Five-day Chen taijiquan workshop
Master Chen Ziqiang
28 April – 2 May 2027, Bern
Five days focused on the principles of Chen taijiquan, trained through standing, silk reeling, the opening sections of Laojia and Xinjia Yilu, and the push-hands routines. A few movements, studied in depth and corrected in detail.
The idea
Taijiquan is more than a collection of forms. It is a set of movement principles that have to be learned, trained and embodied. Standing, silk reeling, the forms and push hands are the tools for this, and each approaches the principles from a different direction.
Our aim for these five days is to understand and embody those principles better. The focus is on a small number of movements, studied in depth.
Master Chen will shape the days around the group's experience, so that everyone leaves with a better practice than they came with.
The week
- Every day
- Standing, silk reeling and push hands
- Wednesday to Friday
- The opening section of Laojia Yilu
- Saturday and Sunday
- The opening section of Xinjia Yilu
The five days are designed as a whole, and you will get the most from them by coming to all of them. If you can only come at the weekend, Xinjia starts from the beginning on Saturday, so you get a complete introduction to its opening section. If you come for all five days, you will meet the same movements in both frames, with the chance to explore their differences and search for the principles that underlie both.
Laojia and Xinjia
The "old frame" and the "new frame": two versions of the same form, built on the same principles with different emphases.
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Every master develops his own way of performing the forms he inherits. It is shaped by years of practice and application, by his own body, and by an ever deeper understanding of the principles.
Laojia is the form as it was practised in Chenjiagou before the 1970s.
Xinjia originated in the form that Master Chen Fake taught during his nearly thirty years in Beijing, shaped by teaching, by fighting, and by exchanges with other great masters there. His son, Master Chen Zhaokui, brought it back to the village in the 1970s.
Both are now widely practised in Chenjiagou, and both vary from master to master. Master Chen Ziqiang teaches them as his own practice has shaped them.
Comparing the two is fascinating and illuminating. The differences are obvious at once; the shared principles beneath them take longer to discover.
Push hands (tuishou)
Partner routines for feeling and applying force, and for keeping to the principles when a partner's force comes in. Master Chen will choose the routines best suited to the group.
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练时无人似有人，战时有人似无人: "Practise as if there were an opponent; fight as if there were no one there."
In form practice it can be hard to feel the lines of force through the body, and to move and issue force with taiji body mechanics. Chen push hands is a sequence of partner routines, from single-hand circling to moving steps. Working with a partner makes those forces tangible, and trains you to keep the principles while dealing with someone else's force.
Who it's for
Everyone is welcome, whether you have trained for years or are new to Chen taijiquan. The more experience you bring, the further Master Chen can take you. Six hours a day is demanding, even for fit martial artists.
Teacher
Master Chen Ziqiang
Master Chen Ziqiang was born in Chenjiagou, the birthplace of Chen taijiquan, in 1977. He is a 20th-generation member of the Chen family and head coach of the Chenjiagou Taijiquan School, where he has taught since 1998. He won the Henan provincial push-hands championship six times between 1996 and 2002, and the Chinese national championship in 1999 and 2001. He has dedicated his life to practising and teaching the art, and is a patient, methodical and fascinating teacher, drawing on decades of practice, fighting experience and research.
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Family. He is the son of Master Chen Xiaoxing and the great-grandson of Master Chen Fake, whose experience shaped the Xinjia frame. He learned from his father from childhood, and also from his uncle, Master Chen Xiaowang.
Competition. He entered his first tournament in 1996 and won the push-hands title at the Henan provincial championships, going on to win it every year from 1998 to 2002. At the 1999 national championships in Hangzhou he won the 56 kg push-hands title, Henan's only gold medal of the championships, and he won it again in 2001. In 1998 he also won the open challenge contest at the International Taijiquan Annual Meeting. Besides push hands, he is well versed in taiji sanshou (free sparring).
Teaching. He has taught at the Chenjiagou Taijiquan School since 1998. He began teaching in Europe in 2007, and since 2017 his world teaching tour has taken him to more than twenty countries in Europe and the Americas. He has published a series of instructional books and videos covering the whole Chen curriculum, from Laojia and Xinjia to the weapons.
Practical details
- Dates
- Wednesday 28 April to Sunday 2 May 2027
- Hours
- 09:30–12:30 and 14:00–17:00
- Place
- Zharalie, Mattenhofstrasse 33a, 3007 Bern
- Places
- Maximum 18 each day
- Priority
- Registrations for all five days have priority, then the whole weekend. Single days are confirmed from 15 March, if places remain.
- Language
- Taught in Chinese, translated into English. Specific sections can be translated into German or French if required.