learning about Zhan Zhuang

[Pranaman]

send me to articles about Zhan Zhuang, even more specifically I prefer Yiquan's Zhan Zhuang. I read Sawai was told by Wang Xiangzhai about standing in a way that it was comparable with zazen meditation. Any article, i just want to learn more about my practice. oh yeah, by the way, what makes Taikiken and Yiquan different?

[.broken.]

oh yeah, by the way, what makes Taikiken and Yiquan different?

 

To put it simply, Japanese and Chinese. I know of no technical differences...

[guangping]

I was told that Kenichi Sawai was Wang Xiagzhai's jailer during the Japanese occupation of China, and this is where he learned I-chuan, which he called Taikiken when he went back to Japan and taught it.

[.broken.]

I was told that Kenichi Sawai was Wang Xiagzhai's jailer during the Japanese occupation of China, and this is where he learned I-chuan, which he called Taikiken when he went back to Japan and taught it.

 

I remember reading that Wang Xiangzhai put an advert in a newspaper asking for challengers. One of the few who took up his challenge was Kenichi Sawai. Like the other challengers, he lost. He did, however, stay around and was taken under Wang Xiangzhai's wing... he then took the art back to Japan and called it Taikiken.

 

Zhan Zhuang is translated as Standing Zen from the Japanese.

 

I don't believe everything I read. Probably for the best...

 

I did, however, find

which might shed a different opinion onto the matter. I have a pants internet connection, so have no idea what it says - lol.

 

Yours humbly,

James

[Eric23]

http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/wuji.htm

 

This is a complete site dedicated to Zhang Zhuang. The author, Michael Garafolo presents a complete bibliography, instructions and observations on standing. A great resource.

[Spectrum]

Find Master Wang's body koans. Poetry for the body. Helpful before practice.

[guangping]

I had Kenichi Sawai's book where he described meeting Wang Xiangzhai, and there was no mention of a newspaper challenge. He said that he came to China as a martial artist and asked to fight Wang because of his reputation at the time. Sawai said that he learned I-chuan from Wang and took it back to Japan.

 

I also read an account of their fight that was purported to come from a student of Wang's.

 

The timeframe when they met fits the time of the Japanese invasion of China before WW11. In order to secure the areas they occupied, they would round up the best martial artists and keep them under a form of house arrest.

 

 

Also, if you want a good reference book on the history of I-chuan, then Jan Diepersloot's book the Tao of Yiquan is very good. It's out of print, but there are some expensive copies to be had at Amazon Books.

[.broken.]

Thank you for clarfiying the matter, guangping. You have clearly done you research. I have seen many contributions you have made to this forum and look forward of those still to come!!

 

May every moment smile with you,

James

[yatzhong]

There are those who say that Sawaii never learned the real yiquan system but was taught a watered down version. There are also those who say that Sawaii actually was taught by Wang's student Yao Zhong Xun, who's son interacts with the Taikiken practitioners to this day. We'll never really know.

 

Sawaii didn't meet Wang through that newspaper interview. Sawai was a colonel in the Japanese army invloved in the Japanese occupation of China during WWII. He heard of Wang's reputation as a great fighter and wanted to meet him. I doubt that Wang had any choice in the matter. I hear that it was either take the challenge or get shot.

 

Looking at the pictures in Sawai's book and his movements in that video lead me to believe that there are a lot of technical differences in taikiken and the yiquan that I learned. The configuration of his legs in his standing postures is quite different than his yiquan counterparts. His movement is very different also.

 

Jan's book "The Tao of Yiquan" is a good read but I wouldn't recommend it for learning anything more than a brief history of yiquan.

 

small John

Edited September 22, 2008 by yatzhong