A Taijiquan Class with Yuan Weiming

A few months ago I learned that my original taijiquan teacher from over 35 years ago, a direct student of Cheng Man Ching (Zheng Manqing) from the New York school, Carol Yamasaki, taught a class in the evening during the week within a reasonable distance from my office. I began training with her again.

I found that I was at about the median in age of the students and that most of us had a similar story: life pulled us in different directions back in the day and now we're back.

There is a loose network of the direct and next generation students of CMC. They keep in touch. Sometimes they pay each other a visit.

The other night in class, we had the great honor to be visited by Yuan Weiming. Mr Yuan is a disciple of the late Liu His-hung, the chief instructor at Shizhong Institute in Taipei and is one of the most senior teachers of the Taiwan branch of CMC Taijiquan.

I found him to be very warm and approachable.

We did a deep dive into the Grasp the Sparrow's Tail sequence. The emphasis was on moving from leg to leg by relaxing either (or both) hips and sinking.

We also did some push hands drills where he linked what we're doing in push hands with doing the form. There is no better solo practice for push hands but to do the form correctly.

It was a great experience and I think my practice will improve as a result. I have so much to work on.

There WAS a video of him on YouTube demonstrating the form in Italy, but I can no longer view it from the US.