My Personal Experience with CMC style

[New boy]

I would like to share my personal experience with CMC style Tai-Chi Chuan. When I was 14 I saw my grandmother, 67 years old, practice CMC tai-chi by the swimming pool. I asked her what is that she told me and showed me a book written by Professor Cheng (13 Chapters), I read it, since then I wanted to learn Tai-Chi. I found myself a couple of Yang style masters in the years but I felt something was missing in their teaching so I did not stay long with each of them. When I was 19, a classmate of mine told me that he knows a great CMC style master and would take me to him.

Upon first meeting with my master he told me to show him what I have learned from others. I did, he smiled then pointed his finger to a skinny 5th grade boy standing by him and told me to uproot him. The boy took an arrow-bow stance with his arms across in front of his chest I place my hands on his elbow but was unable to uproot him, after 5 minutes we changed position. This time with slight movement of his I bang the wall behind me so hard, with my back, I could see the stars in day light and I was 159 pounds in weight. Later I was informed that 5th grade boy dropped out school in his 3rd school year due to frequent severe asthma and has only been practicing tai-chi for 1.5 years. Since then I learned from this teacher for next 5 years.

Throughout the years I realized what was missing with previous teachers (NOTE: I said teachers not styles). It is the BASICS. My CMC teacher places great emphasis on basic drills, proper body alignment and mechanics. If I do each basic drill for half an hour, 8 hr a day for tai-chi is not enough and that is only the hand form part (sword basics not included).

Now, I am 40 years old and still only practice CMC Tai-Chi Chuan. I need no others. I believe that CMC style is a shortened form but never the simplified nor watered down form. It all depends on how the teacher teaches you.

 

[TaiChiTJ]

That is a beautiful story and gets at the heart of the matter, which is finding a good teacher, and then working hard.

My teachers told me that calling the 37 posture form "simplified", is not exactly how they look at it. They suggested the word "condensed", meaning nothing has really been deleted.

Before coming to America, CMC went to Malaysia and was challenged by a white crane kung fu master, Master Huang, Huang realized CMC's skill and studied from him.

I have had an opportunity to receive a little guidance from this lineage and continue to work and puzzle over it.

If you would like some interesting reading, check out the website called CentralEquilibrium, or the site called OngTaiChi, which represents Master Yek Sing Ong, in New Zealand. Central Equilibrium has some interesting reading about doing good tai chi. They are in the "territory" you are in.

 

[wuchi]

During the late 1970's I had the opportunity to study under one of the senior students of Master Huang Sheng-Shyan (disciple of CMC) for about two years. Following that I studied for a few more years from a friend who lived in Taiwan for a number of years and studied under a disciple of CMC. Not contented with what I had learnt, I made a number of trips to Taiwan and lived there for one year to further my study of CMC TCC and learned from a couple of teachers including a disciple of CMC.

People that I had contact with in Taiwan practised only CMC TCC and nothing else. All the CMC TCC practitioners that I met in Taiwan as well as all the literature that I came across over there all stressed that CMC 37 postures form is a condensed Yang form rather than a watered-down version. CMC shortened the form by removing the repetitve movements in order to cram in a very tight teaching schedule to the then Chinese government and military officials during war time between 1937 to 1945. His shortened form first appeared in print in his 'Thirteen Treatises' which was completed in 1946. This happened long before he went to the USA and spread the art to the Western world. Not watering-down Yang's TCC just to suit the American students as was claimed by some people.

I have been devoted to studying CMC TCC exclusively for over twenty years now. Since early 2003 I push hands weekly with a Chen's style TCC practitioner (over 26yrs in TCC and studied and teaching exclusively Chan's TCC for the last 16yrs). We had numerous open discussions and exchange of ideas. I was really amazed at the similarity of our thinking and the understanding of the art of TCC. Even though our path may be different but the goals are so similar.
I have great admiration for my friend's skill and believe Chen's TCC is really an extremely practical and effective martial arts. The more we practice together the more I appreciate the depth, the simplicity and effectiveness of CMC TCC.

Another thing that makes CMC TCC so special was because Cheng was a very distinguished and accomplished scholar and he was able to put down in writing his own experinces and findings that unfortunately is not the case for many grand masters (eg Yang Cheng-Fu's classic published in 1934 was actually writen by Cheng Man-Ching). Cheng's publications on TCC are classics and would be treasured by his followers for many generations to come.

Studying TCC is a life long journey, there are enough things in CMC TCC to work on to last a life time. (This is also true for all other TCC). if I couldn't achieve any meaningful skill level that I wanted to reach then I attribute this to my own limitation rather than the style itself.

 

[vampyre_rat]

... if I couldn't achieve any meaningful skill level that I wanted to reach then I attribute this to my own limitation rather than the style itself.

I really like that line.

How many people keep changing styles assuming that the style is at fault, without realising that the fault is in all probability within them.

Not just true of taiji, but all MA.

 

[wuchi]

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to play host to a group of Chan's Style TCC practitioners during the visit of Master Huang Kang Hui - who was eight times national push hand champion of China and a Chan's TCC practitioner. During our conversation when we talked about Tai Chi Chuan outside China in a general way he made a remark which I thought was rather remarkable. He said that about four or five years ago when he was in Europe taking some workshops, while at a student's house he saw a video of Master Cheng Man Ching (CMC) doing pushing hands. He said he was rather surprised to see a person with such a high skill level who lived outside China. He said he could see it was all genuine Tai Chi Chuan skill, not staged; he was amazed at the things Cheng could do, the suppleness, the ease, and the amount of time he got to execute them.
It was only after he said all that, I revealed to him that I am a dedicated CMC TCC practioner. He was a little surprised and not realising that my only connection with the group was push hand practice on a regular basis.

The disciple of CMC I learnt from studied and taught Yang's TCC for 23 years before he met Master Cheng - according to him he thought he knew everything there was to learn in Yang's TCC. The very first time he pushed hands with CMC the very first instant their hands contacted he was tossed out a few meters!!! From that moment on he became a dedicated CMC TCC practitioner.

I have studied kung fu for over six years (2 yrs of Southern Shaolin followed by dedicately over 4 yrs of Southern Praying Mantis - predominantly Li Gar (Iron Ox) style) and then dedicately about 10 years of CMC TCC before I met Master Cheng's disciple mentioned earlier in Taiwan.

When I pushed hands with him for the very first time, when our arms contacted all I felt was the sensation of a silky fabric very lightly contacting my skin. It felt as if I was pushing hand against a thin sheet of silky material. Regardless whether I was moving forward, backward, left or right or trying something else the silky fabric would continue to adhere to my skin. Then suddenly without any warning my feet would come off the ground and I was air borne. I was tossed all over the place. The worst thing was I didn't know how he did it as I couldn't feel a thing! I never felt so stupid, frustrated and helpless in any sparring, sticky hands or push hands practice against anyone. I got a little anxious as I couldn't tell what he was going to do next, I felt really exposed and vulnerable. He had the total control and seemed to sense everything I was about to do and prevented me from doing it, I felt I couldn't even defend myself against him!!!
Much water have since passed under the bridge and I have made some progress since then yet I am still a long way off attaining that level of skill and control.