www.Longfei-Taiji.co.uk	Longfei Taijiquan Association of Great Britain
		Longfei Newsletter Volume 7 Issue 3

Master Wang's Spring Visit

Master Wang travelled his familiar route through the UK - Glasgow, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire - during the last ten days of May. Many areas of the Longfei curriculum were covered over two full weekends and three evenings. The 24 taijiquan, the 32 taijijian, the eight treasures, pushing hands, power training, xingyi quan, bagua.

The appeal of xingyi and bagua remains limited to a much smaller group of delegates than taijiquan especially in the south; there is a more formidable group with Derek Daly in Scotland. However those that pursue these two disciplines do so with regularity and dedication and a realisation that this level of teaching is not easy to come by and are making the most of it while it's available. It's always a pleasure to spend ten days with Master Wang for all manner of reasons, but this year there were two notable points arising during the visit. On our visit to Gill Hughes, Gill who is currently teaching her students the 42 sword asked Master Wang if he would care to do a demonstration of the same. After taking time out to recall the form, his demo of the three power (Chen style) techniques in this sword form were quite awesome (a word I do not use lightly). To see the movement (quiver) at the end of a Longquan taiji sword was wonderful and exemplified the principle of the sword as an extension of the arm and indeed the whole body. A power manifest from the centre - rock on Wang.

The second was a demonstration of the Gun, (staff, cudgel) choreographed by Master Wang with the footwork/stepping methods of the 24 Simplified Taijiquan. He created this as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the creation of the 24 hand form created by Li Tainji. The routine was 90 per cent from the 24, excluding only the sidestepping of yun shou (cloud hands). All the methods of using the Gun were from traditional forms. After completing a solo demonstration of the routine, Simon was invited to perform the 24 taiji along side Master Wang performing his new creation.

This dual performance was accompanied by the 24 music, the stepping methods were matched exactly. The standing on one leg, the kicks, the snake creeps down all matched in sequence precisely. Very clever! Master Wang was a student of Grand Master Li Tianji (Longfei), who was the creator of the 24 among his other many accomplishments. I feel sure he would have applauded his student's innovation. I understand there is a two-person version of the solo form and a spear form.

Richard Watson

Longfei Newsletter Volume 7 Issue 3 Table of Contents