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Reprinted from “The Heart of the Mountain”
By Marc Andonian, Ph.D.
As a special birthday present to myself, I decided to enroll in a weekend taijiquan “intensive” led by Scott Rodell of the Great River Taoist Center in Washington D.C. Bede Bidlack, director of the Still Mountain T’ai Chi Center in Ardmore, PA and one of Rodell’s students, arranged the twelve-hour weekend workshop held at the Max Family Training Center in Ardmore, PA on March 1-3.
Continue reading “Learning Taijiquan at an Intensive Workshop: A Student’s Perspective” »
| Personal |
| Birth Date |
December 19, 1914 |
| Birth Place |
Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, China |
| Styled |
Fushuo, Yungkang |
| |
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| Education / Experience |
| 1932 – 1934 |
Shanxi Province Police Academy, First Graduating Class. |
| 1932 – 1937 |
Taijiquan, studied Yang style in Shanxi Province with Wang Xingwu, student of Yang Banhou. |
| 1938 – 1945 |
Sino-Japanese War, fought under Shanxi Province Warlord General Yen Xisan, rising in rank from Platoon Leader to Company Commander, to Battalion Commander, to Regimental Commander, to Assistant Division Commander. |
| 1945 – 1949 |
Taijiquan, received an apprenticeship with Zhang Qinling to study the Yang Family Hidden Tradition of Taijiquan. Zhang was a student of both Yang Jianho and Yang’s son, Yang Chenfu. |
| 1945 – 1949 |
Civial War between the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party of China, fought under Yen Xisan, and retreated (1949) with the Nationalist government and army to Formosa (now Taiwan, the Republic of China.) |
| 1949 – 1954 |
Ministry of National Defense, with a rank of Colonel, served under Yen Xisan, who was acting president of the ROX from 1949 – 1953; withdrewm from government service in 1954 after Yen Xisan stepped down. |
| 1954 |
Taijiquan, began teaching the Yang Family Hidden Tradition of Taijiquan in a small park, which was later designated a war memorial to a group of Shanxi Province Communist resisters who committed suicide rather than stay under Communist rule. |
| 1956 – 1986 |
Vice-Chairman and Founding Father of the National Tai Chi Chuan Associationg of the ROC. (Original name of the NTCCA is Zhong Mei Wenhua Taijiquan Xueshu Yenjiu Hui.) |
| 1986 1989 |
Charinman, National Tai Chi Chuan Association of the ROC and the International Tai Chi Chuan Federation. |
| 1989 |
Elected Honorary President for Life of the National Tai Chi Chuan Association of the ROC. |
 American Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan Association Vol. 14 # 2 The last three years have seen a tremendous growth in Chinese swordsmanship. In this short time, the art moved literally from the precipice of extinction to having a worldwide following. One spark for this expansion was a pivotal work, Chinese Swordsmanship – the Yang Family Taiji Jian Tradition by Scott M. Rodell. Rodell is a disciple student of Wang Yennien who also studied taiji jian with T.T. Liang (Zheng Manqing’s senior student). The wide popularity of Chinese Swordsmanship naturally led to the author receiving multiple invitations to present seminars at home and abroad. Teaching seminars on three different continents, Teacher Rodell’s efforts helped carry the art of Chinese Swordsmanship from obscurity and near extinction to wide recognition as a powerful and effective sword art. Most recently (July ‘06), Rodell began a new phase in his teaching program, instructing children. Along with his 8 1/2 year old son, Feihong, he traveled Down Under to help create a children’s swordsmanship program in Australia.
Continue reading “Youth Chinese Swordsmanship Camp a Very Successful First” »
Students from three continents converged on the small town of Otepaa, Estonia to take part in the International Swordplay Festival for Chinese Traditions. This Festival was the second focusing on Chinese Swordsmanship organized by Estonian Branch students of Great River Taoist Center. For six days, participants trained nine hours a day learning four weapons essential to the Chinese military tradition double-edge sword (jian), saber (dao), two-handed saber (shuangshoudao), and spear.
Continue reading “Second International Swordplay Festival” »
Sword Battle in Narva
Reprinted from “Narvskaia Nedelia” (“Narva Weekly”)
By Irina Tokareva (translated from Russian)
On the lawn in front of the Mereranna Spa several dozen people move in a single rhythm, graceful and coordinated, literally dancing to music that only they can hear. This impression is not spoiled even by the imposing wooden swords that they are brandishing. This is what one of the exercises looks like at the seminar on the internal Taoist martial art, T’ai Chi Ch’uan, which is becoming increasingly more popular in Estonia. Running the seminar is American Scott Rodell – the very person who brought the genuine art of T’ai Chi to Estonia 11 years ago.
Continue reading “Taiji Sword Festival 2002” »
Tallinn, Estonia, Feburary 2001
Scott Rodell from America believes that his connections with Estonia are determined by the destiny. Ten years ago a couple of individuals from Narva visited his school in Washington, after that Rodell has repeatedly been to Estonia to teach taijiquan. Rodell is married to a Chinese lady with whom he shares a three-year son.
Continue reading “Scott M. Rodell Interviewed in Sports Star” »
Every art speaks a language. Calligraphy speaks in brush strokes, articulated in ink. The brush, ink, stone, and paper are the scholarís four treasures. With these tools the calligrapher practices essential basic brush strokes that make up any character. Mastery of these is necessary to freedom of expression with the brush.
Continue reading “Sword and Brush Together” »
Master Wang uses Qi to Overcome Li (muscle strength) and has Disciples All Over the World. To Preserve the Best Part of the Art he Wrote and Distributed Books to Preserve the Real Teaching.
by Zeng Huiping
Great Sports Daily, Taibei, Taiwan, December 7, 1999
At first Wang thought to practice to stay healthy. Unexpectedly, he became a Wulin Gao Shou – Highly Skilled Martial Artist. At 87, Wang Yen-nien has for 45 years used Yang Style TaijiQuan to defeat challengers all over the world. He has disciples all over the world. Once four highly skilled XingYi Quan practitioners challenged Wang. One was a very large man weighing over 100 kilos (220 pounds). Wang Yen-nien used his qi to deflect their muscle strength (li). So he conquered those who looked down on TaijiQuan. Two years ago (‘97) Wang Yen-nien was awarded Xin Chuan Jian (Spreading Teaching Award). for his devotion to spreading TaijiQuan in Taiwan.
 Wang is from Taiyuan, Shanxi province (in Mainland China). He was not health as a little boy. So at eight he started learning Shaolin and XingYi Quan to make himself stronger. Wang says “These styles use to much muscle strength.” At the age of 32 he kowtowed to Zhang Qinglin and started learning the YangJia MiChuan TaijiQuan. “In the beginning, teacher (Zhang) saw I was very young and so unfit to practice TaijiQuan”. Surprisingly Zhang found Wang could follow orders and was serious about learning. So Zhang decided to teach him the YangJia MiChuan TaijiQuan. He said to Wang, “YangJia MiChuan TaijiQuan is only passed to you. You are the only one I taught (the entire systems)”.
The founder of Yang Style TaijiQuan, Yang Luchan, changed TaijiQuan into Yang Shen Quan (Raising Life Boxing). This is the most popular TaijiQuan today. Wang Yen-nien said at the time Zhang Qinglin trained with the Yang family, he could only practice the MiChuan TaijiQuan after midnight because it was so secret. One could not freely teach it to outsiders.
In 1949, Master Wang moved to Taiwan. In order to preserve the YangJia MiChuan TaijiQuan Zhen Shui (real most important part), he printed books on the Form and Martial Applications and taught inside and outside Taiwan.
When he first taught in Taiwan, many people looked down on TaijiQuan. They thought it was soft and without strength. Some people tested Wang and one by one they all admitted Wang was better than them. Not only did they learn TaijiQuan from Wang, but they also became good friends.
Master Wang smiles and says, TaijiQuan uses qi and not li. It’s more inside than outside. It looks graceful, but draws strength from the opponent to hit with strength. There are many different Martial Arts in Taiwan, but from very, very few can you learn real gongfu (skill).
Today Wang has more than 10,000 students all over the world. Now there are more than 20 countries that have TaijiQuan Associations and Institutes. So YangJia MiChuan TaijiQuan can spread around the world.
translated by Meilu Chen Rodell
The medieval Chinese dynasties saw great advances in metallurgy. Some, like the ability to produce cast iron, were far ahead of such technology in the Europe. Others, like the mastery of efficient, large-scale steel production, enabled the Tang and Song dynasties to become major military powers in east Asia.
Most collectors of Asian arms are aware that the techniques of forging and tempering developed in China are the basis from which developed the reknowned Japanese swords. These skills arrived in Japan as early as the Sui and Tang dynasty China (AD 589 onward).
The connoisseurship of Japanese sword has thrived over the centuries and has gained an international following in our time. Today Japanese blades are rightly treasured as works of art on their own. Unfortunately, the appreciation of swords produced by the ‘parent’ smiths of China languished even in its native land. This is despite the fact that very fine blades were made in China, and that hand-to-hand combat with edged weapons often proved crucial in winning battles up through the end of the imperial period.
Continue reading “Art of the Chinese Sword” »
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