Li Shujun Tai Chi Studio

Author: Li Shujun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: It's a long story. My ancestral home is in Yexian County, Shandong Province (now Laizhou), a fertile land by the sea with a flat terrain. It is a warm and honest place with simple customs and profound human sentiments. The people here value both literature and martial arts, and the surrounding villages called it the "fist nest." From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China and up to the present, martial arts masters have emerged one after another. In terms of Taijiquan alone, figures like Wang Maozhai, Wang Ziyong, Xiu Pixin, and my father have become renowned masters. My father, Li Jingwu, also had a deep love for martial arts from a young age. At the age of 14, he ventured east to Manchuria and, together with his sworn brother Sun Fengqiu, studied Mizongquan under the tutelage of Liu Ziyuan. He was known for his chivalry and justice. One evening on his way home with Sun Fengqiu, he encountered several foreigners, drunk and belligerent, blocking the path of a Chinese woman and making unwanted advances. The brothers stepped in to intervene, fighting the foreigners and freeing the woman from danger. However, they were subsequently hunted down by the foreign-controlled authorities in Harbin. Unable to stay in Harbin, they relocated to what was then Beijing. The brothers then partnered to open a "Five Continents Department Store" in Xidan. Despite the hardships of starting a business, their passion for martial arts remained undiminished. Before moving to Beijing, their master Liu Ziyuan specifically advised them, "Beijing's martial arts community is rich with talent, especially in Taijiquan. If you have the opportunity, you must engage with Taijiquan." Therefore, my father paid special attention to Taijiquan. Later, through the introduction of Qigong master Hu Yaozhen and others, he became a disciple of Wu-style Taijiquan master Zhao Ti'an and Chen-style Taijiquan master Chen Faku. It is said that before learning from these two Taijiquan masters, my father engaged in sparring matches with their senior disciples. Despite being a skilled martial artist himself, he found he could not effectively use his skills. In his own words, "When sparring with Master Zhao, every fist missed, as if I were falling into a trap." "When sparring with Master Chen, I had no openings to attack, and if I forced my way in, I would fall even further." After meeting these masters, my father was overjoyed and, following the conventions of the martial arts world, performed a kowtow ceremony to formally become their disciple. In that era, Chen-style Taijiquan was traditionally passed down within families, usually only to sons and not to daughters. At the time, Master Chen had been teaching students but not taking disciples, and there was no formal kowtow ceremony for discipleship. After persistent requests from my father and Sun Fengqiu and others, Chen Faku made an exception, the kowtow ceremony of the Wu-style Taijiquan school. My father, along with Sun Fengqiu, Song Linge, Liu Jinsheng, and Tian Xiuchen, formally presented their kowtows and became the first indoor disciples of Chen Faku. Under the combined guidance of the Chen and Wu masters, my father's martial arts skills improved significantly, and gradually, the name "Li Jingwu" became well-known among the disciples of Chen and Wu.
P4 My father was an extremely respectful and filial person. He took meticulous care of his master and his family. When I was young, I remember that while ensuring I had my own "foreign white flour" (as I was a growing child and the family doted on me, while others mostly ate "Republican flour"), my father would send two bags of flour to Master Chen's household every month. Even if his own family went without, he would still provide for his master, showing the depth of their bond. My father formally began teaching me Taijiquan in the late 1940s, when he returned to his hometown in Shandong for a period of rest. During this time, he taught a group of disciples in his hometown. When I was eight years old, he started teaching me Taijiquan. My father was a stern and meticulous teacher, and when teaching, he was even more so. Many villagers from his own village, along with followers from the surrounding areas, numbered in the dozens. To train and guide me, my father insisted on having me present whenever he taught. Whenever he had free time, he would watch me practice, holding a wooden sword. If any movement was not performed correctly—such as not relaxing the shoulders and elbows or not lowering the stance—"" (a sharp sound) would be followed by a strike. Once, a strike sent shivers down my entire body, and the memory remains vivid to this day, truly a "trial of the heart and a toil of the body." To make practicing more interesting, my father brought my cousin Liu Yunkuan and others to practice with me. During standing meditation (zhanzhuang), my father would first adjust my posture for exercises like the "Bao Qi Xing Zhanzhuang," "Lan Zha Yi Zhanzhuang," and "Deng Shan Zhanzhuang," then set the poses for my cousin and other companions. After everything was in place, he would synchronize the timing. If the timer was set for 5 minutes, I would often end up standing for an extra 2 minutes. I would often stand until my legs were too heavy to lift, requiring my older sister to carry me to bed to massage my stiff legs. At such times, my mother and sister would often burst into tears out of sympathy, but they dared not advise my father.
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