Cheng Man Ching style Tai Ji Quan Long form

I learned the Cheng Man Ching short form and practiced that form exclusively for 14 years before learning the Yang long form. This is the Long form sequence done in the CMC method.

[@taijilou]

exemplary tai chi. the connectedness of your joints, knees with opposing elbow; your almost flawless footwork; single weighted balancing; this was a joy to watch. your tai chi is impeccable, sir.

[@lamodernista]

Loving those kicks...and fluid hand/arm and foot/leg coordination!

[@user-zg1qz8oz2u]

Thank you so much for presenting this form so wonderfully. As a Yang practitioner this is intensely beautiful and instructive. My true influence has always been the teaching of the venerable Sifu Liang.

[@jean-michelwalker8829]

Glad it was helpful!

[@WaitingForSubstance]

A pleasure to see CM form done in his style. Lady's wrist, ratcheting, silk reeling and rear leg never straight. My compliments.

[@teacupsful]

Thank you for posting this. I have been doing CMC style for decades after learning Yang Chengfu style (and forgetting it). Now i feel the urge to practice something different yet familiar. I appreciate the clarity of your form, and the quality of your video.

[@jean-michelwalker8829]

Terence, thank you for the kind words. I first started with CMC and did that for about 15 yrs. I then learned the YCF long form for the sake of 'completion'. However I felt the CMC 'method' was more to my liking. Just a personal preference, not a judgement.

[@teacupsful]

i can readily understand your preference. It is a pleasant form to practice and there seems to be sufficient repetition of the more important techniques for applying in the "push hands" exercise. i am re-learning YCF with a buddy who has been practicing Hsing I, partly for support and, also, i miss some of the YCF postures omitted in CMC. Also, i have been repeating the CMC form several times in order to get a workout, and i have learned the "mirror image" of the CMC form, therefor, my decision to revisit YCF.

[@jean-michelwalker8829]

jluso1 Thank you for subscribing. I am familiar with Master TT Liang. He was one of my teacher's teacher, as was Cheng Man Ching. I know I am doing nothing new, merely expressing certain preferences. Again, thanks for watching. New videos will be up soon. -JM

[@LillyLigaya]

Beautiful Form. Thank you for making this.

[@jean-michelwalker8829]

Hi Jessica! I'll try to get the short CMC form up by 1st week of Jan. Trimester just ended so I should have some time now. Thanks :)

[@edboldt3769]

"just" 14 years to become that skilled... wow ...

[@jean-michelwalker8829]

No, not just 14. I did the CMC form for 14, THEN I adapted/adopted the long form into my training. This video was taken in 2014 which, at the time, was 27 years in. And thanks.

[@jean-michelwalker8829]

Thank you for your kind words.

[@edboldt3769]

Incredible

[@jean-michelwalker8829]

Thank you.

[@markdonovan1540]

This is a stunning performance and the camera angle allows all movements and postures to be seen clearly. I find myself coming back to this video again and again - it is the only reference I have for a CMC long-form originally learned in the early 90s. Your kicks are much faster than what I used to practise, but it certainly suits this form to have a few explosive moves (yet still soft and sneaky!). Could this be due to some influence of Chen style perhaps, or was this how it was taught to you by one of your teachers? Between your form here and a variation, based on TT Liang´s Yang style long form, performed by Jonathan Russell, I have two absolutely excellent examples of Yang style long form, both of which have the magical ingredient of the CMC flavour :-) and you clearly continue to transmit this within your practice of the art

[@jean-michelwalker8829]

@Mark Donovan- quick response; the kicks are done fast because I had a back injury and couldn’t do them slow... too painful then. My teacher had 3 teacher: T.T. Laing, Cheng Man Ching and Kuo Lien Ying though when I met him his focus was on CMC.

[@markdonovan1540]

@@jean-michelwalker8829 thanks for your reply. I trust your back is better now. Back injuries can be very troublesome. Your teacher was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to train with CMC and TT. I'm sorry, I don't know the other teacher. Do you still have a teacher or practise in a Tai Chi school? Or are you at the stage, or situation, where it's all about self-learning, continuing practice on the solo forms, sword, staff ìand push hands etc with others? I still use your video as a reference, at least until I can get some help directly from an experienced teacher face-to-face. In April, I was due to spend a week intensive with a good teacher I met many years ago, but unfortunately the travel ban prevented me from going. Hopefully, I'll make the trip in the near future.

[@smokygoose]

Why is this form called the "Cheng Man Ching style Tai Chi Long form"? It looks exactly like the Yang Cheng Fu 108 Long Form, except for the Crescent Kick right after the Five Darts Whistling through the Cave. The way I understand it, Professor Cheng Man Ching created the 37-Form because the 108 Long Form was too long (about 18 minutes long) for the western students in New York, and they didn't have the patience to stay with the 108 Long Form, and the dropout rate was pretty bad. The Professor recognized the problem, and created the 37-Form (about 7 minutes long). I like the 108 Long Form performed here, and I especially appreciate the turn of the hips when executing the Bow Stance move, a move that I keep getting on my students to do correctly.

[@jean-michelwalker8829]

Smokeygoose, CMC made alterations, or interpreted differently certain aspects of the form, not merely shortened it. Two' examples are the emphasis on shifting/rolling back before moving forward and the rear foot pivoting from the heel rather than the ball off the foot. Others have written about this with various conclusions. You may find these articles interesting. www.taichiandqigong.com/yang_compare.php www.chuckrowtaichi.com/CMCvsYang.html

[@markdonovan1540]

@@jean-michelwalker8829 these links are very interesting, thank you.

[@jean-michelwalker8829]

To Walter Jackson Please clarify ratcheting. It's not a term I'm familiar with. Thank you, JM

[@jessicabenshay8616]

can you post one for the chen man ching short form please

[@maduroholdings]

I don’t know you contact info so I sent this to you here I hope you see it It is my take away concepts from my first year of Vocal lessons