Great River Taoist Center » News

Training the Next Generation

grtc — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:18:15 +0000

In early 2006, the Australian GRTC group kicked off its training program for children with a seminar led by Center Director Scott M. Rodell and his son, Feihong. From that core teaching in jianfa, the program curriculum expanded steadily to include the first section of the Michuan empty-hand form, Yangshi Taiji Dao, and Silu Miaodao. Many students were able to train hard and benefit greatly from lunchtime and recess trainings held four days a week at a local school. Their enthusiasm was evidenced in the usual stampede to the training room door as soon as class finished. For those not attending that school, a Wednesday after school program was established.

The children’s training bears much similarity to adult training. The main difference is the amount of time spent on each part of the lesson. While adults can discipline themselves to many repetitions of an exercise, children can only concentrate on one thing for about ten minutes. A typical seventy five minute weekly lesson might include basic jian and miaodao cuts, two sections of jian form, a few movements of the miaodao form, partner drills, free sparring, concentration games, some push hands and some history. While there are many changes of exercise, the program typically only concentrates on one or two principles per lesson. For example, if the day’s goal is to put fajing in every strike, that is emphasized throughout each section.

Much of the partner work is done with padded swords for safety, though many of the children use more realistic wooden swords for other aspects of the practice. The wooden swords are never treated as playthings. By teaching the children to act as though the edge is sharp, they are more mindful and develop more genuine swordsmanship. When the student is deemed disciplined enough, they are introduced to steel swords. They learn how to pass and receive a sword, how to remove and replace a scabbard, how to cut correctly and how to take care of the steel.

In January 2009, the Australian program reached another milestone, hosting the first Traditional Chinese Sword League Youth Tournament. Sixteen children dressed in fencing masks, cricket gloves and gambesons, sparring with padded swords and doing their best to win the Under 18s or Under 13’s trophies. Even with forty four pool matches before the eliminations, there was time for a sword form competition at the end of the afternoon.

Today the children’s program continues strong with after school training sessions, private lessons, and supplemental Saturday seminars throughout the year. GRTC Australia continues to work hard to keep Chinese swordsmanship alive and well in the land down under.

Serge Dreyer

grtc — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:43:39 +0000

Serge Dreyer teaching GRTC students

During the second weekend seminar, Serge Dreyer presented tuishou from the combined perspective of three internal arts. His training exercises focused on proper fajing (releasing energy) technique, creating “inner space” in the body for more efficient deflecting, and proper yielding without stiffness or muscular blocks. He also used baguazhang stepping exercises to demonstrate circularizing in the context of moving-step tuishou. New students benefited from a taste of advanced techniques while older students got a fresh perspective familiar principles.

Students found Serge to be modest, extremely skilled, and entirely focused on pursuing the essence of taijiquan. Even though he was an international tuishou champion, he did not dwell on his successes but instead told us about particularly difficult matches he had had and how tournament anxiety affected his skills. He shared these experiences to underscore how important staying calm and letting go of oneself is in developing good tuishou.

In order to cultivate this feeling of “letting go,” one exercise in particular stands out. One student takes a short stance and allows two partners to push him from in front and behind. The student’s objective is to yield and stay rooted as long as possible while using the arms to stay gently connected to the pushers. Of course, under such an assault no one was able to hold their ground for more than 10 or 15 seconds. What was instructive about the exercise was the mindset it instilled. Serge exhorted us to accept the inevitable loss that we would be pushed over and to yield completely to both pushers, not resorting to any stiff-arm tactics to stay upright. Serge’s point was that if we take this attitude into tuishou and truly accept an incoming force, our movements will be effortless and offensive opportunities will present themselves. However, if we remain attached to the ego that doesn’t want to get pushed around, tension will make yielding impossible and stiff, muscular aggression will be the only alternative.

Serge’s presentation of fajin technique as “a wave” was also very enlightening. He demonstrated how a pronounced “rolling” of the back and spine could transmit an energy wave through the body, much in same way energy is transmitted through a whip. Serge then showed us how this wave is tightened during application so that there is less delay as the wave travels through the body and into the duifang. For me, his demonstration clarified the difference between transmitting energy through the spine and merely catapulting one’s stiff upper body at the duifang.
Looking back on the seminar student’s found that many of Serge’s key points were exactly the same things Rodell Laoshi teaches us at Great River. It was Serge’s slightly different perspective and manner of presentation that jostled us out of our comfortable rut and made us see things anew. And that is perhaps the greatest benefit of his visit.

Fixed and Moving-step Tuishou (Push Hands) with Serge Dreyer

grtc — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:38:24 +0000

Serge Dreyer instructing GRTC students

Great River welcomed back Serge Dreyer for another intensive 2-day seminar, this time on the principles of fixed and moving-step tuishou. As a 20+ year student of the Yangjia Michuan system and a practitioner of baguazhang and xingyiquan, teacher Dreyer brought a unique perspective to taijiquan’s two-person work.

The seminar began with an investigation of yielding techniques, including drills for cultivating what teacher Dreyer called “inner space,” used to create room within one’s own body for yielding and neutralizing. He also described methods for changing the surface of one’s body during yielding, giving the duifang no firm place on which to push.

From there, Dreyer took up the classic theme of “investing in loss.” Using segments of the form, he showed how accepting the pushes of the duifang presents the opportunity to neutralize and counter automatically.Â To instill this proper tuishou attitude, he used many drills that forced the students to yield with their whole bodies, giving them no opportunity to block with their hands. Only in this way, he taught, will with the appropriate counter-technique arise spontaneously.

Finally, the seminar focus turned toward stepping in tuishou. Here again, teacher Dreyer took directly from the form, examining the stepping contained in the “Wield the Pipa” movement. He demonstrated how maneuvering with this step changed the “spine-to-spine” axis of the two players, removing the defender from the line of the duifang’s attack. This gave students new insight into how stepping technique is codified in the form.

“Its always a pleasure to see my old classmate Serge,” school Director Scott Rodell said. “His seminars are very useful because he teaches the same principles we are working on, but from a slightly different angle, this adds depth to what students have learned. Also sometimes, a student needs a fresh or different perspective to grasp a principle that was elusive until then. Serge’s visits provide this fresh view.”

Another Busy Year for Chinese Swordsman

grtc — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:35:40 +0000

Amsterdam Netherlands, Rodell on left employs an upward beat to disarm his duifang in free swordplay.

Chinese historical swordsmanship is growing year by year. Since the publication of Chinese Swordsmanship – The Yang Family Taiji Jian Tradition by Center Director Scott M. Rodell, the number of workshops and places hosting training has steadily increased. This year, Rodell added Amsterdam to the list of places he has led seminars (Toronto has been added to next year’s schedule). “Everyone who knows me knows how much I enjoy swordsmanship, so it was a real joy for me to find such an enthusiastic crowd at my Amsterdam seminar,” said Rodell.

As more practitioners of classical taijiquan take up this training, there is a growing realization that historical swordsmanship is something quite different from either the “push hands” kind of taiji fencing some groups practice or swordplay with foam-padded weapons.? By using real-weight weapons, historical swordsmanship contains an element of fear and danger that is lacking from sports or exercises that employ weapons considerably lighter than their historical counterparts. As learning to let go of fear and how to remain calm under real pressure is a common goal of all martial training, this is an elemental difference between sports and martial arts. In short, there is a renewed understanding that the practice of swordsmanship, i.e. martial arts, is quite different from sports or role playing. Overall, the move toward historically based swordsmanship can be seen as part of a general movement back to taijiquan’s martial roots, following in the footsteps of Yang Luchan and his sons, who worked as militia trainers.

Albert Efimov Awarded Teacher Certificate

grtc — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 22:59:10 +0000

July 2007

Teachers Rodell (left) and Efimov (right)

Albert Efimov (Director, Moscow Branch of Great River Taoist Center) became the first Great River student to be certified as a teacher. His teacher & Center Director, Scott M. Rodell award him this honor at the International Swordplay Festival in Puhajarve, Estonia where he was leading the Taiji Spear training. Teacher Efimov began his training with Rodell during his first visit to the Soviet Union in ‘91. Over the next decade and a half, Teacher Efimov distinguished himself as a student, organizer, competitor and instructor. Albert Efimov is currently the Vice Chairman for the Taijiquan & Qigong Federation for Europe.

Teacher Efimov’s certificate reads:
For Having Trained Diligently
and having
Completed Over 15 Years of Study
Albert Efimov
is hereby awarded this
Teacher’s
Certificate
by his teacher
Scott M. Rodell
and should henceforth be recognized as a
Sixth Generation Teacher in the
Yangjia Michuan Taijiquan system.

Scott M. Rodell
July 7, 2007
Director, Great River Taoist Center

Congratulations Albert!

Teacher Efimov leading the morning Taiji Spear training at the International Swordplay Festival in Puhajarve, Estonia.

Senior Student Promotes Martial Traditions

grtc — Thu, 10 May 2007 03:20:25 +0000

May 2007

The current issue of the Journal of Asian Martial Arts features an article by Greg Wolfson (senior student student GRTC DC Branch). This piece is the most recent of many articles and short videos Wolfson has produced to help promote the traditional martial aspects of taijiquan and Chinese Swordsmanship. This issue of JAMA also features Center Director, Scott M. Rodell, on the cover, wielding an antique Chinese Kanma Dao (Horse Cutting Saber.)

Center Director Featured on Taiji-Vizier Cover

grtc — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:56:06 +0000

GRTC Center Director, Scott M. Rodell, appears on the January-March 2007 cover of Taiji-Vizier, magazine of the Dutch National Taijiquan Association (STN). STN hosts seminars with Teacher Rodell twice a years in Holland. These Dutch seminars typically focus on Chinese Historical Swordsmanship, Test Cutting with Chinese Swords, and Yang Family Michuan Taijiquan forms.

Chinese Swordsmanship Teacher Visits Sword Factory

grtc — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 03:21:48 +0000

April 2006

During his recent trip to China, Scott M. Rodell visited Fred Chen at his factory in Shanghai. Fred Chen is the general manager of the Huanuo sword factory, which produces Chinese and Japanese swords for both display and use by contemporary martial artists. After exchanging greetings while enjoying a cup of tea, everyone proceeded outside, where a pile of bamboo awaited the blade. Taking a newly made katana from a full rack in the factory, Chen set a piece of 2-inch diameter bamboo in a stand. Striking the bamboo with a two-handed blow that started from over his head, Chen failed to cleanly sever the stalk in two. Remarking, “Maybe this bamboo is too dry to cut,” Chen stepped aside.

Visiting teacher Rodell asked for a jian and set a fresh bamboo stalk from the pile in the stand. Without any preparation or practice swings, Rodell cleanly cut the 2-inch bamboo in two with an upward liao cut. Rodell then spent the next hour making short work of the remaining bamboo stalks using Huanuo s Peony Jian and Oxtail Dao, slicing them into short segments with liao, pi, kan and gua cuts. Watching with his office staff, Fred Chen observed, He [Rodell] really knows how to cut. I didn t know a Chinese sword could cut like that before. The group of onlookers, used to cutting demonstrations preformed with katana, were particularly taken by both the short, quick pi cuts Rodell used to sever the bamboo as easily as large two-handed cuts and with Rodell s use of multiple liao cuts, slicing off 4- to 5-inch sections in rapid succession.

Rodell was quite pleased with the performance of the Huanuo swords he handled. When asked by Chen how the Oxtail Dao compared with historical examples, Rodell replied that it was right on in weight and balance. Rodell also observed that the Peony Jian was exactly like many antique Qing jianhe had owned.

After cutting, Chen treated Rodell to a factory tour, explaining the overall production process. Chen and Rodell also exchanged notes concerning blade length, weight and cross-section profile. Both men, clearly happy with their exchange, adjourned to lunch, where Fred Chen treated all to a feast.

View the video here.

Master Hu

grtc — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 03:40:30 +0000

Miaodao practice

In celebration of its upcoming 20^th anniversary, Great River invited guest instructors Hu Lin and Serge Dreyer to each teach a weekend seminars. Master Hu, in addition to being a senior student of Master Wang Yen-nien, practices several external martial arts, including shaolinquan. Serge Dreyer is an international tuishou champion and has over thirty years experience in three internal martial systems - taijiquan, baguazhang, andxingyiquan.

In order to deepen the student’s understanding of Chinese swordsmanship, Master Hu devoted his weekend seminar to the two-handed miaodao form he learned from Han Jing-tan in Taiwan. On the first day, Great River students learned the solo miaodao form and the mechanics of the two-handed style. The following day, students worked in pairs exploring the form’s martial applications. Finally, Master Hu demonstrated how the same sword movements had empty-hand applications. By delving into an art comtemporary with the school’s taijijian, Great River students gained a greater understanding of the jian’s relative strengths and weaknesses.

GRTC Director Featured on Cover of Taiji-Vizier

grtc — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 03:34:40 +0000

Scott M. Rodell, was featured on the cover of the November 2005 Issue of the Dutch National Taijiquan Association magazine, Taiji-Vizier. Teacher Rodell travels widely around America, to Europe & most recently to Australia to teach the Yang Family Michuan Taijiquan system and especially, Chinese historical swordsmanship. When asked about his recent popularity, Rodell responded, “Its very rewarding to be a part of the rebirth of this nearly lost art. The universal enthusiasm of students from Amsterdam to Sydney to Amherst is rewarding in itself.”