In 2005 when CXW ask us to become his disciple I said, “but we don’t even really know your Taiji yet, how can we become your disciple?” He said, “because I trust your respect.” Derryl Willis and I looked at each other for a long moment and then picked our jaws up off the ground. I said, “who else are you asking?” (I have a bold way like that! LOL) Over the next few months, Bill & Allison Helm, Betty Dong & Chris Forde, James Cravens, C.P. One, Jim & Angie Criscimagna from the United States and 18 others from the UK, Poland, Switzerland and Germany prepared mentally and as best we could, physically to become Grandmaster’s first international and first non-Chinese group of disciples. (We were not the first Westerners, Jan Silberstorff had that singular honor, already having been studying with CXW for several years, becoming his disciple in 1995, though he was to be with our group that next March, 2006.)
There is no easy way of getting to Chenjiagou even today, but in 2006 there was not even a direct flight from Seattle to Beijing. Derryl and I embarked upon a 2-day journey to the Chen Village. Almost 28 hours of flights and layovers and 16 hours of time change, we met the others from the US in Zheng Zhou and checked in to the Sofitel. The next day we met others from around the world who had similarly journeyed in and got on a buses to Wen Xian. We stayed in Wen Xian that week because there was only one dorm in the Village and it was in very bad repair. In fact, the Village most of you reading this know was still many, many years in the future. At that time there was no consistent, if any, hot water. The toilets, well, the toilets…
But Wen Xian was nice! As a bustling small town of 400,000 it was fine for our needs. Every day we took small buses into Chenjiagou. The roads were muddy and potholed. It took 45 minutes or so. By compare that trip now is a breeze; we travel by small electric buses on fast well paved highways. It takes around 15 minutes.
Preparing for the disciple ceremony was a terrifying experience! It was the first time most of us encountered Chen Xiao Xing and it was the first time he encountered us. It was CXX who taught us how to bow, and as you might suspect, he taught us old school. We must have appeared so unruly to him as we practiced our flawed technique over and over again. CXW saw how stressed out we were, repeatedly kneeling down and banging our heads on the carpet of the dining hall where we rehearsed. (That carpet!) He stopped us all and said, “if you forget the technique, remember the feeling.” I’ll never forget how he met our nauseating stress of this impending time, with such graciousness. And then we continued to practice under CXX’s strict guidance.
The ceremony itself was a huge media event. Press and dignitaries came from all over. We all crammed shoulder to shoulder into the Temple. It was hot and stuffy. A Pig’s head and bowls of fruit were formally laid out while statues of Chen Wang Ting, Chen Ruxin and Chen Soule looked on. Incense wafted in every corner. Chen Xiao Wang sat in a decorated red wood chair to the side of the altar with 27 disciple books next to him. We approached one by one, kneeled down, bowed. He gave us the red book. We bowed, and one more time, bowed, got up and walked back to our place. I will never forget looking directly in Chen Xiao Wang’s eyes during that exchange. I was looking not just at him but back into hundreds of years of history. Now I was part of that line, this family. Since that time CXW has grown his Taiji family a thousand-fold. Now, hundreds bow at a time. Others in the family also have taken many disciples and Chen Family Taijiquan has spread throughout the world. Yet, it will always be a profound honor to have been one of 27 in that first group.
After this time my resolve to never return to China began to weaken. Since I have been back 10 +/- times. Each time the Village changes in unrecognizable ways, but my home school and that time remain at the root of my experience. This will never change. The people I know, the training I’ve had, the training my students and community have had, all the deep relationships I continue to have, stemmed from that moment and are woven deeply into my body and heart. No matter what happens there in the future, this will never change.
Now, of course, I long to return and daily tend to the fear I may not be able to for some time to come.
