| Yang Style Taiji | Chen Style Taiji | Wu Style Taiji |
| Hao Style Taiji | Xin-Yi Quan | Ba Gua Zhang |
| Tong Bei Quan | Push Hands | Tuina/massage |
Master Liu Ji Fa began his studies in 1939 at the age of 27, with Master Pei Zu Yin, fourth generation lineage holder of the Wu Family style. A student of Master Pei¡¯s for over 40 years, he was introduced to Masters Ma Yue Liang and Wu Ying Hua by his teacher in 1980.
Following Master Pei¡¯s passing in 1985, he continued his studies in Wu style with Master Ma and Madam Wu Ying Hua.
Master Liu¡¯s speciality is the traditional Taiji form, which follows closely the teachings of Master Ma and Master Pei, and his soft, agile, lively and relaxed push hands skills.
He stresses the basic principles of Wu style in his listening hands practice as being the most important for a practitioner to understand, and without which, one cannot fully comprehend the remaining theories of Taiji. That is, ¡°Hou fa ze ren, rou hua wei zhu¡±, ¡°If the opponent doesn¡¯t move, I don¡¯t move, but if he moves, my intention and energy must move before him¡±.
Pushing hands with Master Liu, one feels that his hands are both soft and light and stick to you without any feeling of tension or resistance, and he controls your entire body, spirit and energy effortlessly.
One is bounced around like a basketball and thrown down without the least effort or physical force, all with a smile and a laugh, reminiscent of pushing hands with the late Master Wang Hao Da, also a student of Master Ma Yue Liang¡¯s.
Master Liu completely dissipates your energy into the space around him, and controls your movements completely. One feels that there is nowhere for you to attack, whilst he is at leisure to ¡°attack¡± you.
His push hands is entirely related to his Taiji, and all applications are to be found within his form.
His Dantian movements are powerful and relaxed and his internal body is alive, flexible and completely under his control. He can discharge his energy at any time or direction and gives one the sensation of being a rag doll in his hands!
He is a pleasure to be with and stresses that one should be happy every day; practice is for health and happiness.
Playing with him was just like being a child with one¡¯s favourite uncle. A privilege and a pleasure.
Master Liu comes from a traditional Gongfu family, where over four generations of his family have practiced martial arts.
Master Liu's father studied "in-house" with great Chen Style Master, Chen Fa Ke, as well as his son Chen Zhao Kui and Feng Zhi Qiang. (With whom Master Liu also studies).
Master Liu himself began his studies in Chen Style with Chen Zhao Kui in 1965, when Master Chen would come to their family home to teach him and his younger brother.
Master Liu's Chen Style is both fluid and explosive and although he is now in his 60's, his postures are still low, deep and energetic.
His "Fa Jing" and "Chin Na" are relaxed and powerful, and he uses his power with an effortless grace that is so often missing in some Chen Style Taiji practice.
He is also a very clear, generous and insightful teacher with over 50 years of experience, wisdom and knowledge in Chen Style and Martial Arts in general, gleaned both from his own practice as well as from some of the greatest Masters in Chen Style.
Master Ren is a long term student of Master Dong Bin. (See biographies on Master Dong Bin and Ren Gang under guest Yang style push hands).
Master Ren has been studying martial arts since his early childhood, training in a Shaolin system with the late Madame Wang Ju Rong ¨C daughter of Master Wang Zi Ping, both of whom he had the highest respect for.
The families lived in the same apartment block and Ren Gang regularly practiced under their tutelage, giving him a great foundation in his martial training.
He began his Taiji training in his late teens, with Master Dong Bin, who was a student of masters Dong Shi Zuo and Ye Huan Zi, themselves students of Dong Ying Jie.
Master Ren¡¯s specialities in his form and push hands are ¡°Hua Jing¡± or dissipating energy that dissipates the opponent¡¯s force, in preparation for him to ¡°Fa Jing¡± or discharge power/energy.
He says that the form, push hands and san shou are really about understanding how to utilize the ¡°shen qi¡± or the physical manifestation or expression of the spirit¡¯s energy.
He says that Taiji is not about using strength or just the physical structure of the body, but the energy and spirit, as well as the energy that surrounds our bodies, in Chinese they say:
¡°Shen qi dai gu rou¡±, that means the energy and spirit move the body.
He also trains his students how to really identify and train the waist as an energetic centre of the body, rather than just as a physical structure, so that the waist can be free and really drive the body and the energy, or in Chinese: ¡°Yao zuo zhu zai¡±. (The waist is the commander).
His form movements are soft, smooth and relaxed and his potential energy vigorous and alive. His applications are skillful and effortless and his understanding and explanation of Taiji Quan¡¯s classic theories are both profound and impressive.
He stresses that push hands are really about knowing when and where to discharge the energy and are a tool to understanding san shou or sparring, and the keys to this can be found in the form.
He is a very generous teacher, who seeks to help students really understand how to make their form work, so that they can practice meaningful Taiji Quan, rather than ¡°empty postures¡± that cannot be put into real use.
He¡¯s also a very kind and patient man, as well as a practicing Buddhist, who is always ready to help those interested in furthering their own knowledge and understanding.
Master Wang Mu Yin is the acknowledged lineage holder of Hao style, from Grandmaster Hao Shao Ru - who was extremely famous in Shanghai for his push hands skill.
Master Wang Mu Yin has taught extensively in Shanghai and abroad and has many international students.
Master Wang is a very patient and generous teacher, who enjoys practicing his english with his students.
He is also a very powerful push hands expert.
He has been featured in Tai Chi magazines in the USA on numerous occasions.
Master Xue comes from a long line of traditional martial arts masters and his lineage stems directly from Master Lu Song Gao.
He has been studying gongfu for almost 50 years, and started learning Xin-Yi Quan, Cha Quan and Qi Shi Quan (which are traditional forms of external martial arts from the Hui Nation) from the age of seven, from his grandfather Wang Shou Xian, who was an indoor student of Master Lu Song Gao.
After his grandfather passed on, Master Xue went on to study with his current teacher, Master Li Jun Si, who was his grandfather's "shidi" (younger gongfu brother) and himself a student of Lu Song Gao and who is now in his 90's.
Master Xue is also a master of "Yin" or "Hard" Qigong, and is the appointed Chairman of the Hard Qigong Institute. He has traveled extensively around China as well as in Japan and Singapore, demonstrating his skills at many large official exhibitions.
Master Xue has also had a very colourful career, working in films, often using his gongfu skills to great effect, as well as performing as stuntman in many movies.
He is a certified Tuina and Acupuncture Chinese doctor, and worked in Shanghai's famous Shu Guang Hospital, a Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital, for many years, using Qigong and Tuina to treat patients.
His emphasis in practicing martial arts is to improve the health and well-being and to be able to defend oneself.
Master Xue is a very knowledgeable, diligent and earnest teacher, who sincerely wants students to learn the real essence of his art. His main aim is to teach students how to gain good health and to be able to defend themselves with confidence.
He is also a very kind and cultured man, with a vast range of experience in martial arts gained over many years of research and practice.
Master Xue's 10 Animal Xin-Yi (Heart and Mind boxing) is characterized by explosive "Fa Jing" and dynamic whole body power, as well as distinct Yin and Yang, Gang/Rou (hard and soft) differentiation.
Master Wang, who¡¯s now in his mid-fifties, began his martial arts training at the age of 14, learning ¡°Pu Dong Xiao Dao Hui¡±.
This is a very traditional style dating back to the Qing Dynasty.
The ¡°Xiao Dao Hui¡± was an organization that fought to usurp the then ¡°Qing¡± dynasty emperor.They customarily employed a spear, topped with a long blade, which differed in length for males and females.
At the age of 19, Master Wang began studying Hsing-Yi Quan from Master Deng Fu Xing, who
remains his teacher to this day. One of Master Deng¡¯s teachers was Jiang Rong Jiao, also
based in Shanghai.
Master Wang is a very traditional teacher, and follows the principles and teaching methods
handed down by his teachers and their teachers before them.
He is a very honest and kind man, whose aim in teaching Hsing-Yi is to preserve the richness
and integrity of the art and to promote health and well-being amongst his students, as well
as a sense of honour and respect for traditional Wushu.
He also specializes in Hsing-Yi weapons forms and teaches several of the rarer weapons forms to his students who regularly participate in traditional wushu competitions and demonstrations.
He has been awarded the certificate of ¡°International Outstanding Contributor to Chinese
Wushu¡± by the American Asian Federation and International Martial Arts Federation, for his
diligence and commitment to preserving the traditional customs and teachings of martial arts.
We first met him in 2000, when my husband Rey was practicing in the local park and Master
Wang came to talk to him.
Sifu Wang invited Rey to come and study Hsing-Yi, and commenced to teach him the form and basics.
He is a very clear and generous teacher and my husband thoroughly enjoyed training with
Master Wang and his ShiXiong (brothers), all of whom welcomed him into their group.Since Rey¡¯s passing, Master Wang and all of his family have welcomed me into their home and
treated me just as a little sister.
They have been and continue to be some of the dearest friends I have here in Shanghai, and
people to whom I am eternally grateful for all their kindness and concern.
They are truly genuine friends, and a real treasure.
Master Wu Mao Gui, who was featured recently in UK'S "Qi" Magazine and the US magazine "Tai Chi", is one of the most famous martial artists in Shanghai.
One of Shanghai's highest level Tong Bei Quan practitioners, his "San Da" or sparring applications are crisp, clean, relaxed and effortless, but extremely powerful and penetrating!
His instruction is always very clear and precise, and his speciality is to make sure that students fully understand the information taught.
Master Wu recently held several very successful and well received seminars in Germany and has many international students, he'll be returning to Germany again this October.
As well as being an excellent teacher, he is also one of the nicest and most generous people I have met in Shanghai, valuing honour and integrity not money and fame.
Master Wu follows the teaching methods laid down by his teachers and seeks to keep the traditions and specialities of his art intact and endeavours to pass genuine skills and understanding onto his students.
I feel honoured to call him a friend.
Master Dong Bin is a student of Masters Dong Shi Zuo and Ye Huan Zi, both of whom were long term students of Dong Ying Jie.
Master Dong Bin, who is now in his 80's, is part of that older generation of masters that have seen and experienced not only a life that is completely outside what the modern generation can understand, but has witnessed and studied a level of martial arts that we can barely imagine.
Pushing hands with Master Dong, one feels that one touches 'nothing', his body has no tension and it is a fluid entity that dissipates one's own force and turns one into a solid, hesitant, spent mass which has no root and which he easily brushes aside. He has truly mastered the concept of "Using four ounces to overcome a thousand pounds".
His ethos, is that one should not pursue riches and fame, but endeavour to be happy and share one's knowledge and wisdom with others.
He is a living example of this, refusing to accept money or gifts, whilst giving so generously of himself and his art. He has made me feel a part of the family, for which I am truly grateful.
He is also a very modest and wonderful person, who dismisses his own skills, both in his Taiji form, (which is a joy to watch) and in his push hands and san shou.
One feels privileged and delighted to just be with him.
Master Ren Gang, who is a long term student of Master Dong Bin, is also a great push hands expert.
Recently featured in the UK'S Qi magazine, his push hands and form closely follow the principles laid down in the classics, of the weak overcoming the strong, and using the energy and the spirit to guide the movements, not physical force.
His speciality, like Master Dong's, is "Hua Jing" or the ability to digest or dissipate an opponent's force, turning their "Yang" into "Yin", thus negating their power, and then releasing his own energy and power. ("Fa Jing").
His explanation and understanding of the classic Taiji texts are extremely clear, and he is able to not only explain their meaning but demonstrate them as well. His ability is far beyond his years, and how one imagines "real" Taiji should be played.
He is a very patient and generous teacher, and always endeavours to ensure that the students truly understand and appreciate the real essence of Taiji and Internal Arts.
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE ORGANIZERS
In this day and age of free spirit, free trade and of opening up, we hope the martial arts world can also keep pace with the fast development of cultural exchange and communication.
This way everyone wins; teachers and students alike.
As Master Wu Mao Gui says,"Wushu has no country; it is a part of Chinese Culture, but it belongs to the world".
Double Dragon Alliance hopes that in the future everybody can benefit from this genuine Chinese treasure, in a spirit of friendliness, cooperation, tolerance and generosity.
Rose Oliver - Director, Double Dragon Alliance