ASSOCIATION
The association PETCC offers to those who wish to discover Tai Chi Chuan through the teaching method designed by Master Huang Sheng Shyan. Well developed in South East Asia and Australia, present in North Europe since a couple of decades, this school was rather ignored in France, but started to spread with the arrival, in 1992, of a great expert, Patrick Kelly, who generously transmitted the knowledge acquired under Master Huang.
Intructor
Frédéric Gilles started martial arts studying Karate in 1978. In 1982, he meets Bui Xuan Quang, who taught traditional Karate-do, involving research on energy, sensitivity and communication without giving up efficiency. At the same time, he starts learning Tai Chi Chuan. In 1993, he meets Patrick Kelly who, at Master Huang's death, took up spreading his teachings in Europe.
In 2002, Frederic chooses to share his experience, meanwhile still following the teaching that Patrick Kelly gives out throughout Europe.
What is taught
Principles
The aim of martial arts practice is to unify the body-mind. If some principles are common to internal and external martial arts ( the mind leads the body, it is sensitive to the partner's intention), the approach is rather different.
In an external martial art, movements and positions facilitate a work in which forces generated by muscular contraction will be developed; work on speed and intention brings the power of the techniques.
In Tai Chi Chuan, internal martial art, we learn to yield to the partner's push, to neutralize it in order to issue it. The received force, combined with loosening and aligning the body, compresses it and stretches the muscles. It is when this force weakens that the muscles recover their initial position, and that a response appears : the strength accumulated inside the body (stretching/compressing) is returned to the partner. We call this internal force, like that of a bow which, after being bent backwards shoots the arrow towards the target.
This elastic force is difficult to manage : under pressure, the untrained body reacts by contraction, in order to oppose a stabilizing force. Learning the cycle yield – neutralise - issue can therefore only be done slowly, repetition and effort leading to spontaneous movement.
Method
Tai Chi Chuan can be practised alone (slow and fast forms) and with a partner (push hands, or Tui Shou).
Whilst the form develops internal strength, push hand develops sensitivity.
Master Huang's teachings consist in :
- Five characteristic loosening exercises. Easy to memorize, they help understand the principles in simple situations.
- One short form (37 movements), created by master Cheng Man-Ching, who was Master Huang's teacher since 1947. Taught to start with, this form familiarizes the beginner with movement and positions of Tai Chi Chuan.
- One long form (108 movements) developed by Yang Cheng-Fu. It is practiced slowly, listening to changes within the body, and with a strong intention. Principles worked on during the exercises are brought out in more complex situations.
- A fast form (quickfist) combining principles of Fujian White Crane (Baihequan) in which Master Huang was an expert before meeting Master Cheng Man-Ching. Proposed to more advanced students, it helps develop ability and dynamics.
- Eighteen fixed pattern push hands exercises, that prepare to the free push hands. In this work, we learn to include the partner in our consciousness-field, and to correctly react to his/her intention, whereas in the form, it is a memorized sequence that triggers our movement producing intention.