“Chen Pan Ling was without a doubt the most knowledgeable person in the world on the principles, rationale and practice of Chinese Boxing”. Robert W. Smith (Author of “Chinese Boxing-Masters and Methods” and “Martial Musings”)

Grandmaster Chen Yun Ching, heir to the martial arts system of his father, Chen Pan Ling, has continued a great legacy that started around the beginning of the 20th Century in Mainland China. Chen Yun Ching was born June 3, 1939 in Chong Ching China, migrated to Taiwan with his family at six years of age and began his strict training in Shaolin Boxing at the age of eight. In his adolescence he progressed to the three main systems of Chinese Internal Gung Fu - Tai Ji Quan, Xing Yi Quan and Ba Gua Zhang. He mastered his father’s complete Martial and Healing Arts systems but never taught publicly in Taiwan until his retirement in 1999. Since that time, Master Chen has opened an Academy in Tai Chung and teaches full time. His life’s mission is to ensure that his father’s arts are passed down as accurately as possible, thus preserving the Traditional Arts of China for future generations.

In order to understand the significance of the legacy bestowed upon Master Chen we must learn something about his father’s history and training.
Chen Pan Ling was born in Hsi Ping Hsien, Henan Province China in 1892 to a Martial Arts family. His Father was responsible for teaching him Shaolin Boxing from the age of seven. As Chen Pan Ling grew his wealthy and well connected Father sought out the best and most famous Masters of each style, and he learned Shaolin Quan, Xing Yi Quan, Tai Ji Quan and Ba Gua Zhang.

His lineage is comprised of the greatest Masters of China at the time. His Tai Ji Quan teachers were Wu Chien-chuan, Yang Shou-hou , Hsu Yu-sheng and Chi Tzu-hsiu, all from the Yang Lu-chan lineage. Chen Pan Ling also visited Chenjiagou (Chen Village) on several occasions in the late 1920’s to conduct further training and research. In Xing Yi he studied directly under Liu Tsai-chen and Li Tsun-I from the Lui Chi-Lan lineage.

In Ba Gua he studied directly under Chen Hai-ting, Hsu Yu-sheng and Tung Lien-chi all from the Tung Hai-chuan lineage.
He also obtained a degree in mechanical and hydraulic engineering, and he used this to study movement.

Chen Pan Ling was vice-president and founder of the Henan Province School of The Central Martial Arts Institute (Chung Yang Kuo Shu Kuan), which was established in Nanking in 1928. Chang Chih-chiang was the political figurehead of the institute. Its name soon changed to The Central Martial Arts Academy and included many of the most capable and famous Masters of the day. The school’s curriculum was divided into two main categories, Shaolin styles, which included Shaolin boxing, Cha Ch'uan, Tan T'ui, and Pa Chi and Wu Tang styles, which included Tai Ji Quan, Xing Yi Quan, Ba Gua Zhang, and Liu Ho Pa Fa. Chen Pan-ling was also one of the main coaches of the Chinese demonstration team at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

Chen Pan Ling was regarded as a rebel in his day and opposed secrecy and exclusiveness of training in any way. He sought to standardize Chinese Boxing methods, forms, and theories and saw this as the best way for the Arts to survive for future generations, with no ego or cult of personality involved. A great example of this philosophy is the 99 Pattern Authentic Tai Ji Quan of China developed by a committee of the greatest masters in China with Chen Pan Ling as Chairman.

By 1941, hundreds of family styles had been developing aside from Yang, Chen, Sun, and the two Wu's that we hear most about today. Consequently, the Nationalist government envisioned eventual fragmentation of the arts and sought to standardize them. For such a task, the Nationalist government’s Department of Education and Military Training organized a committee composed of many distinguished martial artists and specialists formed to develop curriculum for kuo shu texts and to standardize martial arts. The committee met in Chungking in 1941 because Nanking was occupied by the Japanese at that time. The committee completed its work after three years, and submitted their results to the Nationalist (KMT) government with more than 50 different kinds of standardized textbooks written, along with 40 wall posters and illustrations. Unfortunately, the KMT neglected to take the materials with them when they left for Taiwan in 1949--five years later--amidst the Communist Party attack upon them, so the materials were lost.

When Chen Pan Ling came to Taiwan after the Communist takeover of the Mainland, he used all his energy to get a school going and promote the martial arts. He was head of the Chinese Martial Association in Taiwan from 1959 until his death in 1967. During those years he taught and published books on the Chinese martial arts, including Shaolin, Tai Ji Quan, Ba Gua Zhang, and Xing Yi Quan in addition to being a National Assembly member of the Chinese Nationalist Government. He had the help of Chiang Kai-Shek, who was his close friend and adopted brother. He really worked hard to promote martial arts as well as the spiritual aspects of the arts, and used all his knowledge to improve the standard of practice in the martial arts.

Grandmaster Chen Yun Ching was taught in the traditional manner that his father was taught and offered this advice. “In the traditional way I learned Shaolin gung fu first, and after that I started to do the other Arts.

External training should become internal in the long run, and the internal styles may incorporate the external with the use of relaxed power like Fa Jing. The Wai Jia (External)and the Nei Jia (Internal)both need to be practiced. You need a balance, because the external practices are faster and have more action. But you need control too, and internal methods are more involved with developing the mind and the qi. But in the end the hard has to meet the soft and the soft must come together with the hard. They have to mix together.” He also says, “Choose a competent teacher that you can relate to and be inspired by and find a system to follow.”

Master Chen believes that if you want to build strong qi inside, you can’t do it just practicing Xing Yi, or Ba Gua, or Tai Ji Quan. It must be in combination with the long term practice of breathing exercises. You aren’t getting qi from forms. You are getting it from the combination of the breathing with movement. In that way you develop natural internal energy or qi.

Master Chen says that the integration of meditation with Qigong and martial arts will vary depending on the system and the teacher, and believes it to be an integral part of training because meditation calms the mind. When you combine your training with meditation the process is even more powerful. “In martial arts we understand from Chinese Medicine that we are multi-dimensional beings. We have a mind, a body, and a spirit. This plays an important part in martial arts practice, with the eventual goal of transforming us into a better person. These arts can be an exciting vehicle toward helping develop an awareness and appreciation for the spiritual dimension”

The Martial Arts System that Master Chen Yun Ching is passing down includes:

The 99 Posture Taiji Form - The Form itself follows the large frame sequence of the Old Yang style, before any of the changes that eventually came about when it became much more widespread in the rest of the world. The old Wu style is represented well in this form, using modified versions of the postures. Many of these postures are shared by the Old Yang style, showing how closely linked the “old” styles of Yang and Wu really were in the early 20th century. Some postures also use a slight forward incline with a rounded back, not always a plumb erect stance. The old Chen style's influence is evident throughout the form in the characteristic low twisting postures, and use of "corkscrew" strength and "silk reeling" energy. Power is issued by the twisting of the waist and the sinking of weight into the legs, coordinating with the rest of the body. The open palm formation of the hand, or "tile palm", is also adapted from the Chen system as well as the "press" being in a downward direction.

The performance of the postures looks to be more obviously martial than some of the modified forms that have been created in recent years for health purposes. They are detailed with many possible applications and techniques that include parrying, punching, kicking, striking, and throwing, as well as chin na grasps and releases, close quarters grappling, and twisting.

Push Hands (Tui Shou)
Master Chen thinks the most important skill to develop is “Listening Hands” or Ting Shou. The skill comes from ”listening” with your whole body. Starting to fight full contact too early can be detrimental. Better to understand the foundation principles. Train your body and mind to respond to an attack in a very natural way with no set responses.

Ba Gua Zhang
The genuine Swimming Dragon system (Long Xing Ba Gua Zhang) that Dong Hai Quan passed on to his students. It descended through Cheng Ting Hua, to Cheng You Long, to Chen Pan Ling and now to Chen Yun Ching and his students. It emphasizes moving like a dragon would move. It’s a complete system of Ba Gua including bare handed forms and weapons such as Dragon Sword, and Dragon Staff.

Xing Yi Quan
The Five Fists Forms: Splitting, Crushing, Drilling, Pounding and Crossing

12 Animal Forms: Dragon, Tiger, Monkey, Horse, Water Lizard, Chicken, Falcon, Swallow, Snake, T’ai Bird, and combined Eagle and Bear.

Additional Forms: Linking Form, Suba Form, Staff Form

Chen Pan Ling also created an intricate and beautiful 46 posture Sword form and the “Thunder Stick” Form. Chen Yun Ching explains “that the Thunder Stick form contains movements and techniques that drew from his father’s extensive knowledge of Shaolin Gung Fu and Chinese Internal styles namely Tai Ji Quan, Xing Yi Quan and Ba Gua Zhang. It contains a balanced expression and rhythm of movements that could be used for blocking, striking and restraining with natural upright movements that could be mastered quickly and by people of all ages and abilities.” Chen Pan Ling preferred a stick that measured from the ground to the navel and had a pommel on the top for striking, and this he believed offered greater versatility and simplicity.

In the fall of 2006
Grandmaster Chen visited the United States for the first “Spirit of my Father” Tour with Seminars in San Francisco CA, Rochester NY, Atlanta GE, and Ft. Lauderdale FL. His adopted brother James Sumarac and wife Shou Mei, from Wu Lin Retreat, a martial healing arts centre in Australia, accompanied him to assist and translate. The trio came to Rochester for 5 days of training and enjoyed a side trip to Niagara Falls, which Master Chen had always wanted to see. They then went to New York City to see the sights.

The Chen Pan Ling Preservation Group in Atlanta hosted them and some of the group went with them to visit martial arts author Robert W. Smith in Asheville NC. They went to lunch at Cheng Man Ching's son's restaurant in Asheville and later watched some video clips of Chen Pan Ling that Mr. Smith had from his time training with Chen Yun Ching’s famous father. To continue the seminars a 40 Year Commemorative Workshop to celebrate the life of Chen Pan Ling was conducted in January 2007. Martial Art enthusiasts from all over the world gathered at an idyllic retreat at Nantou nestled in the mountains of central Taiwan. They experienced a 10 day workshop on the Chinese Martial disciplines of Chen Pan Ling as taught to his two sons that continue the legacy, Chen Yun Ching and Chen Yun Chao.

Seminars continued in Australia and France over the last two years and will happen once again this year in the US with the “Link in the Chain Tour” when Master Chen, James and Shou Mei will visit two California locations, Rochester NY, Washington DC and Miami. Master Chen has created The Chen Pan Ling Foundation and a website www.chenpanling.com to provide a way to keep the world informed.

The mission of the Chen Pan Ling Foundation is preserving the art of Chen Pan Ling as taught by Grandmaster Chen Yun Ching, lineage holder and youngest son of Chen Pan Ling. Chen Yun Ching made a promise to his father before he died to continue his life’s work of spreading the unique Chen Pan Ling martial art system throughout the world.

Brian Bruning is a teacher, student and current Secretary of The Rochester T’ai Chi Ch’uan Center in Rochester NY www.rtccc.com

A version of this article was published in the 2008 Sept/Oct. issue of Kung Fu T’ai Chi Magazine.

Grandmaster Chen Yun Ching’s Lineage Charts