Quote) Apprentice in the land of China, blending many martial arts essences; Carry forward Taiji culture in a foreign country, with fragrant peaches and plums under the door; After the Wenchuan earthquake, he resolutely returned to China and traveled all the year round to spread the spirit of Zen martial arts. He is generous to others without losing his childlike heart, knowledgeable and tireless in teaching people; He is the representative of "Wu Mingxin Technique" and "Ming Xin Chan" and the earliest advocate of Tai Ji Chuan. He firmly believes that the long-standing martial arts culture accumulated in the Millennium can cultivate the body and mind and transform the innate temperament. It can benefit the country and the people and improve the quality of the nation.
Cheng is an overseas missionary.
An exclusive interview with Oriental Medical 20 12No. 1 1
Text: Wu Hao
(text)
Mr. Cheng is quite old.
As many people know, Mr. Cheng has heard of it from his friends and admired his martial arts and Zen. Anyone who meets the process teacher will be attracted by his kind and atmospheric personality. He always humbly said to everyone, "Call me a plain needle." When it comes to martial arts and Zen, Mr. Cheng will give everything to each other without reservation. In his own words, "culture is the public instrument of the world, and man is the Taoist instrument. We are all Taoist instruments that inherit traditional culture and have awareness tools, that's all. "
Overseas disciple Tao Li Fenfang
Although Mr. Cheng calls himself a "student" modestly, in fact, many of his disciples who teach in Europe and America have already got married. Speaking of the spread of China Wushu in the United States, Mr. Cheng couldn't help feeling: "bloom inside the wall is fragrant outside the house." . In the Chinese community in North America, most Chinese prefer to let their children learn karate and taekwondo in order to adapt to the mainstream American society. In most non-Chinese communities, since the 1970s, traditional Wushu has been regarded as the essence of oriental culture and respected by the mainstream society. Among Mr. Cheng's disciples, there are many celebrities in the western world.
Many years ago, Mr. Cheng taught at new york University of Naturopathy, and served as the director of the Oriental Sports Department of the Graduate School of Traditional Chinese Medicine (formerly known as nycollege.edu). During his teaching, he combined traditional martial arts with meridians and meditation principles of traditional Chinese medicine and successfully entered the required courses of American graduate schools. This rigorous martial arts course allows many students to change their temperament, transform themselves and develop their potential in a short time. Many English media have also reported this, and set up a new professional certification project and evaluation system "Tai Ji Chuan Health Coach of Traditional Chinese Medicine".
There is an old saying in China that it is better to teach people to fish than to teach them to fish. After Mr. Cheng left this university, this systematic course is still in good operation until now. At present, Mr. Cheng's disciples are all over Europe and America, and there are more than 30 professional martial arts, Tai Chi, yoga and meditation centers. Most of his disciples were advanced in karate and taekwondo, and later changed to China Wushu with Mr. Cheng.
Former Canadian Taekwondo national team leaders John Millio, Ray Longo, Luke Cummo and many other famous professional fighting coaches in the eastern United States have all studied under Cheng. Among many American disciples and students, many are national routines, pushers and even UFC free fighting champions, including Jim Ransom and Narcyz Latecki. Narcyz, a teacher, and two outstanding students came to China on behalf of the American national team for many times, beating top players from many countries including China reported in English martial arts periodicals such as Kung Fu and Tai Chi, and winning the championship.
Enlightenment teacher martial arts Zhuo Qun
Mr. Cheng's ancestral home is the hometown of Hebei Wushu. He emigrated to America with his parents since he was a child. After studying many overseas martial arts systems systematically in his spare time, he returned to China for further study many times. Now, under the fragrance of peaches and plums, I am also learning from many masters. Recalling his own course of studying, Mr. Ping Zhen treated teachers with the teaching method of "disregarding the human law" of Zen: teachers are all human beings, but some of the spirits and qualities passed down are beyond the individual. One of the representatives of Xingyiquan in Shanxi Chepai, Mr. Li Tailiang, a descendant of Cheng's Eight Diagrams and Dai Xinxue, is one of Mr. Cheng's teachers. Mr. Li Tailiang used to be the general fighting coach of the Beijing Armed Police Corps, the general fighting coach of the Shaolin Monk Corps and the Sanda coach of the Beijing Wushu Team, and then moved to new york to run schools on salary.
Mr. Cheng studied under Mr. Li Tailiang, which was in the early stage of reform and opening up. In the face of this "international student", Li not only accepted the admission without doubt, but also arranged food and accommodation for him without taking a penny when his economic conditions were not plentiful. Even when penniless "American students" returned to the United States, even the "airport construction fee" was paid by Mr. Li Tailiang. Every time I think about this, Mr. Cheng always feels that he owes his teacher a lot. After many years, I still can't help but feel ups and downs. In martial arts skills, Mr. Tai Liang is a mentor who can really learn from others and blend in. What benefits Mr. Cheng most is the word "Guang".
Mr. Ye Ruichun, a famous doctor in Zhejiang Province, also had a profound influence on Cheng Xian's production. Mr. Ye Ruichun is a descendant of Mr. Ye Dami's system. Mr. Ye Dami was the founder of "Shanghai Wudang Tai Ji Chuan Club", the first Tai Ji Chuan club in China during the Republic of China. Ye's boxing combined Yang's Tai Ji Chuan, Wudang Sword and Indian Yoga, while Ye himself chose to specialize in Tai Chi and later moved to new york for salary. In Ye Shi's body, the way of "broad and precise" in boxing is vividly displayed, and this spirit has been fully exerted in teacher Cheng's later teaching.
Since then, Mr. Cheng has studied under many teachers, including representatives of military commanders, Sun Shi martial arts masters Zhang Lie, Liu Shuchun and Tong Xudong. When talking about his transformed teacher, Mr. Cheng was deeply touched, and this friendship of respecting teachers and valuing morality was beyond words. Teacher Cheng said that on his way to martial arts, too many people gave him help, which is of great significance to other people's learning in all aspects. Unfortunately, due to the limited interview, he was unable to introduce himself to reporters.
Martial arts legends are unforgettable.
Looking back on his efforts to spread martial arts culture for many years, what impressed Mr. Cheng most was his trip to Taipei in 2005, which was his first teaching experience in Taipei. At that time, Mr. Cheng was invited by the publishing house of Taiwan Province Wulin magazine and Mr. Jin Liyan, Mr. Cheng's personal bodyguard, to give lectures to many students, including Taipei Police School. Because he doesn't know much about the inheritance history of Taiwanese Wushu, Mr. Cheng feels inexplicable pressure, especially afraid of "losing face" to the masters in Chinese mainland.
The lecture in Taiwan Province Province was well received, which made Mr. Cheng truly realize the good intentions of mainland masters to inherit the essence of Wushu under the difficult external conditions for many years. What moved him even more was that man-made political factors could not hinder the exchange and spread of Wushu culture. I believe that in history, political separation is only a short moment, but cultural and spiritual exchanges have eternal significance.
Similarly, there are more examples to prove that martial arts culture is not limited by borders. Teacher Cheng combined Neijia Boxing with the traditional Chinese medicine's interpretation of Sandantian, quoted some treatment methods of modern rapid psychotherapy NLP, and constructed a set of rapid health-keeping exercise methods that can balance body, mood and thinking, and published them in mainstream American Kung Fu magazines. Nearly ten years after the publication of this article, there are still many websites reprinted and discussed, which has strengthened Mr. Cheng's confidence in promoting martial arts culture at home and abroad.
On the road of promoting Wushu culture, Mr. Cheng, as the earliest advocate in Tai Ji Chuan, paid special attention to the application of traditional Wushu in modern life, corrected unhealthy lifestyle and rebuilt health. According to the characteristics of modern people's tight time and great pressure, Mr. Cheng systematically integrated the mental methods of Chinese medicine, Taoist medicine and Tibetan medicine yoga into Yang-style, Sun-style, Wu-style and simplified Tai Ji Chuan, and compressed the movements of boxing routines into 7- 13 or even 2-3, which seemed simple, but in fact deeply integrated the boxing principles. This practice is not without reason. Sun Lutang, the founder of Taiji, changed from complexity to simplicity in his later years, mainly sitting quietly. In his later years, Ye Dami concentrated the whole Tai Chi into pure yin and pure yang.
Due to the addition of the inner method, through the personal experience of many students at home and abroad, the effect of a few minutes of exercise can exceed that of ordinary exercise for half an hour. For example, the office meditation Tai Chi in the system can effectively correct chronic strain such as shoulder, neck and waist, and the effect can be said to be very different from the popular Tai Chi transmission. Pamela Jerome, a female professor in the Department of Architecture of Columbia University in new york, often gives lectures all over the world because of her busy work. However, after staying in the hotel, the first thing on her daily schedule is always Xingyiquan standing 10 minutes of three-way Gong Zhuang to recover her strength and relieve fatigue. In new york, where "time is more expensive than money", the reason why this female professor is so addicted to martial arts culture is precisely because of her tangible interests over the years.
Have a deep understanding of the mind
Speaking of "addiction" and "obsession", who can regard the traditional martial arts culture as life like Mr. Cheng, not afraid of wandering and loneliness, and practice martial arts? Teacher Cheng knows something about Neijia Boxing and thinks that the true meaning of Neijia Boxing is "essence" and "root". Taiji, Xingyiquan and Bagua Palm, just like the relationship between Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, have their own advantages and great changes in theory and use. Just because of their different starting points, they present and display in different ways, but their fundamental qualities are all combined. Many excellent boxing methods, such as General Preparation, Quan Yi Dacheng and Liuhe Eight Methods, can deepen and develop the potential of boxing and change the temperament of boxing from "external" to "internal". Otherwise, even if it is advertised as "inner home", it can't be classified as "inner home" if it can't go beyond the acquired limitations and habits. No matter which generation of descendants he flaunts himself as "which is which", it is just "pseudo-descendants" and "pseudo-kung fu".
Compared with Waijia Boxing, Neijia Boxing has higher requirements on the basis of traditional culture and meridians of traditional Chinese medicine. During Mr. Cheng's nearly twenty years of teaching in the United States, the students who studied Neijia Boxing were mainly senior intellectuals such as psychologists and medical personnel, as well as Catholic and Christian clergy. They also studied Buddhism and Taoism. Once these people learn, they will practice for a long time, and many of them have persisted for more than ten years. Teacher Cheng has always been grateful to these disciples for their support of China traditional culture, just as these disciples appreciated China traditional culture and changed their lives.
Mr. Cheng, who regards martial arts as his life and practices diligently every day, believes that the mind of martial arts lies in the word "zhong", which means not holding two sides, and "zhong" means "harmony". This harmony is not limited to the fluency and elegance of boxing movements. She is good at opening and closing movements, which is the highest realm pursued by martial arts and even human culture: she can be gentle-"good as water"; It can also be just-"although thousands of people go"; You can also combine rigidity with softness-"defeat the enemy without fighting." Although this harmony was shaped in China, it was not limited to China culture, but was born and prospered together with the essence of all human cultures. This harmonious spirit will take the overall growth of body and mind as the carrier and serve the blueprint for the overall health of mankind. This harmonious spirit is also the "way of neutralization" advocated by Mr. Sun Lutang, a martial arts model, at the most painful and chaotic moment of the nation.
Facing the unsatisfactory aspects of modern sports and popular martial arts, looking back at the Tessa of the Chinese nation, Mr. Cheng could not help feeling deeply in his heart, and told reporters: "The basis for ancient sages to understand and improve social life is to transform personal temperament, and the real connotation of martial arts is to change temperament. From Yue Fei and Wang Yangming to Mr. Zhou Enlai, a disciple of Jinmen Bagua Palm, they are all excellent practitioners. This is a comprehensive knowledge, which needs to be guided by the "neutralization" method, physiology and psychology of TCM health preservation. Therefore, Wushu was once called "Wushu", otherwise, it is just a modern sport that is not even beautiful, destructive and consumptive, and not even "education"!
While promoting martial arts, Mr. Cheng has another identity. He is one of the few mentors who promote Zen Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism overseas. He is a second-generation disciple of virtual cloud mage and a third-generation disciple of Nona. He has served as a visiting teacher in many Buddhist and Chinese colleges. This makes Mr. Cheng's position in teaching more prominent and his understanding of martial arts culture more profound than others. "It is easy to kill a mountain thief, but difficult to kill a thief." This sentence of Mr. Yang Ming is what Mr. Cheng is most willing to quote. From the beginning, Mr. Cheng hoped that meditation would help him improve his martial arts and become a "superman". Later, he found that it was wrong, because all the pain came from his obsession with himself, and being a superman and a master was also persistent. Later, Wushu was used to assist meditation. In walking, living, sitting and lying, the essence of Zen was also experienced, joined and displayed. Today, Mr. Cheng really understands that "body and use are unique", and there is no difference between practicing boxing and meditation.
The relationship between meditation and martial arts seems mysterious, but it is the key to learning that Teacher Cheng emphasizes most. He repeatedly stressed that the biggest similarity between Wushu and meditation is the verification of Tao after two stages of "technique" and "technique" Both of them face the conflict with the fearless courage and wisdom of "there is no escape between heaven and earth" in the mutual opposition and even fierce conflict between the individual self and the external environment (subject and object), so as to resolve the conflict, thus surpassing the pain of the opposing conflict, and finally showing the realm of "unity of mind and matter" and "worry is bodhi". Due to various conditions in China Wushu field for many years, few teachers can clearly understand and master this training principle in modern times, and most of them are empty talk. When talking about the implementation of Wushu culture to specific training, Mr. Cheng always provides a simple system or method from the height of meditation and transpersonal psychology to correct the deviation of physiology, psychology and even subconscious in the process of Wushu certification. Many students have mental guidance when they get lost, which naturally achieves the purpose of changing their body and mind.