Classes on Swimming Dragon Chuan, Sword or Liu He Ba Fa
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For Private Classes, please check with liping@qidragon.com for availability
Taichi/Qigong private class: $120/hr
Small Group for 2-3 maximum: $85 per person/hr
Taichi 1: Taiyi Swimming Dragon Chuan 太乙游龙拳
(a unique Taichi Qigong combination form)
Taiyi You Long Gong or Taiyi Swimming Dragon Chuan is a family tradition. It consists mainly three dynamic practices which are Taiyi Swimming Dragon Quan, Taiyi Riding the Wind Sword, Taiyi 72 Closed Hands besides the Taiyi Walking Gong, Taiyi Blocking the Mountain Staff and Taiyi White Crane Gong. Its static practice is called Taiyi Tortoise Breathing Gong.
Taiyi Swimming Dragon Chuan 太乙游龙拳 is Taoist Master Yu Anren’s family heirloom, originating from Wudang Mountain in China.
The Book “Who’s who in Chinese Martial Arts” has the following report on Master Yu Anren”
“Yu Anren (1940- ), heir of Wudang Taiyi Swimming Dragon Chuan,
is from Guilin in Guangxi province. His family originated from Pingjiang county in Hunan province.
Yu learned Taiyi Swimming Dragon Chuan techniques and principals, which were only passed to the family members, from his grandfather Yu Shao. Yu Anren broke the family’s rule when he compiled and donated to the state, the Taiyi Swimming Dragon Chuan, Taiyi Riding the Wind Sword and the other conventions of boxing and weaponry from the Taiyi Men family. When Yu Anren took part in the Changsha Regional Martial Arts Competition in 1984, he performed the Swimming Dragon Chuan for the first time and won first place for internal style martial art. Since then, his form has spread quickly and the number of followers has reached several thousands.
Yu Anren was invited to Hong Kong twice to teach his art. In 1988 he took part in the National Martial Arts Exhibition and Exchange Meet in Jinzhou and performed the Swimming Dragon Chuan and some swordmanship.
Currently he is preparing materials from the Taiyi Men techniques – boxing and weaponry routines – for publication. he is both the coach and a standing member of the Changsha Martial Arts Association and a standing member of the Hunan Martial Arts Association. He has also invented a Calendar of the Body’s Vital Rhythms chart which has been patented.”
Comments on Master Yu Anren by Kenneth Cohen
“Master Yu Anren’s extraordinary, gold-medal ability in the Chinese healing and martial arts is matched only by his depth as a scholar and human being. He is one of those rare, true masters who not only walks his talk, but lives it, in the finest traditional Taoism.” KENNETH COHEN, M.A. Qi Gong Master, author of Qi Gong Meditations
Story about Master Yu Anren in Kenneth Cohen’s book ” The Way of Qigong” Page 38
“Increasing the reserve of Jing stimulates hair growth. The hair also has a tendency to return to its original color. Qigong master Yu An-ren was imprisoned for several years during China’s Cultural Revolution. He was in his thirties at the time. During his incarceration, the center of his head developed a spot of gray, which quickly spread, until all of his hair turned silver. At the same time, his spine began to hunch over. His resting heart rate was 90-100 beats per minute, jumping to 120 if he climbed a flight of stairs. On his release, Yu began to practice qigong intensively in order to regain his health. Now at age fifty-seven, he has a full head of black hair, a straight flexible spine, and a resting heart rate of seventy.”
What does Wikipedia say about Taiyi Swimming Dragon Quan?
Swimming dragon or Tai yi you long gong is the name of an Neijia (internal or soft style) Taoist martial art form that has been practiced in China for hundreds of years. It is Taoist Master Yu Anren’s family heirloom, originating from Wudang Mountain in China. It combines elements found in Qigong, Tai Chi Chuan, and Yogic stretching emphasizing both the inner and outer practice. Today it is taught in Hunan (China) by Zhu Mingyuan,Chen Cui’e and Tang Saixian; in Melbourne(Australia) by Li Yongliang and in San Francisco(USA) by Liping Julia Zhu.
Here you can watch Liping on Youtube demonstrating Swimming Dragon Form 1 in 1997 in San Francisco
Testimonials
I met Liping when she had just arrived from China. It was one morning in Golden Gate Park. Crossing the street into the park, I saw a young woman doing a martial art form that combined so very beautifully strength and elegance. It was one of those rare moments in life when time seems to stop. Maybe it was the gentle flow of the swimming dragon form, so gentle, almost a whisper in the wind. Certainly it had to do with Liping’s natural grace. Whatever it was, I yearned to know the swimming dragon form and Liping was kind enough to teach it to me. She was such a good teacher, patient, caring and yet making sure that I would progress as much as I could, according to my abilities.
I no longer live in San Francisco, but I carry the swimming dragon with me wherever I go. It has made a big difference in my life. I thank Liping for this gift she has and shares with such warmth.
David Berger
I practiced Tai Yi Swimming Dragon Quan with Liping for about a year. As a Zen Buddhist practitioner I was eager to bring movement into my rather sedentary daily meditation practice. I originally intended for Tai Yi to be a supplement to my sitting practice, bringing movement back into my life. To an extent it was just this, but what startled me was the profound mindfulness and meditative quality that permeates the practice of Tai Yi. It became clear to me as I continued practicing with Liping that Tai Yi is itself a meditation practice and as I began to loosen my grip on the duality of movement and stillness my understanding of not only my Tai Yi practice, but also my sitting practice expanded. I found myself on day four of a sesshin, sitting in an upright posture and noticing my complete solid mountain stillness begin to flow. My ideas of who I am, how I hold myself, and how I impact others, have all been affected by my time with Liping. She is an authentic, dedicated teacher and will meet you where you are and stay with you as you grow. If you haven’t met this woman, you need to!
Will Fuller
Taichi Warm-up Exercises
Click to get a copy of
taichi-warmup.pdf
Taichi 2: Liu He Ba Fa 华岳心意六合八法拳
HISTORY
Liu He Ba Fa (六合八法) also called Six Harmonies Eight Methods, water boxing, Temple Style Tai Chi, or Hua Yue (the mountain with which it is associated) is a form of internal Chinese martial arts.
Its principles are associated with a ‘water’ exercise method said to pre-date the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The legendary Daoist sage Chen Tuan 陈搏 (or Chen Po, Chen Xi Yi, Chen Hsi I) (871 – 989) is credited with its origin and development. He was associated with the Hua Shan Daoist Monastery on Mount Hua in Shanxi Province; its counterpart rival is the Daoist Temple in the Wudang Mountains.
The Liu He Ba Fa form was taughtin the late nineteen thirties inShanghai and Nanjing by Wu Yihui 吴翼翚 (1887-1961). It is said he had learned the art in three variants from three teachers: Yan Guoxing 阎国兴 and Chen Guangdi 陈光第 from the province of Henan, and Chen Helu 陈鹤侣 from Beijing. Wu Yihui combined these three variants to teach collectively with addended exercises.
Many of Wu Yihui’s students had martial arts backgrounds and modified the form to merge it with their own knowledge. Therefore, the modern form has elements of other martial arts such as Xingyi Quan, Baguazhang, Taiji Quan and Yi Quan.
A simplified lineage chart of people who have contributed to the development of Liu He Ba Fa and passed it on to Master Yun:
Chen Tuan → Li Dongfeng → Song Yuantong → Chen Guandi
Yan Guoxing}
Chen Helu
→ Wu Yihui → Zhang Changxin
Liang Qizhong } → Yun Yinsen
Lu Guiyao
六合
Six Harmonies
一、体合于心
Body harmonizes with the Mind
二、心合于意
Mind harmonizes with the Yi (intent)
三、意合于气
Yi harmonizes with the Qi
四、气合于神
Qi harmonizes with the Shen (spirit)
五、神合于动
Shen harmonizes with the Motion
六、动合于空
Motion harmonizes with Emptiness
八法
Eight Methods
一气、行气集神
Qi (Move Qi concentrate Shen)
二骨、骨劲内敛
Bone (Draw strength into the bone)
三形、象形模仿
Form (Imitate animal form)
四随、圆通策应
Follow (Freely adapt to any situation)
五提、顶悬虚空
Lift (Top of the head floats in the empty sky)
六还、往来返复
Return (Shifting back and forth)
七勒、定静守虚
Halt (Maintain stillness attending to the Void)
八伏、隐现藏机
Hide (Secretly show the hidden Intent)
Master Yun Yinsen
BIOGRAPHY
MASTER YUN YINSEN 恽银森 (1934 –), a nativeof the city Shanghai, China, started internal martial arts in Yang Style Taiji in his early forties. Since 1980 he studied with Zhang Changxin in Six Harmonies Eight Methods or Liu He Ba Fa and Yi Quan Zhan Zhuang (Standing Pose). Zhang Changxin was one of the top students of Wu Yihui, founder of the Liu He Ba Fa form. In 1982 he studied Yi Chuan Zhan Zhuang with Han Xinqiao and furthered his study of Liu He Ba Fa with two other famous masters, Lu Guiyao and Liang Qizhong. In 1992 he became Deputy Secretary General of Anhui Province Six Harmonies Eight Methods Association. In 1997 he received the National Sports Association second degree master’s certificate. Since 1997 he has been invited to performances and lectures internationally. He was invited to Russia in 1999, to London in 2002 and 2003 and he taught the Taichi Summer Camp in La Honda USA in 2006 and 2007. In 2006 Master Yun became Member of WACIMA (Worldwide Association for Chinese Internal Martial Arts) and was appointed Head Coach of Liu He Ba Fa. Master Yun, now in his seventies, is still very active teaching and promoting this ancient art nationally and internationally.
Liu He Ba Fa PDF Brochure
Liu He Ba Fa Brochure
Brochure information compiled and translated by Liping Julia Zhu www.qidragon.com
Edited by Jaime Cobb, graphic layout by Catherine Nakamura
in June 2008 USA
Youtube Video of Master Yun Yinsen doing Liu He Ba Fa Part 1
Youtube Video of Master Yun Yinsen doing Liu He Ba Fa Part 2
Master Yun’s Drills at Youtube
Informal Youtube Video of Liping doing Liu He Ba Fa in Golden Gate Park
Beginner Taichi Class on Liu He Ba Fa
Continuous Study
10 Week Begginer’s Taichi Workshop on Liu He Ba Fa form,
Currently no class. If you are interested in this form, please email to notify your interest.
Cost: $225 due at the first class of each new series.
Location: Gruenwald Press, 1663 Market St, entrance on Plum Street. Door code 352
Taichi 3: Taiyi Riding the Wind Sword
Taiyi Riding the Wind Sword is the brother form of Master Yu’s family heirloom – Taiyi Swimming Dragon Chuan (hand form). Originated from Wudang mountain in China, it is a very rare, uniquely beautiful and energetic style. No previous experience necessary. You need to get your own Taichi sword. Check Brenda Lai supplies in the mission (around 30th st on Mission).
Sundays 6pm – 7:30pm at ODC Dance Commons studio 351 Shotwell St (17 & 18th St), Drop-ins ok. Please check with ODC to see if this class is currently on.
Taichi 4: Yang Style Taichi by Master Yu Xiaolin
Yang Style Taichi Origin:杨式太极拳的由来
Yang Family Taichi was created in the middle of 19th century. Even though it is less than 150 years old, it has spread very widely all over the world. The founder of Yang Style Taichi was Yang Luchan (1799-1872) who went to Chen Jia Gou three times for total 18 years in order to study the secret art from the famous Chen TaiChi family. His sincerity moved the Chen Master and was taught the full secret of the Chen family. After his mastering of the Chen Taichi art, He developed his own family style.
Yang Banhou (1837-1892) the second son of Yang Luchan studied from very young age and achieved very high Kungfu. His younger brohter Yang Jianhou (1839-1917) also became a great Taichi practitioner of the family. Among the third generation of the Yang Family, Yang Chengfu(1883-1936) the son of Yang Jianhou was the one who made Yang Taichi as an even more established form. He taught many high level disciples such as Tian Zhaolin, Fu Zhongwen, Dong Yingjie, Cheng Manching, Zhu Guiting and many others. Orginated from Yang Style Taichi, the later varied Taichi styles such as Wu 武 Style, Hao Style, Sun Style and Wu吴style thus developed.
Master Yu Xiaolin: 郁小林大师简介
Master Yu (now 70 years old) has studied with many famous masters in China, including Chen Style Taichi Master Chen Zhaokui and Master Xu Xiufeng. He was very well trained in all the major Yang traditional forms performed by Yang Banhou, Yang Jianhou, Yang Chengfu. He was also trained by Wu Style Taichi master. MasterYu Xiaolin as a living example of a real and rare Taichi master was featured in October issue of Taichi Magazine in U.S.A. in 2008.
Liping’s Taichi Bio
Liping started her Taichi training with Master Yu Anren in 1990 and studied intensively with Master Yu the family style Taiyi Swimming Dragon Chuan. She met Master Yun Yinsen in 2006 and started to study Liu He Ba Fa. After her recent three month intensive study in Shanghai with Master Yun, she was authorized to teach Liu He Ba Fa in the States. Liping has been studying regularly and privately with Chen Style Taichi master George Xu in SF since 2001, who has become her main training teacher in internal martial art outside China. Since 2008 Liping has also been training with Yang/Chen Taichi Master Yu Xiaolin.
Other Taichi teachers that have influenced Liping are: Swimming Dragon Taichi brothers Li Yongliang (Taiyi Riding the Wind Sword) in Melbourne, Australia and Zhu Mingyuan (Taiyi 72 Closed Hands) in Changsha, China; Da Chen Quan or Yi Quan Master Li Zhaoshan in Xingyan, China; Yang/Chen Taichi Master Jiang Zongbao and Chen Taichi Master Jin Zhenliang in Shanghai, China; Guan Ping Taichi Master Kimo Lepree in SF, USA.
