od Anonymní » pát 01. říj, 2004 16:17
Ano.
a tu je vyborny rozhovor s nim (s Tian Yingjia, synom Tian Zhaolin(a)):
Two Red Lanterns
By Key Sun, Ph.D. & Leroy Clark
The immortal arrives without shape; moves without form; comes and goes with no trace. Such is the quality of the expert.
Yang Luchan’s empty and flexible method used change, constant change, change within change; a mind derivative, supreme method. His second son, Yang Banhou, favored cold and disruptive jins. This, however, was neither honest nor open. Therefore, father did not consider them seriously. Father said, “That is not the way a ‘true man’ behaves. Such jins are not entirely based on the mind.” Taiji is not just about severe practice. One also needs to think, to comprehend the theory, finally, to develop awareness; awareness within and without. Taiji emphasizes reservation, energy development and manipulation, change within change, intention/spirit.
Tian Zhaolin (1891-1960) was hospitalized in Shanghai near the end of his life. One night, his oldest son Tian Hong and middle son Yingjia, staying by their father’s bed, noted he was suddenly excited after awakening from a sleep. He told them of a dream he just had, in which, Yang Jianhou and his son Shaohou approached him. Each was carrying a bright red lantern to receive him and to welcome him to them after all these years of separation.
Finally, he said he was to going to rejoin them. With that Tian Zhaolin quietly slipped away. This event showed both his close relationship with the senior Yang family and his status in their taiji lineage.
Grand Master Tian Zhaolin was a Yang-family taiji direct descendant. He is one of the most senior non-family students of the Yang family; more senior than any yet known to the west. Tian Zhaolin’s father passed away when he was an infant. As a young boy of eight years, he had to sell fruit to support his mother and two sisters. Yang Jianhou (1839-1917), the second son of Yang style founding father Yang Luchan, noticed him on his walks to the palace where he taught. He recruited him as his student and also provided maintenance for young Tian’s impoverished family. Thus, from the age of 13 years Tian Zhaolin learned taiji from Yang Jianhou and subsequently from Jianhou’s sons Yang Shaohou (1862-1930) and Yang Chengfu (1883-1936). These teachers were exceptional and profound taiji grand masters.
Tian Zhaolin had three sons. The eldest Tian Hong was a school teacher.
The middle son, Tian Yingjia became an electrical engineer and also followed his father in taijiquan. The youngest son, Tian Yingrui became a university professor in Shanghai. Only Yingjia followed his father’s path in taijiquan. Tian Bingyuan, grandson of Zhaolin, learned taiji from his father. Yao Guoqin was selected as Master Tian Yingjia’s primary student.
Tian Yingjia has 49 disciples and has taught some 500 students in all.
The present article intends to introduce several contributions of Tian Zhaolin to Yang taiji. It is in part based on knowledge obtained from our correspondences and conversations with Masters Tian Yingjia and Yao Guoqing over the last three years.
The Early Years
Once in the Yang family household, Tian Zhaolin was required to participate around-the-clock in the practice of their internal art. Tian Zhaolin became a family member. He lived with the Yang family, practiced at all hours day and night with them, ate with them, and slept with them. The first six months Zhaolin was made to practice stake (Zhang Zhuang) exercises exclusively. After that the Master began to teach him the soft, sticky, energy art.
During those early years, shortly after adopting the young boy, Teacher Jianhou still taught at the palace and other places around the capital. On his daily walk to various parts of the city to teach, one always saw a young boy following a couple steps behind the old master carrying the master’s sword. That young boy was Tian Zhaolin. He occupied a special place in the household of Yang Jianhou and later became a constant companion of Yang Shaohou. When Jianhou would learn of his youngest son’s (Chengfu) sleeping in because of his late hours, he would angrily order the young Zhaolin to go awaken him from his late sleep. Zhaolin practiced alongside Shaohou and Chengfu directly under the close eye of father Jianhou. During the stake practice, should one of them move even the slightest, Jianhou would quickly come over to strike that person sharply with his long-handled smoking pipe.
Similarly, during the practice of jin, should one of them hesitate or stop, Teacher Jianhou would quickly approach and strike that person sharply with his pipe. Those hard strikes with the long stem pipe were particularly painful.
After some seven years of learning and severe practice, in 1911 Teacher Jianhou ordered Zhaolin to enter a public fight contest representing his family. Zhaolin was surprised and quickly tried to beg-off, explaining to his teacher that he did not feel adequately prepared and did not wish to bring dishonor on the family. Jianhou responded by telling Zhaolin that he would not have ordered him to enter such a contest if he did not believe he was well prepared. Tian Zhaolin followed the advice, entered the contest and won. Once home after the contest, Teacher Jianhou ordered Zhaolin to follow his eldest son Shaohou from this point onward. Shaohou and Zhaolin were often seen together around the capital and at martial art exhibitions. Tian ’s reputation began to grow after his success in that raw fight competition.
Recognition
Yang Shaohou and Tian Zhaolin were constant companions and were often seen together around the great capital. Once Shaohou and Zhaolin attended a martial arts exhibition together. The exhibition was put-on to raise money for a charity. Western boxing was included in the demonstration. When the western boxer finished his demonstration, the audience barely applauded.
Then Zhaolin got up on the stage and demonstrated some taiji techniques.
The audience went wild with applause. This offended the western boxer greatly. He got back up on the stage and demanded to know from the announcer why his western boxing demonstration received such little recognition while the taiji demonstration received such good response. The ring announcer suggested it was probably because so few in the audience understood western boxing while they did understand martial arts and taijiquan. With that the bellicose western boxer immediately demanded a challenge of the martial artist.
Yang Shaohou was sitting alongside Zhaolin at ringside. Zhaolin got back-up into the ring and told the announcer he was willing to take the western boxer’s challenge. Shaohou shouted up at Zhaolin to knock the guy out of the ring. The challenge match began. The two fighters approached one another. Zhaolin started to circle slightly. He held one arm up shoulder level and extended the other to the front. Suddenly the western boxer lunged at Zhaolin. Before anyone could see, the western boxer was suddenly tossed cleanly from the ring. It was as if he was a kite held taunt by a string when suddenly the string is cut and the kite suddenly jumps out, up and away cleanly. He was bewildered and did not understand what had happened.
Certain elderly gentlemen recall seeing Tian Zhaolin teaching in Shanghai parks. Hour after hour, day after day, Zhaolin would accept all challengers, without even asking their names or styles, they would approach, touch arms, and invariably Zhaolin would launch them cleanly away. One after another, pop, next, pop, next, pop. The sight of that was amazing according to witnesses.
Another time Tian was participating in a charity event in Shanghai. He demonstrated lin kong jin (literally: flying in the air energy). An external adept observer shouted his disbelief and became incensed. He wanted to challenge him. A relative of Tung Ying Chieh was at hand and stopped the shaolin master before he could challenge Zhaolin. He knew Zhaolin would show no mercy and hurt the external martial artist. Grandson Tian Bingyuan tells of the time some Shanghai gang members came to the Tian home to challenge his grandfather. As he opened the door the attackers struck him with an axe injuring Zhaolin. However, Zhaolin quickly deflected the follow-up strikes and knocked them some distance away. They took off running and did not return.
Tian Zhaolin and Chen Yenlin
(aka, Chen Yearn Ling or Chen Kung)
One of the most enlightening and widely read books on taijiquan in the west, as well as in China, has been attributed completely to the late Chen Yenlin.
In fact, in China Chen Yenlin’s book has been republished and reworked several times. Some have claimed Chen learned directly from Yang Chengfu
and that he was a teacher of Chengfu’s children. That is incorrect. Chen
Yenlin did not even met Yang Chengfu. Chen Yenlin learned taiji from Tian Zhaolin for about a year. Prior to this Yenlin had learned a shaolin art.
Chen Yenlin was encouraged to study taiji by his print shop owner Shi Huan Tang, who was also a taiji student of Tian Zhaolin. Chen Yenlin subsequently became a student of Tian Zhaolin. Notably, Yenlin wrote a couplet in honor of his teacher Zhaolin after his departure in 1960.
The work entitled, “Taiji Boxing, Saber, Sword, Spear, and Push-Hands”, was actually co-authored by both Shi Huan Tang and Chen Yenlin, with the information obtained from Tian Zhaolin. Yenlin would invite ZhaoLin to his home along with other senior students for dinner. A secretary would be on hand to record the conversations on taijiquan. All the information came from Tian Zhaolin. Originally, the book contained pictures of Chen and Shi pushing-hands. Tian had been asked for pictures but he responded that he did not know where he had placed them. Tian then asked an artist to make drawings of his gestures for the book. However, when the book was published only Chen’s photos were included. In addition, Chen Yenlin also didn’t give Shi Huan Tang the credit . Although Chen’s demeanor was frowned upon by Tian’s students and Tian Zhaolin himself, the book is acknowledged as being a good description of the large frame practice of Yang’s method. However, the large frame is but a small portion of the original, complete Yang taiji practice.
Tian Zhaolin and Taiji’s Original Frame
The small frame was the original frame of taijiquan. It was done quickly.
Except for the early members of the family, most notably Yang Luchan, Banhou, Jianhou, Shaohou, and the adopted Zhaolin, very few people who learn Yang’s tai chi can do the original small frame set.
When Luchan and his sons came to the capital and began teaching, he separated some of the original curriculum into component parts. Included in some of those changes, the small frame evolved, and slowed into the middle frame. Jianhou finalized some of those changes. The large frame is distinctly different from the middle and small frames in that it is nearly devoid of circular motion. In fact, this is one of the main distinguishing features separating the large frame from the middle frame. Third generation adept Yang Chengfu is credited with most of the development of the large frame. This was done to popularize taiji. In the original taijiquan there was only one set. Some on Taiwan claim today that a secret set was taught to Zhang Qinlin by Jianhou. Such is not the case. Others claim hidden sets were taught by Jianhou’s brother Banhou to special students in the Kuang Ping area. This is also simply not true. Originally, the taiji taught to Yang Luchan was the small frame. In fact, whether the frame is done as middle or small or even large depends entirely on the maturity of the student’s practice; nothing more, nothing less. The popular Master Tung Ying Chieh spoke to this in his 1948 work.
As beginning students develop maturity of practice the large frame acquires many circular features and evolves into the middle frame. Finally, with much more practice the small frame is generated. Key to the practice as counseled by Yang Jianhou is the exercise Eight Pieces of Brocade. Jianhou also advised that the set is the external side of taiji and meant only to lead the student to better energy development and usage. He said the goal of taijiquan is finally to leave the set as one incorporates the practice into one’s daily walk and activities. Jianhou also taught that energy is round; strength is square.
Tian Zhaolin was recognized by Yang Jianhou as the most skillful among the three best students of his family’s teaching. They were Tian Zhaolin, Li Yaxuan and Niu Chun Ming. Tian and Niu notably achieved the skill of being able to keep a bird from flying from their palms.
About the authors:
Key Sun, Ph.D., is a scholar in Taoist psychology and a taiji practitioner; he may be reached at: <tao@1stcounsel.com> LeRoy Clark, an amateur student of taiji history and a taiji practitioner; he may be reached at: <ii1799@yahoo.com>.