Chen Style

Tai Chi

Remembering Grandmaster Chen Zhaokui

In 1965 Master Chen decided to go back to his home village to further develop his skills. Master Chen’s father, Chen Fa Ke, taught him that practicing empty hand technique is enough. So Chen never learned weapons forms from his father. Master Chen decided to learn all of the weapons forms from his half-brother, Chen Zhao Pei. The purpose of his trip back home was to complete the learning of weapons. Master Chen left Chen village after learning all the weapons forms from Chen Zhao Pei. Chen Zhao Pei was another very influential figure in the history of Chen style Tai Chi. He learned from his Great Uncle, Chen Fake (Master Chen’s father) Chen Zhao Pei was another 18th generation lineage holder. In 1928 Chen Fa Ke was invited by the famous Chinese Doctors Le You Sun and Le You Tu brothers to teach Tai Chi in Beijing. Chen Fake accepted and took Chen Zhao Pei with him. They accepted numerous challenges and in 17 days of continuous challenges nobody could beat them. This made them famous.
In 1930 the mayor of Nanking, Wai Tao Ming, was attracted by their fame and invited them to teach in Nanking. Grandmaster Chen Zhao Pei became honorary professor of the Central Martial Arts Institute in Nanking. In 1942 he was invited to Xian. In 1946, after the war against Japan was won, he was invited to teach at the Luo Yang Military Center. In 1948 he went to Zheng Chou. In 1960 he was named to the
Martial Arts Hall of Fame by the All China Martial Arts Committee.

When Chen Zhao Pei retired in 1964 he went back to Chen village. When he realized that no one was ready to succeed him for his family art he began to worry that his art would die out. He used his own money to open a martial arts school. Some of his students include the most famous Chen stylists in the world today. For example, Chen Zheng Lei, Wang Xian, Zhu Tin Cai, Chen Xiao Wang and others were all his students. Some people thought that he must be crazy to throw away his money teaching these students. He however, understood the importance of training the next generation to succeed him.

During the Cultural Revolution both Chen and my father were both severely persecuted by the Red Guards. Both had previous ties to the Guo Min Dang ,or “National Party” and were thus treated very harshly, as was my uncle, a former general under the National Party. They were all neighbors of the same village and they were labeled “counter revolutionaries” by the Red Guards. In the winter of 1965 the Red Guards held a meeting to announce the “sins” of all these “counter revolutionaries. All three were brought onto a stage and a 100 kilogram weight was tied around my father’s and Chen Zhao Pei’s necks. They had to stand there with their heads lowered between their legs. Long hours of this torture made them sick. When that day was over my father went home and would have committed suicide if his family had not persuaded him not to. When Chen Zhao Pei went home he jumped into the well at his house to try to kill himself. Fortunately, his clothes got stuck on a hook protruding from the inner wall of the well and he did not die. The weather in Chen village is very cold during the winter but the well kept him warm enough to survive through the night. As a result of long night in the well he fell sick and remained a very sickly man the rest of his life.

On December 30, 1972, the Gatekeeper of Tai Chi, Chen Zhao Pei, passed away. Tradition requires that someone must succeed him as Gatekeeper. After several meetings the members of the Chen family decided to invite Chen Zhao Kui to come back to Chen village to succeed Chen Zhao Pei as Gatekeeper. This invitation was delivered personally by Wang Xian and Chen Mao Shen.

Allow me to recount a story about Master Chen Mao Shen. While I was still learning Tai Chi from Grandmaster Wang Xian I had heard of Grandmaster Chen Mao Shen. Therefore I was longing to learn from Chen Mao Shen also. Because my father was an acquaintance of Chen Mao Shen I pleaded with
my father to introduce me to him. My father knew that I had devoted myself to finding the best teachers
to learn from. So, my father took me to see Chen Mao Shen. When I met Chen Mao Shen I anxiously expressed my wish to learn from him. Chen Mao Shen told my father “Brother Cheng, I have not accepted any students since returning from Beijing. How about this: Let Jincai continue to learn from Wang Xian and I will come by and see how he is progressing. Then I will decide whether or not I want to accept him as my student.” True to his word, Grandmaster Chen Mao Shen went to Wang Xian’s school to watch me practice. At the time I was practicing with other students. Chen Mao Shen watched me for a while and left without saying a word. I told my father what had happened and he went to see Chen Mao Shen. Chen Mao Shen told my father that I could go to his house to learn every month during the time that there was no moonlight. I learned from Chen Mao Shen secretly after that for several years. Even Wang Xian did not know that I was learning from Chen Mao Shen.

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