“Feet Heavy
Dantian Full
Chest Clear
Mind Quiet
Whole Body Balanced, 8 Directions”

— Grandmaster Chen Xiao Wang

I met Grandmaster Chen Xiao Wang in San Francisco in 2002. I had been in the martial arts world since 1977 and specifically had been studying Taijiquan (Yang) since 1987. I studied Judo, Aikido, Qigong and Taijiquan deeply and over many years, always with the best teachers I could find. In those days these arts were much less accessible, not promoted widely (there was no Google search), and not really all that popular. One really had to be intentional about finding not just the great practitioners, but those who were also willing teachers.

My first meeting with Grandmaster CXW was eye opening to say the least. He had been travelling in the United States for a few years and whereas his reputation was building, he was better known in Europe. He was teaching in only a few places in the US: San Francisco, San Diego, Colorado and New York. I had never seen anyone like him in any martial art. At the end of the workshop, during which I received many corrections to a form I had never studied before, I asked for an introduction. I was nervous encountering someone with such charisma and power. I was introduced. He asked me a few questions about myself and my teaching. I felt he towered over me like a giant old growth tree. He looked at me with those dragon eyes. I invited him to Seattle on the spot.

Even though I thought perhaps his visit would be a few years hence, in a few days he called me. He had an opening in three weeks before he left the United States and could come. I said, “of course.” It was 5:00 am. I woke up my friend and colleague Derryl Willis, who had encouraged me to come to this workshop in the first place. I told him the news. After we picked our jaws up off the ground, we got to work. Hosting a teacher of this magnitude in that short a time was going to be a feat of will and of luck. We called everyone we knew (remember, email and social media didn’t really exist much at that point). We rented the venue. In three weeks, we had a workshop of 45 people.

Grandmaster was in Seattle for one week that October. In addition to the weekend workshop of Standing and Silk Reeling, the three of us spent time chasing ducks at Golden Gardens, eating and getting use to each other. Grandmaster is very charming and has a way of putting people at ease, which we both needed! Every day he worked with us privately for hours, correcting our Standing and teaching us his family’s basic form, the Laojia Yilu. It was an overwhelming, scary, uncomfortable and glorious experience. By the time we took him to the airport, we had him booked for the following year.

In 2003 and 2004 we took him to Lake Crescent for weeklong retreats. Those early workshops were small – around 10-15 people, and the personal training we all received for hours each day was potent. I remember one evening not wanting to sleep because I could feel every meridian in my body open and flowing. I laid on my bed throughout the night in an altered state, vibrating, breathing, meditating and committing the feelings to my body’s memory. After the last retreat we knew we had to expand access to Grandmaster so we began to host the workshops back in Seattle. I had just opened my school on Market Street so we had plenty of space for what would become years of visits from Grandmaster.

The last time GMCXW was in Seattle 2015 Market Street Dojo

In 2005 Grandmaster invited 26 of us to become his first formal international disciples. Though Jan Silberstorff of Germany had been his private disciple for many years prior, this was Grandmaster’s first effort to open the door to a group of foreigners. We would then be destined to help spread Chen Family Taijiquan all over the world. The ceremony also marked his commitment to provide us with the necessary resources to do so: his own training of us and unlimited access to his family with whom we were also to study. In 2006 we all boarded planes and headed for Chenjiagou for the formal ceremony.

The ceremony itself was deeply moving. Along with the 26 of us and Grandmaster, the Temple was packed with the media, Chen Family members and dignitaries of the province. There was a very strict protocol we all practiced for days prior to the actual ceremony. My goodness we were so nervous! Grandmaster knew this and calmly said, “if you forget the form, remember the feeling.”

For years and years we all studied directly with Grandmaster Chen Xiao Wang not just in our home cities but also following him to many destinations in the US and abroad. Grandmaster opened the door to many experiences few had. Outside of the workshops he gave us so much individual time – hours a day – teaching and correcting his family forms and especially the basics of Standing and Silk Reeling. He gave us private lectures on philosophy, history and theory. He guided us on how to teach. He gifted us with his calligraphy. It was truly an experience of direct transmission and “inner door student” training. Additionally, thanks to him, we hosted many family members and affiliated senior pracitioners. And with great excitement, many of us made multiple trips to China to the home Village, once if not twice a year.

His generosity, and our sincerity, continues to drive many of us to this day. Along with our relationship to our teacher, a large and exuberant network of students and friends has evolved through these decades of training. It is impossible to describe to the fullest the scale of influence and impact one human being has had not just on singular individuals, but on so many across the globe.

Grandmaster became very busy in China and years past without seeing him. We all continued our Chen Family training in China and at home, especially with his brother Chen Xiao Xing. Though we were not aware, just when Grandmaster was ready to travel, the Pandemic hit. Early this year he decided to visit Jan and teach in Germany. We all thought this was a singular event, but quickly his tour expanded due to his popularity. As he tells it, he was not sure he still had the energy to travel and teach at that level again, “but it’s been ok.” Heading into his 80th year he has now been on the road since May.

In early June, he called a few of us in the US and wanted to know if we would like to host him. Though it was not the short notice of 2002, it was still a head turner. Because so much has happened over the past 9 years and especially because the Pandemic changed many of our schools and models for teaching - his call set us all on our heels. But, after a lot of conversation, some of us took the chance that we could pull it off. This month, August of 2024, Grandmaster Chen Xiao Wang visited the US - San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago, for the first time since 2015.

Pulling his seminars together is always a huge amount of work with myriad details. In Seattle, thanks to several of us who called ourselves the “Chen Xiao Wang Organizing Team,” as well as the diligence of all the students attending, it was a huge success. It was just great to be with so many people training together again, with Grandmaster at the helm. Many people I thought may never be able to meet him had a chance to, and many of us who have trained with him for so long had a chance to once again.

The Thursday Standing Silk Reeling Group

When Derryl and I picked him up at the airport, we recognized him instantly. His straight, relaxed spine carried his loose, attentive frame calmly through the sea of chaotic baggage retrievers. As we approached each other, Grandmaster’s black hair was a bit greyer than a decade ago but remained thick and full. His skin, just as soft and wrinkle-free as we remembered. He squeezed us with his warm hug and then picked both Derryl and I up and lifted us off the floor in tandem. Yep, still just as strong. At 80.

Our event unfolded perfectly. The details of the warm-ups, Standing, Silk Reeling and Laojia Yilu were so familiar. We all had a chance to be corrected and to witness Grandmaster’s flowing and powerful demonstrations. It was quite moving to see students who never thought they would meet him, be able too. People understood instantly who they were on the floor with. Tears flowed. Laughter echoed. Smiles beamed. It was also fantastic to see several fellow disciples from “the old days” who flew in for this event. With rare exception all the original 26 continue to practice and teach. It shows in the 5 who were here. Everyone looked just great. Full of vitality and health even with the ups and downs of our lives.

5 of the original 26 disciples: Derryl, Liu Yu, Me, Betty, Joe Rea

At the intimate dinners, we shared laughter, many stories and photos of family grown. I’ve always loved Grandmaster’s metaphors and there were many. One of my favorites came as he looked out at Kevin’s and my garden. He took note of our apple tree and said, “when the Dantian is empty <of qi> it is like a small green apple. When it is full <of qi> it is like a large ripe, red apple.” The conversations were personal and vulnerable. We’ve all experienced a lot of loss over these years yet our training perseveres and endures.

Grandmaster spent a great deal of time in our garden. Everyday, morning and night, he stood on the deck and practiced his Standing, breathing, hip mobility exercises and dantian rotations. He adjusted his Qi, sometimes telling me that this and that part was uncomfortable and so he was working on that. It was inspiring to witness and to also know this is how it has always been for him.

Chen Xiao Wang also worked every day with my husband Kevin. Kevin sustained serious nerve damage last year from a surgery that has left him with significant numbness in his right leg. Through the week I saw Grandmaster work his magic of posture correction on Kevin. As he became more flowing, even feeling qi through the numbness, he regained confidence in his body I had not seen since before the surgery. The other day Kevin reflected, “Standing and Posture Correction is Grandmaster’s Medicine.”

All of us received generous doses of Grandmaster’s medicine throughout the week. For me I was curious if I would be able to again withstand one of his rigorous workshops. But as he corrected each movement each day, I became stronger, less fatigued and more confident. Even the smallest adjustment, just a simple tweak of a hand position here and there made a difference. He asked me if I felt more full. My face flushed with blood. I nodded. He laughed like a delighted child.

As the week came to a close we had dinner with a few senior students and friends. We shared what we felt has changed in our practice since we had seen each other. Without question, and with no hesitation, we all, including Grandmaster, said, “softer, more flowing.” I asked him later what he feels when he practices now, he replied, “comfortable.”

I took Grandmaster to see Bruce & Brandon Lee’s graves. He knew all the history of course, but was a bit more interested in the trees and in the cemetery as a whole. We wandered and he asked questions about the age of the trees and how the graves were organized and to whom the monuments were built. As we strolled I asked, “where do you want to be buried?” For those that know the history it is a ridiculous question. Of course he'll be buried at the Chen Family Graves in Chenjiagou. At that moment though, it was not disciple and Master, it was just two people walking through a cemetery and reflecting. He said, “I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it.” We both chuckled.

I hope the time he must think about it is many years in the future. I trust Grandmaster continues to enjoy good health and the respect he deserves for being a force of nature and a singular force in the world. He changed the face of Taijiquan, spread his family’s art around the world and made many sacrifices to do so. The decades and generations of students are his legacy and I hope he feels that as he travels around the world. I am deeply grateful to Grandmaster Chen Xiao Wang for providing all of us with a roadmap for a unique and meaningful life and a pathway to arrive at our elder years, as he has– softer and more flowing. Comfortable. I do hope Grandmaster and I see each other again. I hope you get to as well. Until then, calm down. Keep good posture.

A short demo from the workshop. This is what 80 can look like with a lifetime of cultivation.