all content including images ©2007 chiflow.com and Gerald A. Sharp

All Content (text and images) ©2006
by Gerald A. Sharp and chiflow.com

CHIFLOW.COM
P.O. 685
So. Pasadena, CA
91031

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Grandmaster Ma Yueh Liang and Gerald Sharp push hands in Zhong Shan Park in Shanghai

There are quite a few articles that we are slowly going through and considering either including them here on the chiflow.com website or archiving in another way. There is also a need to revamp, update and improve other parts of the site from time to time. Beyond this, there is also a need to make the practice methods accessible to people and to preserve and transmit the traditional teachings. Some of this preservation seems best done with instructional and demonstration videos.

For many years, a VHS set of Gerald A. Sharp's instructional videos was widely available that presented the basics of Hsing I Ch'uan (Xingyiquan). These videos were professionally produced and distributed by Unique Publications. There are now new and better instructional videos from Gerald A. Sharp (available in DVD format) that closely follow the classic text Jiang Rong Qiao's Xingyiquan Mother Fists. We are particularly proud of these new videos which are now available exclusively at our online store site. (There are also a number of other Xing Yi Quan or Hsing I Ch'uan form demonstration videos on the store site.)

 

We now also have a 2 DVD set of instructional videos in which Gerald A. Sharp presents Jiang Rong Qiao's Baguazhang Old Eight Palms. These are the foundation of the training methods of one of the world's most widely practiced styles of Baguazhang (Pa Kua Chang or "Eight Trigrams Palm"). The martial art is characterized by sophisticated footwork, circular movements and palm rather than fist methods. The style has produced some of China's most respected martial artists since the last part of the 1800's, (including many bodyguards). The video presents Jiang Rong Qiao's adopted daughter Zou Shuxian performing part of the form. These videos present not only the training forms but also martial applications.

 

A collaboration between Gerald A. Sharp and Zhou Zhan Fang has resulted in a comprehensive presentation of the Wu style Taichichuan Tui Shou (Push Hands) practice methods in the form of a two DVD set. While this video presents the material described in Ma Yueh Liang's Tui Shou book (translated into English by Zee Wen), the video can be an enormous help. We highly recommend this Power Push Hands I & II video set because it presents the practice methods of Wu style push hands as Grandmaster Ma Yueh Liang taught them to two of his indoor students. Since his passing, it can be difficult to sort through competing claims about what Grandmaster Ma taught his students (and sometimes who his students really were). This often comes down to competing claims that one student was closer to the teacher than another (or got this part of the instruction right), but this approach is fraught with difficulties. Instead of this approach, Gerald A. Sharp and Zhou Zhan Fang present supporting video of a public demonstration in which Grandmaster Ma Yueh Liang and one of his most senior students briefly demonstrated a sequence that includes many of the methods that are presented in detail in the Power Push Hands I & II video set.

Articles:

Wu style Tui Shou

Wu style Chi Kung

Wu style Forms

. .

 

 

Dr Zhuang's instructional Liangong video set featuring the creator of Liangong and his son is available at our store site. (These videos are also available through T'ai Chi Magazing and Qi Journal.) Chiflow is the official source for Lian Gong Shi Ba Fa (Liangong in 18 Exercises) merchandise in North America. There is a Liangong web site with more information about these stretching exercises which are terrific for dealing with the aches and sprains of modern life. Liangong has been widely adopted in Japan as a daily exercise set - they are part of the work day at many Japanese companies. The Liangong exercises developed in Shanghai are practiced all over the world, but they have been very slow to catch on in the North America.