Article on the Late Chen Taijiquan Master Feng Zhiqiang

Yaron Seidman wrote a very nice article on  his recollections of training under his Chen style taijiquan teacher, Master Feng Zhiqiang, who created the Xinyi Hunyuan version of Chen style.

An excerpt is below. The full article may be read here.

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When we went to Di Tan park Feng would start singing a Peking opera or crack jokes with gentlemen and ladies exercising and dancing in the park. It seemed that many people knew him and were enchanted by his charisma. As soon as he walked into the park everyone was smiling, everyone was happy. There was a spot in the park where Hunyuan students were regularly practicing, and this is also where many people from across China and indeed around the world would come and look for him, hoping to learn something or even just take a picture.

Feng was not a great fan of this spot, there were too many strangers who always wanted something from him. Actually, for me this was a great lesson in humility, because I too was just looking for him for the fame and name, at least in those years before I met him. I too had such a dream to meet a great master, the kind that one would normally only read about in books. But my sheer luck brought me closer to the person and I realized my own mistake.

I realized that to learn from a teacher means to learn from his person and not from fame and name. Feng was such warm hearted kind person, making everybody around him smile, he was passionate about the Taiji he was teaching and dedicated to his students, he was a person who cared for other people, but being so famous made it difficult because so many wanted something from him.

Many famous and rich people also came to look for him hoping to make a connection with the master. One time I remember the owner of a famous winery came to visit and took us to a fancy lunch, and there were many such cases.

Feng was also often invited to give talks and presentations about Hunyuan Taiji and Qigong. One time we went to Beijing University where he gave a talk about Hunyuan Taiji to an enormous crowd. Feng often travelled around the world and throughout China to give seminars or hold symposiums about Hunyuan Taiji. One time we went to a large gathering and symposium about Hunyuan Taiji in Zhao Yuan, Shandong province.

There were so many participants, Hunyuan Taiji was popular everywhere. Feng had an extreme martial ability and this is why he became famous, but in his heart he wanted to help the multitude of people. I heard that from him many times, he cared for the old and sick, and he was very  happy that his Hunyuan Taiji art was able to help tens of thousands of practitioners.

These big Hunyuan Taiji symposiums demonstrated that there were practitioners from all walks of life; young and old, strong and weak, sick and healthy. Everybody practiced Hunyuan Taiji to get healthier and stronger.