At one point during the kua exercises, he was asked about knee problems in the Chen village due to the extremely low postures used in Chen style forms and push hands. His comment was that many people do not warm up properly before beginning their training or form work and that can lead to having knee problems. He said he did not have knee problems and he believes that if you warm up and practice Chen Taiji correctly, it will strengthen the legs and knees.

Cheng Laoshi explained that there were three levels of training in Chen style. The first being for beginners and older people which used higher postures. The first level was more for health like Qigong. The second used more of a medium height and was for more serious practitioners usually after they had been practicing the art for a few years. Then there was the lower postures which were for more advanced practitioners. He said all too often people rush to reach the third level and that can be of concern because of the likelihood of injuries. He said that it takes 3-5 years to reach the third level of practice for most serious practitioners.

Cheng discussed the four biggest kua mistakes. The first common mistake that is made has to do with keeping the kua level during transitional movements. The second mistake is that people allow their bodies to tilt forward out of alignment. The third mistake is that people do not sink the kua and keep the hip open when shifting weight. The fourth common mistake was that some people let the kua go lower than the bottom of the knee.

He said that the correct way to use the kua involved fangsong and sinking the kua, opening and closing the kua during movements, keeping one opening while one is closing, and using the idea of a wok bowl ("going under") when shifting weight.

Cheng Jin Cai not only discussed the above concepts but gave physical examples to help us understand his points.

He then taught a "peng, lu, ji, an" exercise which involved some forward and backward footwork. He stressed whole body movement. Cheng repeatedly said that the lower body does the work and the upper body is kept very relaxed and the shoulders should not be involved in any of the movements. Many participants were corrected on their position, stepping and shoulder involvement.

The single hand circle was reviewed from last seminar. Cheng Laoshi’s single hand circle is different from what most of the participants were used to because of the low extended stance work and stretching required. Cheng uses this as another tool for opening the kua while strengthening the legs and stretching the body. Doing single hand circle in this manner really makes the practitioner work on keeping peng jing (a topic he discussed later that afternoon) and not using any shoulder involvement to dissipate the incoming force. He continually stressed the use of the kua, legs, and the waist for this. We spent about half an hour on single hand circle before everyone’s legs began giving out on them.

Cheng Laoshi told a story where Chen Zhao Pei said that if you were serious about having a good punch you should do it 100 times a day, every day and that 30 times was not good enough.

Cheng Jin Cai spoke on the importance of peng jing during the break. He said it was the most essential jing because all the jings are derived from peng jing.

He gave a couple of examples of what peng jing was like. The first had him beginning to pick up a water bottle from the floor. He stooped down and opened his hand and went to pick up the bottle. Just before he closed his hand to actually pick up the bottle ... *that* was peng jing ( i.e., potential energy). The intention of grasping the bottle and lifting was the peng jing.

The other example he gave was to take a twig from a tree and bend it until it bows. (The translation of potential energy came from Fei Xue, who helped with the translations throughout the seminar.)

He then discussed the 11 key words during the break. The first 7 words are what to seek in your movements. The last four are what to avoid in your movements.

1. Every movement has a beginning. Remember to sink the qi, keep the shape of a circle in the arms and legs, make sure the waist and qi are sunk, body is suspended, before beginning to move.

2. Flow or connection. This means the energy becomes natural and flows without breaks.

3.+ 4. Full and Empty. Learn to tell the difference in the movements between what is full and what is empty. Some examples he gave were in the form practice, in qin na, and in a few strikes.

5.+ 6. Open and Closed. He seemed to think that was simple. The chest and kua open and close with the movements following your mind intent.

7. Fangsong. Every movement must relax all the way. You usually relax (fangsong) at the closing of movements and not when opening. He said fangsong was more than just to relax and through fangsong you learn to accumulate the soft energy to develop the hard.

The remaining four words are what you don’t want:

8. Disconnection. He demonstrated this in pushing hands how some people move without sticking and listening/following the partners.

9. Losing Yi or focus. This was repeatedly demonstrated by telling people to not look down but to have the eyes level and to follow the yang hand or foot.

10. Tension. Extraneous use of the body or parts of the body which can lead to tension.

11. Loss of energy. He demonstrated that by showing how people have breaks in their movement where the peng jing was lost.

Cheng Laoshi was then asked about how to develop central equilibrium which he had begun to stress more on Sunday morning. He felt that the best way to develop this quality was through form practice. Most body corrections given by Cheng over the weekend began with correcting central equilibrium.

Cheng Jin Cai taught an excellent seminar, stayed within the agreed curriculum and worked very hard getting around to everyone during the hands on parts of the seminar. His teaching was direct and concise and he was willing to answer all questions with examples of what he meant.

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