qi. Therefore, one of the main goals of Xi Sui Jing training is learning how to increase the production of sexual hormones and improving the efficiency of its conversion into Qi.
- In order to keep an abundant supply of Qi, the Jing (Original Essence/hormones) must be conserved, protected, and firmed. Therefore, the second purpose of Xi Sui Jing is to regulate the usage of Original Essence.
- Learning how to lead Qi to the marrow to keep the marrow fresh, and to lead Qi to the brain to raise up the spirit of vitality. Marrow is the factory which produces your red and white blood cells; when the marrow is fresh and clean the blood will be healthy. As this blood flows to every part of your body, it will slow down the degeneration of your cells. Practicing Xi Sui Jing can therefore slow down the ageing process. When the brain has plenty of Qi to nourish it, you are able to maintain the normal functioning of your brain and also raise up the spirit of vitality. When the spirit is raised, the Qi in the body can be governed effectively.
- For a sincere Buddhist or Daoist monk, the final goal of Xi Sui Jing is reaching enlightenment or Buddhahood. For them, the training purposes listed above are considered temporary. They are only steps in the process of building up their “spiritual baby” (Ling Tai) and nurturing it until it is independent and has eternal life.

From this brief summary, it is clear that the Yi Jin Jing and Xi Sui Jing can change both your physical and spiritual qualities and lead you to a higher level of physical and spiritual life. But to understand exactly how these two Qigong exercises help you to reach these goals, you must have a profound understanding of the relationship between your Qi, your physical body, and your spiritual body. Only then will you be able to grasp the keys of the training.