Born during Three Bitter Years
Chen Zhonghua was born in the winter of the third year of the “Three
Bitter Years” (1961), a period of famine, drought and floods that left
millions of people in China dead. While his mother was pregnant with
him, she and the rest of his family suffered from starvation. The
situation was so bad that the landscape of China was completely devoid
of life. Anything that moved or grew was eaten. Out of necessity people
had taken to eating leather and the bark from trees. As a result of
these conditions Chen Zhonghua was born small and weak with severe
health problems including damaged lungs. He was not expected to live
into adulthood.
At the age of one and a half Chen Zhonghua developed acute asthma. Poor
health kept him home and indoors for the first nine years of his life.
From Grade 1 to Grade 5, he went to school for only half of the year
while chronic bronchitis kept him from attending school at all during
the winter months.
During this time, the main illness was with his heart, liver and lungs
while he also suffered from arthritis. These desperate circumstances
lead to his determined pursuit of martial arts as a way of
strengthening himself and alleviating some of his chronic health
issues. Also, being very small he was on the receiving end of
harassment from larger friends so learning a martial art was also a
form of self preservation.
Unlike most Chinese martial artists, (Joseph) Chen Zhonghua did not
start his career at a preteen age and he did not start with the natural
talent in martial arts that most masters claim to be born with.
Initially, he did not have enthusiasm for the martial side of the art
and he was not destined to be a great master from birth because he was
not born into a recognized martial family.
Driven by the strong motivation and determination that his ill health
gave him, he began his martial arts training with a hand copied manual
of army combat training techniques borrowed from a friend. As he gained
strength he began to study with more experienced people. He learned
Sitongchui (Four-Open-Fist) from a local master; Baji and Taizu from a
neighbor; Xiao Wushou (Small-Five-Hand); and Da Wushou
(Large-Five-Hand).
With persistence, practice and training, Chen Zhonghua gradually gained
normal health. He gained strength, put on weight and began to look more
like an ordinary young person.
With this gain in confidence and the emergence of some skill his kung
fu exploits began. He organized the young people studying with him into
groups and coached and trained them. Each group would compete with
other groups. The beach along the Hongning River banks became their
meeting place everyday after school. There were times when things got
rough and Chen Zhonghua would be called on to discipline the
trouble-maker. His reputation in martial arts started to spread in his
town.
In 1978, most of his groups were recruited to be on the school team
that competed in the Weifang District wide martial arts competition
held in Wulian County. They played a major role in ensuring that their
county, the host county, finished the event with the most awards.
Meeting a true master
In 1979, Chen Zhonghua somewhat reluctantly attended Shandong
University in Jinan (he would have preferred Beijing) after graduating
with the highest English marks out of seventy-six million students in
his district. This proved to be a turning point for his Taiji
education. It was in this year that he heard of the amazing skills of
an elderly man teaching Taiji in a park in the mornings. His subsequent
visits to the Black Tiger Springs Park convinced him that Hong Junsheng
was a man of real gong fu and that his Taiji was worthy of learning.
His first visit to Black Tiger Springs Park was on a Sunday. He arrived
at about 9 o'clock in the morning. Black Tiger Springs is at the mouth
of a small river created from a rising underground spring. There are
walk ways on both sides of the springs while cliffs mark the outer
edges of the walk ways. On one side there is a small plaza dominated by
two large carved tigers. Walking up a steep stairway above the tigers
takes you to a raised platform that overlooks the entire spring’s area.
It is here that Chen Zhonghua first met the famed Taiji master, Hong
Junsheng.
People were leaving the park as Chen Zhonghua arrived, but there was
still a small crowd on the raised platform above the tiger's mouth. As
he approached the crowd, he realized that it was a group of Japanese
visitors who had been studying with Hong Junsheng. They were watching a
demonstration performed by one of the visitors, a rather stout and dark
looking young man. He was fast and intense with his form. His eyes were
a beam of light on his hands. His hands were both purplish and he
pounded the floor loudly. This was great! Chen was immediately
impressed. Power, that's what he wanted!
Then a Japanese visitor went up to an old man with white hair. Through
an interpreter he expressed his wish to experience the old man's
skills, claiming it would be a great loss if he went back to Japan
without experiencing those great skills.
The old man was standing with his legs quite close to each other. It
was not a martial pose at all. He was smoking a big pipe with his left
hand which left his right hand free. He was facing the Japanese visitor
with the right side of his body. Through the interpreter, he told the
visitor to try whatever he wished; he would not fight back, he would
only defend himself. Seeing that the old man was not preparing for
battle, it took a lot more interpreting and discussion before the
visitor was convinced that it would be safe to attack.
The visitor threw a punch at the old man's face. The old man turned his
body a bit, meeting the fist with his right shoulder. On impact, the
visitor flew up and back, away from the old man. He was at least ten
feet away when he landed. He stepped up to the old man again, obviously
uninjured. "I do not know what happened," he said. "Could I try the
same move on you again?" Again, he flew back and landed on the same
spot.
Frustrated but not giving up, he tried a third time and ended up on
exactly the same spot. His face showed total perplexity. Joseph Chen,
standing among the watching crowd, was deeply impressed and puzzled. He
was determined to find out the gong fu that was behind this impressive
show of skill and control.
As he would later find out, Hong Junsheng was an 18th generation Grand
Master of Chen Taijiquan who had studied with the legendary Chen Fake
the longest of anyone. For the next six years, Joseph Chen became a
frequent visitor to the Black Tiger Springs Park, arriving there at
4:30 every morning, rain or shine.
With persistence, he started out as a spectator, but soon became a
student among a large morning group. In a few years, he was learning
from Grand Master Hong in the morning and from Hong's senior disciples
in the evenings. He was eventually accepted as a disciple of Hong.
In Chen Taijiquan there are two main empty hand forms, Yi Lu (first
form) and Er Lu (second form), also known as Cannon Fist. Most masters
of authentic lineage advocate that the first form be studied for five
to seven years. Even before learning Yi Lu the fundamentals or
foundations of Taiji must be laid by intensive study of the two circles
that encompass all the movements of Taijiquan. Under the tutelage of
Hong, Chen Zhonghua would drastically change his learning style. He
would concentrate on perfecting the essentials before moving on to
other forms. He would practice the two circles for two hours in the
morning and then the Yilu form twenty times in the evening. He lost the
desire to learn more forms and would only continue to work on the few
fundamental exercises day in and day out. He would exercise by shaking
a ten foot waxwood pole until he was sweating while wearing a thin
shirt in minus twenty degree weather.
At one time he practiced the sword form so intently that without
knowing, he inadvertantly cut himself with the tip of the sword and a
huge scarred indentation was made above his ankle.
After graduating from University in China Chen Zhonghua immigrated to
Canada and became enrolled at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan.
He graduated in 1981 with a (Masters in Education?) and moved to
Edmonton, Alberta where a teaching position with the Edmonton Public
School Board at Victoria Composite High School waited for him.
Since 1985, he has been teaching Taiji in Canada. His disciples and
students have competed in China and in Canada earning top honors with
gold, silver and bronze medals.
By 1994, he had learned the entire curriculum of grand master Hong's Chen Style Taijiquan System.
Don't Touch Mr. Chen
"Don’t Touch Mr. Chen" was the rapidly spreading caution at Vic Comp
High School in Edmonton, where Chen Zhonghua had begun his teaching
career. He started a martial art club at the school when he assumed
teaching duties of Social Studies and English as a Second Language in
1988. Soon his reputation was known among students and teachers.
French language teacher Mrs. Stone is a friendly and touchy-type
person. One day while walking in the hallway behind Joseph Chen, she
decided to play a trick on him. She went behind him quietly and
suddenly tickled his back at the waist. As soon as she touched him, she
was thrown back onto the floor to the delight of the many students who
came to see what happened. Later on, Joseph Chen recalled that he
instinctively used the "The Whip Wrapping around the Body" pose when
Mrs. Stone was thrown.
Mr. Jack is the head of Social Studies department. He used to be a
physical education teacher and was still known for his toughness in the
school. He was big and strong and lifted weights daily, managed the
school weight room and played and coached football and hockey. One day
in the staff dining room, Mr. Jack asked Mr. Chen whether all that talk
about his Taiji was just TALK. "That slow stuff couldn't really work on
someone strong, could it?" As he was talking, he tried wrapping his
arms around Mr. Chen. Somehow he could not subdue Mr. Chen who ended up
having his right palm firmly planted on Mr. Jack's chest. "This is why
Taiji works," said Chen.
The next day, Mr. Jack was showing everybody in the staff dinning room his chest on which was the red imprint of a small hand.
A master passes
In 1996, Grand Master Hong Junsheng passed away at the age of 90. Chen
became a lost soul. He would not talk about Taiji, he would only train
hard by himself as he was grieving intensely the loss of the master
that had meant so much to him. He remembered his master's last words
and went to Beijing to see Grand Master Feng Zhiqiang.
A new path
In 1998, Chen formally became a disciple of Grand Master Feng Zhiqiang.
This came as a result of a fortuitous introduction to Grandmaster
Feng's daughter who was visiting Edmonton and his subsuquent persistent
visits to Feng, demonstrating his desire and worthiness to be a
disciple. At the time he was accepted, he had already studied the
entire curriculum privately.
Since 1999, Chen Zhonghua publicly has taught the arts of both his
teachers. He instructs Chen Style Practical Method of Hong Junsheng and
the Chen Shi Xinyi Hunyuan Taijiquan System of Feng Zhiqiang.
International Standard Bearer
In 2004 the author was in attendance at an event in Jinan when Chen
Zhonghua was given the status of International Standard Bearer by
members of the Hong family and senior disciples of Grandmaster Hong
Junsheng. I watched as Hong family members spoke of their father’s
Taiji. They spoke of how it was appropriate that the hard work and
dedication to following the rules of Taijiquan had lead Chen Zhonghua
to gain the skill that qualifies him to be a leading representative of
Chen Style Practical Method Taijiquan internationally. Speeches were
given by Hong’s sons and Hong’s grandson demonstrated Yi Lu for the
gathering. The Standard Bearer, Li Enjiu, also gave a speech and later
demonstrated applications with one of his top disciples, Master Ding.
Personal experiences with Master Chen
When I first met Chen Zhonghua I approached him with considerable
skepticism. In 2001 I had been studying the internal arts for twenty
years and had not met anyone that lived up to the martial reputation
that Taiji has. Spurred on by friends I grudgingly attended a workshop
that Chen Zhonghua was teaching.
Chen Zhonghua is not a large man. Certainly he is nowhere near as
physically strong as I am and weighs only slightly more than half of my
215 pounds, yet he is capable of controlling my every movement with
ease. In one of my first encounters with Master Chen he performed a
very light motion on my forearm that made me very grateful that he is a
gentle man. Only a slight increase in pressure would have broken my
forearm easily. At a later workshop he performed a similar movement
where he lightly placed a palm on my upper back and stepped his foot
inside mine. With the slightest movement from him it felt as though my
spine would have been severed horizontally had he not been cautious.
Since my introduction to Master Chen I have pushed hands with him many
times and have often heard him say, to me and to others, ‘do whatever
you want’. He will allow anyone to tie him up by applying joint locks
to him or simply holding him tightly, preventing any normal person from
being able to move or escape. Invariably as soon as the person
attempting to control Master Chen says they are ready, they are on the
ground in a second. Master Chen truly embodies the art of Taijiquan.
Stability on a slippery surface
During our 2004 trip to China I witnessed an event that had me
scratching my head for months afterward. We were in the city of Heze,
being hosted by Master Chow and his students. Master Chow was helping
us to celebrate Master Chen’s new status as International Standard
Bearer and part of that celebration was form demonstrations by the
hosting group, followed by our group. The forum was a large room in a
business class hotel in Heze. The floor of the room was quite slippery
and several of the people demonstrating had trouble keeping their
footing. Thinking that a carpet would provide more grip for the next
group, a large red carpet was rolled out and the next group performed
their demonstration on it. It was a disaster! The carpet made the grip
even looser and everyone slid around on the carpet, bunching it up and
frequently losing their balance. Master Chen was slated to demonstrate
next, but before he did some of the Heze people came to remove the
carpet realizing that the slippery floor was a better bet. Master Chen
waved them off and chose to demonstrate on the carpet. Thinking that
this would be interesting and brave of him I settled in to watch what
would happen.
We have the event captured on film and I have watched it several times
since. It was better in person, but what unfolded was one of the
fastest and most powerful demonstrations of Yi Lu that I had ever seen.
As Master Chen stamped his feet and fa-jinged his way through the form,
the entire room shook from his power. The carpet never moved except
once when I saw one very tiny fold begin that was straightened out with
his next movement. The carpet never moved again. Not only was I
impressed, but many of the Heze people stared, open-mouthed as Master
Chen performed. How can one move with such speed and power on a
slippery surface and seem to stick to the floor through the slippery
carpet. His incredibly strong and sophisticated root is the only answer.
On a different trip to China a good friend of mine witnessed the
following event and related it. His group was staying in a Beijing
hotel. As my friend was exiting his room one morning he saw one of his
fellow students spinning down the hall and around a corner without his
feet touching the ground. Rushing over to where Master Chen and several
other students were standing close to the elevators my friend asked
about what he had just seen and wondered if Master Chen could do it to
him. “I think so” was the reply. My friend and Master Chen joined hands
and in a second my friend was propelled down the hallway and around a
corner into a utility room. He tells me that he still has no
explanation for how he was spun out in such a controlled way.
A Taiji Career
Since 2002 Chen Zhonghua has been teaching Taiji as his full-time
occupation. As a result of increasing interest and demand for his
teaching skills and abilities, Chen Zhonghua has become one of the most
sought after instructors of traditional Chen Taiji throughout the
world. He currently has students and disciples in such varied locations
as Canada, the United States, Europe and China. He has been featured in
magazines such as Inside Kung-Fu and T’ai Chi Magazine and has
translated into English Grandmaster Feng's Qigong book while publishing
"The Way of Hunyuan", a book describing his life and Taiji experiences
while pursuing Qigong. He has also recorded numerous educational videos
showing many aspects of his Taiji and Qigong knowledge for people
without an instructor or those needing further reference for details
regarding his instruction. In addition he sponsors several websites to
further add enrichment and knowledge to the Taiji community.
In 2007 he published a translation of Grandmaster Hong’s book on the
theory of Chen Taiji. His experience as a translator and his high level
of expertise and understanding of the Chen Style Practical Method made
him the perfect person to be allowed by the Hong family to translate
this gem of a book into English making it more available to the world.
As part of his time teaching, Chen Zhonghua began instructing three
month "Full Time" Intensive Courses in 2002. These Full Time Courses
have evolved to now being conducted on Daqingshan Mountain in Shandong
province, China. Many of Chen Zhonghua’s disciples are graduates of
these Full Time programs.
He is the official Canadian correspondent for the Hunyuan Taiji
Magazine which is the official magazine for Grandmaster Feng of the
Zhiqiang Martial Arts Academy of Beijing. He is the honorary principal
of the Weifang Praying Mantis School.
He delivers special dedicated Taiji seminars in Vancouver, Victoria,
Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Boston, Dallas, Atlanta
and many other North American cities. He also has occasional European
seminars in Dublin, Amsterdam and Paris. Chen has also contributed to
the Taijiquan community by serving as a judge at A Taste of China in
Winchester, Virginia (1998, 1999), Taiji Legacy in Dallas (1999), as a
vice chief judge at the Jinan International Martial Arts Festival
(1996, 1999), and many other international events.
Regarded as one of the few North American 19th generation Chen Style
Taijiquan Masters, and also a Second generation Hunyuan Master, Joseph
Chen's quest for enriching and pursuing the art of Taijiquan continues.
He is enthusiastically supported by his wife, two daughters, Disciples
and many students who realize the tremendous burden and responsibility
he carries.
