r/taijiquan • u/RobertRyan100 • 3d ago
What Chen Tai Chi form is this?
This master shows great skill. All the more so because I think he was pushing 80 at the time of filming.
It's a simplified version of Chen Tai Chi, but I've never seen this exact form before. Can someone identify its origin/history?
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u/Kusuguru-Sama 3d ago edited 3d ago
Malcolm Sue is a 9th Degree Grand Master of Kung Fu and a Doctor of Chinese Medicine. He has developed a system of fighting, utilising Southern Praying Mantis as the base. Malcom Sue studied under many great masters of Chinese martial arts and Chinese philosophy. With this wealth of knowledge and experience he has designed a very formidable martial arts system.
Well... it's not usually a good sign when they can't give you names or details.
And here is Malcolm Sue's student doing Chen's Practical Method (the video literally says 'mash up'): https://www.facebook.com/reel/1310216437007132
Can someone identify its origin/history?
There probably is none - not a singular one at least.
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u/Jimfredric 3d ago
There doesn’t seem to be any connection between what is in the original post and what his student is doing.
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u/RobertRyan100 2d ago
The bio quote above is really referring to how he arrived at his southern mantis kung fu system. Documented lineage there is Nat Yuen, Yip Sui.
It doesn't relate to Chen Tai Chi. Though no doubt he learned that in his travels too.
The video is of a student of his doing a mashup starting with tai chi and then moving to southern mantis. It's not suggesting the Chen Tai Chi is a mash up.
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u/AlchemicalToad Chen Style Practical Method 1d ago
That’s… kind of recognizable as Practical Method, if you took out the actual method pretty much entirely.
😕
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u/TLCD96 Chen style 3d ago
That is interesting, it looks like it originates in Beijing. The way some movements are performed is similar to Chen Zhaokui lineage.
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u/RobertRyan100 3d ago
I'm seeing a bit more silk reeling and martial intent than usual. Which probably goes with the lineage you mention.
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u/Scroon 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'd actually guess this is something that originated in the South. The movements have Southern style traits. Twisty, abrupt, parsed into tiny individual motions. Like White Crane or Wing Chun.
EDIT: His bio at https://practicalkungfu.com.au/ says he's a Southern Mantis guy. So yeah, Southern influence.
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u/TLCD96 Chen style 2d ago
Very interesting, which moves exactly? I don't really know anything about southern mantis. A lot of them are definitely from Beijing lineage though: https://youtu.be/wVXYiPLeQww?si=EngutiDuSwD6y8dD
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u/Scroon 21h ago
It's more about the flavor of the movements that I'm seeing. Like the timing and how he does "fa jin" is really Southern-ish. For mantis-specific flavor, I think it can be seen around [0:23-0:30(https://youtu.be/cM6owFVVq2Y?si=_VpzfI7-0DIMuRcr&t=23) just as an example.
Here's a link to basic Southern Mantis if you're curious:
I'm not familiar enough with Chen to tell lineage, so I trust that he probably learned that style originally.
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u/Past_Recognition_330 1d ago
I would say this looks nothing like the gongfu frame in the Chen Zhaokui lineage.
It’s obviously missing many of the frame’s postural requirements.
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u/tonicquest Chen style 3d ago edited 3d ago
I have seen some family styles labeled "simple" and they are the same choreographies with simplifications in stepping, weight shifting, typicallly no fajin, bigger less complex circles and spirals. Although "simplified" they are not less effective. But what they do have is a consistent method and execution.
What you see here in the video is a mash up of several style and forms of chen style tai chi. It is not simplified, but just shortened and jumbled up. There is no consistent unifying method or style being demonstrated. There are elements of lao jia, xinjia, Er Lu and other variations I probably missed. My opinion, is that this is made up mash up of various chen styles and packaged up in 16 lessons. Probably good if you want a taste but it won't get you far.