On Tuesday, February 22, 2000 the Taiji and Internal Arts world was robbed of a true master of the arts, a kind, generous teacher, and a shinning example of a real student.
A native of Hunan province China, Tchoung Ta Tchen devoted his life to learning, studying, refining, sharing, and teaching the internal arts, specializing in Yang Taiji Quan.
He sought to raise the quality of Taiji practice and teaching so that future generations would have the opportunity to train in the real internal arts. He gave the greatest gift any teacher could to his students:
Strong, solid basics in order to advance
A system and roadmap to follow for success
Good training habits to develop skill
A curiosity to question, research in order to understand
To think for themselves and develop their own art
"First you learn the alphabet, the form. Next you learn to read, this is Tuishou (push hands). If you can't use the alphabet to read it's no use. Then, you write your own thoughts and words. If you can't read and write your study of the alphabet is useless."
"Taiji is the same. We practice the form to improve our health and become stronger. Tuishou shows us if our practice is correct and how to correct it. Applications and daily life is where we apply our practice."
(From the Memorial Page by Andrew Dale)