Feng Zhiqiang, a leading student of Chen Fake is one of the most famous
exponents of Taijiquan in the world. He is also well-known for promoting
a complete set of silk-reeling exercises (Chansigong or also occasionally
romanized as Chan Ssu Gong) in thirty five postures which form one of the
fundamental training exercises for the mastery of Chen-style Taijiquan.
Feng Zhiqiang's senior indoor student, Zhang Xuexin, was the first to
introduce this system of exercises to the west. The following introduction
to Taijiquan silk-reeling exercises is from Zhang's video tape on silk-reeling
and dantian rotation exercises.
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Master Zhang will demonstrate the complete set of silk-reeling (known as
Chan Si Gong in Pinyin) and dantian rotation exercises arranged by Master
Feng based on his studies of Chen style Taijiquan. One major objective of
this set of spiral exercises is to open up and exercise the 18 major joint
areas of the body (in sequence from the head to the ankles). The 18 major
joints consist of: neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, chest, abdomen, waist,
kuas, hips, knees, and ankles.
These 18 major joints are also referred to as 18 "balls" of the human body.
By harmonizing the internal turning and external twisting with the Qi and
Yi via the silk-reeling exercises, one can reach a state where the entire
body will become an integrated "Taiji sphere."
In practicing Chen-style Taijiquan, the human body may be seen as a tree
with three sections: branch, trunk and roots. In reference to the entire
body: the arm is the branch, the torso is the trunk and the legs are the
root. The entire body may be further subdivided. For the torso, the head
is the branch, the waist is the trunk and the abdomen is the root. For the
arm, the hand is the branch, the elbow is the trunk, and the shoulder is
the root. For the lower body, the ankle is the branch, the knee is the trunk
and the kua is the root. All total there are 9 sections of the human body.
The dantian is the center from which the jing and energy are propogated
to each branch like a wave.
These exercises also train the famous eight energies of Taijiquan - Peng,
Lu, Ji, An, Cai, Lie, Jou, and Kao along with qinna (joint locking and grappling)
and counter-qinna movements. Master Zhang and his students will also demonstrate
applications of the silk-reeling exercises and the fundamental dantian rotation
exercises.
All of the exercises presented are useful foundation training not only for
students of Chen style Taijiquan but for students of any style of Taijiquan.
They are also a good foundation for students of related internal martial
arts such as Baguazhang and Xingyiquan.