Media - Articles - Interview with Grand Master Hsu Yee Chung
Grand Master Hsu Yee Chung is Master Law Lun Yeung’s teacher, who in turn is Sifu Morgan Buchanan’s teacher.
Written and translated from Chinese to English by Massimiliano Biondi, CMC (Cheng Man Ching) Tai Chi Italy.
One of the main aims of our journey in Taiwan is to meet Grandmaster (GM) Hsu Yee Chung to interview him about Cheng Man Ching’s (CMC) Tai Chi Chuan (TCC).
GM Hsu is one of the most authoritative and skilful TCC teachers in Taiwan. He is a man who is highly respected and esteemed for his humane and professional qualities. GM Hsu isn’t only a famous TCC master, he also had a brilliant career in journalism that took him to be the editor of one of the most important newspapers of his country.
But the name of GM Hsu can’t be separated from the great personage that has the most profound influence in his life: Prof. Cheng Man Ch’ing, one of the greatest TCC masters of the last century, and famous painter, chinese traditional doctor, poet and calligraphy artist. In fact, GM Hsu was one of the best of Prof. CMC’s students, and possibly the closest one to him. GM Hsu spreads the Professor’s teachings along with the other two great masters of equal lineage on the island: GM Chu Hong Ping and GM Liu Si Heng. But among the three masters, GM Hsu is perhaps the person who should be considered as Prof. CMC’s real successor because he studied with him for 26 years and, at his death, he took the direction of Shih Chung School of Taipei, the TCC school founded by Prof. CMC in 1949.
GM Hsu has practiced TCC for 56 years and for more than 3 decades he is an indefaticable promoter of CMC style, and today he is considered to have the most authoritative historical memory of Professor’s teaching. If someone wants to ask some questions about CMC Tai Chi Chuan, in the world there is nobody more informed than GM Hsu, in fact he has directly lived all the history of this style from 1949 until today. To best understand the importance of this teacher, we must remember that GM Hsu was recently invited to the People’s Republic of China to introduce again CMC Tai Chi Chuan style that was, for political reasons, absent in the mainland from 1949. It’s really a great privilege to have an interview with GM Hsu, and we take advantage of his kind availability to ask him several questions about CMC Tai Chi Chuan.
1 – Master, which are your main memories about your teacher, prof. CMC?
Professor Cheng was a respected elder who was held in awe. He looked very serious but was kind to people that he came into contact with. He was well read in the Chinese Classics and advocated Confucian and Taoist culture. He hated evil as much as one hates an enemy. The Professor didn’t fear the influential nor did he speak recklessly. He studied diligently and was honest, stuck to justice despite pressure and throughout his lifetime took the path of the golden mean of the Confucian School. Professor Cheng mastered poetry, calligraphy, Tai Chi Chuan, medicine, painting and was respectfully called the Master of Five Excellences.
2. – A lot of TCC experts believe that Prof. CMC was one of the best TCC masters of the last century. Could you tell us some anectodes about Prof. CMC’s skill in TCC?
According to my memory, there was one day when Professor Cheng was teaching students push hands while simultaneously talking with a visitor. I thought to myself that although his skill was high, it might be possible to make a sneak attack so it wouldn’t be possible for him to react in time. I made my move but before being able to touch even his clothing, I was thrown away. I hit the wall quite hard and went into convulsive shock. Luckily, Professor Cheng was a Chinese Physician and immediately used Tui Na (massage) to help heal my injury. After a while I recovered.
As you can see, the Professor’s skill was of an advanced level. His ability of listening to
strength (Ting Chin) was quite keen. While meeting an opponent’s attack, neutralizing
and issuing strengh (Fa) are completed in one breath. This is a naturally occurring self defense reaction.
3.– Neverthless there are some critical persons that say: “How was possible for Prof. CMC, that studied with Grandmaster Yang Cheng Fu only 7 years and was always busy with his jobs of doctor, poet and painter, to reach the same high level in TCC like the other GM Yang’s famous students and sons that studied with him for a longer time?” Which is your opinion?
Even with his heavy workload on many different fields , he was still was able to find
the time to practice Tai Chi Chuan. To a greater degree his natural gifts surpassed others
such as his capacity for understanding concepts that can be seen from his sayings and
writings.
Examples of this include: Practice in the broken time, Swimming on Dry Land, The Equal
Importance of Heart and Spine, Strength and Physics, Beautiful Lady’s Hand, Suffering
Loss, etc.. . Actually those theories have never been addressed by other Tai Chi masters.
4 –Did Prof. CMC ever talk to his students about the legendary skill of his teacher, GM Yang Cheng Fu and his training with him?
Grandmaster Yang was sincere but was not a very good speaker. He wasn’t one for talking and laughing either. Often he used only one word “Sung” (relax) to encourage his students. Everyday, Master Yang repeated at least ten times, “Relax, Relax, Relax
completely! Otherwise he said, “Not relaxed, Not relaxed. If you are not relaxed, then you are like a punching bag.” The other secrets of footwork, eyes, body, hands and methods were taught to Professor Cheng. In 1934, Professor helped Grandmaster Yang edit and publish, “The Complete Theory and Practice of Tai Chi Chuan”. It was easy to tell that Grandmaster Yang regarded Professor Cheng very highly by the quality of the art that he transmitted to him.
5. –Apart from GM Yang Cheng Fu, did Prof. CMC study TCC with other teachers too?
Professor Cheng’s only teacher was Yang Cheng Fu. In addition he also consulted with
his fellow classmates and other teachers with the hope of becoming even better at Tai Chi Chuan.
6. – Which are the main characteristics and advantages of CMC style?
Professor Cheng was unique in that he was a scholar of many different fields of study,
Chinese Medicine, painting, etc. This had never occurred before and he was able to
attract many intellectuals to join the study of Tai Chi Chuan. His book, “Master Cheng’s
New Method of Tai Chi Self Cultivation”, with pictures of him demonstrating the
different postures, foot diagrams with detailed explanation has helped to promote the
essence of Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan. Professor has shown what he has gained from his
intense study of this art and how it relates to philosophy, medicine as well as physics
(”Master Cheng’s Thirteen Treatises on Tai Chi Chuan”). He has shared with everyone
these treasures without holding anything back. This is something that no other book on
Tai Chi Chuan has done before.
Generally speaking, Cheng’s Tai Chi Chuan requires that the form be done while the
body is level and the spine is plumb erect, the center of the substantial foot (bubbling well point) should adhere uniformly to the ground, the feet, legs, and waist must act as one unit, the internal and external must be relaxed, performing the form must be like moving clouds and flowing water (naturally and smoothly).
7. –And which are the main differences compared to traditional Yang style?
Cheng’s Tai Chi Chuan belongs to the Yang style. In order to conform to the demands
of the times, the repetitions were deleted but the essentials remained in the form. The
most important point is for the movements to be executed properly according to Tai Chi
Theory.
8. – Some people find fault with 37 CMC Form saying it’s too short and it doesn’t contains some basic posture of Yang style. Which is your opinion about that?
The traditional form consisting of 108 moves is too long in duration. In today’s busy
modern world, it is difficult to find the time to learn the long form. Consequently,
Professor Cheng had the vision to keep the essentials while shortening the form and making it easier to learn for everyone. If one feels that the form is too short or has not
exercised enough, they can always perform it a few more times. In addition certain
postures in the long form, such as Needle at the Sea Bottom, are not suitable medically
for some peoples and have been deleted.
9. –Regarding 37 CMC Form, GM Chu Hong Ping in his interview says that none of the other TCC forms emphasize Song (relax) as deeply as the CMC Form. Do you agree with him?
I agree with Chu Hong Pin.
10. – Could you tell us something about CMC Tai Chi Sword, form and fencing?
The form, the sword form and push hands are all consistent in that they all are based
on the foundation of the form. There are no exceptions with either push hands or sword
fencing. Adhere (nian), join (lian), stick to(tie) and follow(sui) without letting go or
resisting. All of this must be consistent with the requirement to relax (sung), sink down (chen) and to have a flowing circular movement with no breaks or jagged edges. The body moves as a unit (all its parts connected).
11. –Watching the famous vide of Prof. CMC we can see that, when he is older, he performs TCC Form and Tui Shou in a different way compared to when he was younger. You studied with Prof. CMC for 26 years; Do you think there was an evolution and improvement in his TCC?
The differences from Professor Cheng’s form from the 1950’s to the 1970’s can be
likened to Chinese calligraphy. When practicing standard script one should strive to be
both exact and neat. Later with the cursive script one should be able to do anything
one’s heart dictates.
12. –What is the situation of CMC style in Taiwan today?
There are quite a number of Tai Chi Chuan styles being practiced in Taiwan today.
After doing some checking, it appears that more people are studying Cheng’s Tai Chi
Chuan than any other style because it is both easier to study and faster to obtain results.
In Northern Taiwan, Professor Cheng established the Shr Jung Association some fifty six
years ago. Under my management and with the contributions of the faculty, thousands of students every year are studying the form, push hands, sword and knife as well as
having lectures on Tai Chi Theory. The development of Cheng’s Tai Chi Chuan in
Taiwan is flourishing day by day.
13. – Some months ago, you were invited bymainland China to re-introduceProfessor’s Tai Chi. How was your teaching received by Chinese TCC students?
There is no one in China currently teaching Cheng’s Tai Chi Chuan. After numerous
invitations to visit as well as making many copies of Professor’s book available for their
study, the sport’s authorities there have agreed that the detailed explanations of both the
form and theory are brilliant. Therefore, the Beijing University of Physical Education
and other related organizations asked whether it would be possible to print and publish
“Master Cheng’s New Method of Tai Chi Chuan Self Cultivation” in China. In addition,
Nan Kai University in Tianjin currently has a course within their curriculum to research
Cheng’s Tai Chi Chuan. We are currently in discussion with other areas in China about setting up new programs.
14. – Finally, one question to help Italian TCC students to improve themselves: In Tui Shou (partnered sensing hands practice), most people have problems with Lu (Rollback) and Peng (Ward-off). Could you tell us how to perform Lu to neutralize a push using the softness, and how we can release the internal strength (Fa Chin) using Peng?
In order to increase the effectiveness of one’s Tai Chi Chuan, you must proceed from
the fundamentals. It is said, “The power should be rooted in the feet, released through
the legs, directed by the waist and manifested through the fingers.” Each movement of
Peng(Ward-off), Lu(Rollback), Ji(Press) , An(Push) must be relaxed and yield in order to
achieve the proper effect.
Therefore one yields before a force taking advantage of an opponent’s momentum and
adds a pull or push to uproot him. “Four ounces can deflect a thousand pounds.” One
must practice with a partner in order to realize this point. Treatise Number Seven,
Strength and Physics from “Cheng’s Thirteen Treatises on Tai Chi Chuan” has an
explanation about this point.
We thank warmly GM Hsu for this very interesting interview. We would like to remind the reader that GM Hsu will be in Italy for the first time during the 3rd International Tai Chi Chuan Cheng Man Ching Forum in 2006, where he’ll be one of the main guest stars. Don’t miss this great event!
