Page 6 - Illustrated Chen Taijiquan Routine Ⅱ (Cannon Fist)

Foreword

On the evening of December 17, 2020, Beijing time, China’s Taijiquan was
inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during
the 15th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is of great significance to carry forward the out-
standing traditional culture of the Chinese nation, enhance the international influ-
ence of Chinese culture and promote the exchange of civilizations. We should seize
this new opportunity for the inheritance and development of Taijiquan worldwide,
and make greater efforts to promote the international cultural dissemination of Tai-
jiquan. In this context, the publication of this book is timely.
Since it was created by Chen Wangting in the late Ming and early Qing Dy-
nasties, Chen Taijiquan has been passed down from generation to generation.
Because of its unique self-cultivation and body-building effects, Taijiquan has
been practiced all over the country and spread widely in more than 150 countries
and regions, making it the martial arts health activity with the largest number of
practitioners in the world. People can also feel the traditional Chinese philosophy
through the yin-yang theory embodied by Taijiquan, enriching their perception of
the laws of nature and the operation of the human body.
The solo barehand forms left by Chen Wangting contain five Taiji sets, one
cannon fist set, and a 108-posture long boxing. Chen Changxing, member of the
fourteenth generation of Chen family and the sixth generation successor of Taiji-
quan, synthesized the ancestral sets into Chen Taijiquan Routine I and Routine II
(Cannon Fist), which have been handed down till now.
Compared with the softer Chen Taijiquan Routine I, Routine II (Cannon Fist)
is harder, faster, and more intense; therefore, it has fewer practitioners. In fact, the
hardness of Routine II is to make up for the softness in Routine I. Either of the two
routines has its own emphasis. Only the combination of them is the complete Chen
Taijiquan with yin-yang, and softness and hardness.
This Illustrated Chen Taijiquan Routine II (Cannon Fist) presents the large
and low frame 71-posture Chen Taijiquan, which is traced to Chen Fake, coming
down through Chen Zhaokui to Ma Hong. This book is the English version of the

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