About Us
Practical Method Sydney 澳洲悉尼實用拳法
Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method is an inheritance of the original Grandmaster Chen Fake teachings passed through Grandmaster Hong Junsheng. The choreography is kept intact while some of the hidden applications are brought to light in order to make the forms and applications identical, therefore the title Practical Method. This form is the combination of Gong and Fa.
The Sydney Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy, also known as Practical Method Sydney, was officially established in 2012. Paul Janssens traveled to China to attend Master Chen Zhonghua's three month full time training course on Daqingshan in 2010, after which he invited Master Chen to conduct workshops in Sydney and Canberra in 2012. Since then, Master Chen has conducted regular two day workshops in Sydney. These workshops have attracted many people from around Australia to learn from Master Chen.
Each workshop typically covers theory, foundations, Yilu (the first Taiji barehand form), applications and push hands. Practical Method is a system based on separation of yin and yang. The main concept is indirect power. The primary actions are in with elbow no hand, out with hand no elbow.
The Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy headquarters is located in Daqingshan, Wulian, Shandong Province, China. International students train year-round on Daqingshan. Daqingshan holds one of the largest Taiji competitions in China annually.
Brian Chung, Master Chen Zhonghua’s 256th disciple, is an instructor for Practical Method Sydney. He has been teaching and promoting the Practical Method system in Sydney since 2018. He has received numerous medals in various Taiji competitions in Australia & China. He has completed over 19,000 Yilus and will continue to further his learning.
Master Chen Zhonghua
陈中华老师
Master Chen Zhonghua, also known as Dongliang, was born in 1961 in the city of Weifang, Shandong province. He is a well-known lineage holder of Chen Style Taijiquan. In his youth, he studied Sitongchui, Baji, Chaquan, etc. In 1979, he entered the Foreign Languages Department of the Shandong University.
Consequently he studied Chen Style Taijiquan at the Black Tiger Springs Park in Jinan from Grandmaster Hong Junsheng, 18th generation master of Chen Style Taijiquan. At the introduction of Master Li Enjiu, 19th generation master of Chen Style Taijiquan and president of the Jinan Martial Arts Academy, he became a disciple of Grandmaster Hong Junsheng. In 1998, through the introduction of Mr. Liu He and Professor Feng Xiufang, he became a disciple of Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang, 18th generation master of Chen Style Taijiquan and founder of the Hunyuan Taiji System.
On June 18, 2004, Hong Junsheng family and disciples officially selected him as the “International Standard Bearer of the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method.” Master Chen Zhonghua has been a serious learner of martial arts since his childhood. Throughout his life, he kept up with his pursuit. Besides learning from his two masters, he also has the mind set of ignoring shame and learn from whoever has the knowledge. This lead to his learning from other senior follow disciples of his, including Li Enjiu, Feng Xiufang, Feng Xiuqian, Xu Guicheng, Han Baoli, and Chen Xiang, to name a few.
In 1985 he went to Canada to teach Taijiquan, thus starting his promotion of Chen Style Taijiquan abroad. To date, Master Chen Zhonghua has students and disciples, and has established branches all over the world including China, Canada, USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia. He was once a member of the Shandong University Martial Arts Association, member of the Regina Taijiquan Association, Director of the Taoist Martial Arts Association of Saskatchewan, director of the Canadian United Guoshu Federation and a member of the Canadian Taijiquan Federation.
With the knowledge of Chen Style Taijiquan of two of the 18th generation grandmasters in him and over 40 years of learning and practicing, Master Chen Zhonghua has a unique understanding of the rich contents of the forms, internal energy, theory and application. His understanding does not fall under the conventional view. Be it the view into the core of Taijiuqan, into the fighting applications of it, into the methods for learning, Master Chen Zhonghua has deep insights unparallelled by his peers. He has produced many works of taiji writing and videos. He has also translated Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang’s “Hunyan Qigong” and Grandmaster Hong Junsheng’s “Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method“.
