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? We’ll probably not know for sure.
Continue reading “Diary 4/19/26: The Yang Family Tai Ji Quan Curriculum and Yang Sau-Chaung “Year: 2026
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?”