My first teacher in Chinese martial arts Johnny F. Chiuten (AKA Wong Fiaksan) told me, circa 1964, that the style he was teaching me was called Hong Cha, Angka or Hung Gar. For quite a long time, we carried that name. Chiuten shifu’s master Lao Kim (AKA Goon Tiong) studied in a Fujian Shaolin Temple. We have no evidence to show where it was, except that it was burned by Qing Dynasty soldiers because it became the refuge of anti-Qing Dynasty rebels from the Shaolin Temple in Loyang. By that time Lao Kim, a lay monk had already moved away and eventually ended up in the Philippines.
Continue reading “Dragon Tiger Fujian Temple Kungfu”Author: renejnavarro
Teaching Methods: Then and Now
LEARNING TAI CHI CHUAN: THEN AND NOW
***Gin Soon Chu: Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan Lineage Master
Shigong Gin Soon Chu, the second disciple of Yang Sau-Chaung/Yeung Shou-Zhong, brought the lineage curriculum of Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan to the United States in 1969. For those who do not know it yet, Yang Sau-Chaung was the oldest son and heir of the legendary Yang Chengfu who almost single-handedly introduced Tai Chi Chuan to China in the 1920s until his death in 1936.
Continue reading “Teaching Methods: Then and Now”Diary 8/8/26: The Teaching Methods
My introduction to Chinese martial arts, called Kungfu at the time, started with my first master Johnny F. Chiuten in1964. He had trained with the old lay monk Lao Kim in Manila’s Chinatown. He was teaching my room mate in the university right there in our dorm room. Whenever I returned at dawn from the printing press after working on the school newspaper, I would see them practicing there. One day, eating in the school cafeteria,
Continue reading “Diary 8/8/26: The Teaching Methods “Diary7/21/26: A Note on the Mystery of Healing
Notes on the Mystery of Healing:
Every so often I would receive a Thank You note, a hearty handshake or a simple smile from people I have treated. One time, a group of doctors from the US went on a medical mission to an island in Southern Philippines. One morning there was a man who I was told had not walked or was unable to walk for 10 years. He came assisted by two men to the school where the western doctors were treating patients from the villages, teenagers who needed circumcision, women who had large uterine tumors and children who required surgery for harelip. I do not know how this disabled man became my patient but I think it was probably because nobody thought they could do anything for him. Besides I was the only acupuncturist in the group and I guess I needed something to do with my hands.
Continue reading “Diary7/21/26: A Note on the Mystery of Healing”Diary 7/18/26: The Journey Continues
The Journey Continues: The Dragon at 85
I wrote a bit about my own journey in my book “Of Fire and Water: Alchemy and Transformation” (Tambuli Media: 2023) and one essay “The Dragon at 75” summed up the years before. I do not know how many people who bought the book sit down to reflect on what I have said about life or even martial arts. The essays and videos in my website are possibly glossed over or ignored too. It’s the nature of the culture, the modern barrage of information overload and our busy lives. At least I have not heard anything much from the readers. As Philippine national hero Jose Rizal said, We plant a tree not knowing if we are going to sit under its shade. Just the same, we do our work, we sow the seeds, hoping they will land on fertile ground. I do not know if I will still be around to hear what people will say about my impact, if any, on their lives or at least their practices.
Continue reading “Diary 7/18/26: The Journey Continues”Diary 4/19/26: The Yang Family Tai Ji Quan Curriculum and the Yang Sau-Chaung Lineage
When Yang Lushan/Losim was supposed to be eavesdropping in on the secret classes of Chen Chanxing, what did he see? The records, true or false, indicate he saw fist forms and Push Hands. There is no indication that weapons – long or short – were practiced. When Zhang Sanfeng developed his own version of Tai chi chuan, it was a fist form that he choreographed. No mention of weapons at all. How many fist forms were there? When were the weapons forms developed and included in the curriculum? How did the curriculum develop? We’ll probably not know for sure.
Continue reading “Diary 4/19/26: The Yang Family Tai Ji Quan Curriculum and the Yang Sau-Chaung Lineage “Articles in the Halo Halo Review
Here are links to three articles in the latest issue of the Halo Halo Review by or about Rene :
AT AGE 85, RENE J. NAVARRO LOOKS BACK AT HIS POETRY:
https://halohaloreview.blogspot.com/2025/11/at-age-84-rene-j-navarro-looks-back-
at.html
RENE J. NAVARRO CREATES A NEW FUTURE FOR HIS EXTENSIVE LIBRARY
https://halohaloreview.blogspot.com/2025/11/rene-j-navarro-creates-new-future-for.html
“EARLY CHILDHOOD IN BAMBAN”
https://halohaloreview.blogspot.com/2025/11/early-childhood-in-bamban-by-rene-j.html
Diary 1/10/26: A De-Colonized Taijiquan?
A quote from the preface of my book “Of Fire and Water: Alchemy and Transformation”
(Tambuli Media: 2023):
A last cautionary tale. The Western Procrustean Bed. The Eastern paradigm of the human being and the world includes not just the physical and material but also the energetic, mystical, intellectual, emotional as well as the spiritual. But much of Eastern culture is often perceived and practiced through the framework of the materialistic West. Yoga has been reduced to an exercise for physical fitness and flexibility, meditation as a mode of relaxation, and nothing more. Martial art, a temple discipline among monks, has become just a system of fighting, sans philosophy, compassion, and virtues. Sunzi’s Art of War, the classic of warfare, is just a manual for capitalist business and gamesmanship. Eastern disciplines often pass through the procrustean bed of the West. We have a long way to go to reach the heart of authentic Eastern culture.
Continue reading “Diary 1/10/26: A De-Colonized Taijiquan?”Book Launch at Marble in NYC
It was a lovely weekend in New York City.
It was a wonderful birthday celebration for my wife Lolit (now 84, the Year of the Snake)) and me (85, the year of the Dragon). We spent the weekend in NYC. Ace, the hotel on 29th Street where we stayed, is a historic landmark. Albert made a great choice of hotel and restaurants (one traditional Sichuan for lunch, another a fusion cuisine (both oh Saturday), and the last Middle Eastern (on Sunday afternoon). He also volunteered to sell my books at the door of the chapel at Marble Collegiate Church: we made a good income, but I won’t abandon everything to become a full-time writer yet. Lovely company: Laura, Ava, Charl, Isabel, Jay and on Sunday Carlos Esguerra, the famous photographer, and Romy Dorotan, the famous chef, both brothers from the Alpha Phi Fraternity of the University of the Philippines. Lola Lolit told me that she had the most wonderful time of her life! Which is definitely the truest compliment she could say for all the loving fellowship we had over the weekend. Not to mention the food, the steamed fish with fermented beans, the Su Dong Po Pork, Peking Duck and for Lola, the pineapple beer. As she would often say, PRICELESS!!! I share her sentiments. It was a great time. I thought the Book Launch organized by Mario Sprouse and Karla Hendrick at the Mable Collegiate Church chapel was incomparable.
Continue reading “Book Launch at Marble in NYC”Diary 9/13/25: Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan Solo Fist 108
CAVEAT: Sadly, the video starts when my hands are already up to the level of my shoulders. In the process of transferring the film to VHS and later to DVD, a short strip got deleted. The actual opening movement starts with the hands down beside my thighs facing the back; then they turn slowly until the palms are facing the front before they are raised with the palms up. When the hands reach shoulder level, they stop and turn over, palms down.
Continue reading “Diary 9/13/25: Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan Solo Fist 108”