Once again Grand Master Eng Chor Khor provided an interesting afternoon sharing his knowledge and wisdom at the annual free Philosophy lesson in Ashburton on Saturday 11 May 2024.
My husband Noel (who is a Senior Instructor) and I have for 30 years enjoyed GM Eng Chor’s workshops as there is usually something new to remind us how Tai Chi and Qigong works. There are also some points that we may have forgotten, hence these workshops are a good reminder.
GM Eng Chor opened by talking about the two original Tai Chi Chinese character symbols. The first I found particularly interesting as within this ancient symbol is the grain of rice character. Meaning that rice fuels the body. Just as ‘Qi’ is energy for the body, without Qi blood cannot circulate through our veins. This is our internal Qi.
GM Eng Chor explained that Qigong dates back thousands of years. Importantly, ‘Qigong is not a name but a meaning’, hence should always have a description in front of the word Qigong. ‘Qi’ is the energy or natural force which is found in the Heavens, Earth and every living thing. ‘Gong’ is any training or study of an exercise dealing with focused breathing. Examples of the many Qigong names include the most popular ones which are the Yi Jin Jing, Ba Duan Jin and the Five Animals Qigong.
Unlike Qigong which has an extensive past history, Tai Chi was first developed in the later part of the Song dynasty and developed further during the Ming Dynasty initially by Taoist Monk Zhang Sanfeng. At that time, it was not called Tai Chi but ‘Cannon fist’. The early home of Tai Chi was in the Wudang Mountains in China where the Taoist monks practiced a system of movements based on the martial arts to improve their health.
GM Eng Chor went on to explain what we now know as the four main styles of Tai Chi. The first style is the Chen style which was developed by Chen Wangting who was a great army General towards the end of the Ming dynasty, following retirement to his family village following defeat of the Ming armies in the 1650s. The Chen style is more vigorous and energetic and is not suitable for everyone. It has both ‘soft and slow’ movements as well as ‘hard and fast’ or explosive movements with its roots very much from the Martial Arts – hence the term ‘Cannon Fist’.
This was followed by the Yang style which was developed by Yang Lu Chan who, after observing the Chen being practiced in the Chen province for several years, moved to Beijing to introduce it to a wider audience. However, he found the need to modify movements into a softer style to be accepted by the upper class which included royalty and noble people. The Yang style has more gentle, round, big, open and slower movements which were also easier to learn and was greatly admired by the Chinese Imperial family. Although still strongly based on martial art roots, its slower even pace greatly adds to its health benefits. The Yang style is widely followed in western countries these days, and is also the Celestial signature style.
GM Eng Chor also briefly explained some characteristics of the other two popular styles. The Sun style is a combination of the Chen and Yang styles and has higher postures, some unique footwork and smaller gentle flowing circular hand movements. The Wu style has more sophisticated gentle movements which are smaller and more compact that Yang style movements. It is very popular in China, particularly Hong Kong. Again its roots are martial art.
GM stressed that all these movements from our Qigong and Tai Chi are to stimulate the channels which are called meridians and along those meridians we have pressure points which he briefly discussed. He reminded us that in his next workshop in Mornington on 24 August 2024, he will explain some more detail and demonstrate the Wold Goose Qigong, also with some other routines.
I always find GM Eng Chor’s talks on the Philosophy enriching and strengthens my knowledge on the centuries old Chinese culture and health system. I am looking forward to his next Master Class. Thank you, GM Eng Chor.
Yvonne Schmidt, Instructor
Armadale and Mornington Centre (opening in July 2024)
Updated: 2 June 2024
