The original article is preserved below as two article-page scans with a readable transcription. A related FYI photo page from the same April 25, 2009 issue is included after the article scans.
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It's World Tai Chi Day, Kansas City.
A big deal? It is to Chen Huixian (pronounced “HWAY-shen”) of Roeland Park.
Her family invented the martial art in China during the Ming Dynasty, about 400 years ago. The 27-year-old moved here from China in December.
Wait. The founder of Chen-style tai chi (pronounced “tie jee”), practiced by countless millions of people throughout the world, has a direct relative living in the Kansas City area?
You don't have to take her word for it. She has books (including one with her picture in it) that say her ancestor Chen Wang Ting invented the ancient art. She also has an uncle who is one of the most famous tai chi grandmasters in the world. That uncle, Chen Zhenglei (JUNG-lay), is visiting Kansas City in the fall to teach tai chi with her.
You could say Michael Chritton is also a fan. He's a tai chi instructor and, since February, Chen Huixian's husband.
“It's important that people are aware of what an awesome thing it is to have a true, authentic, original tai chi expert from (tai chi's ancestral home of) Chen Village teaching here,” he said. “I mean, we have the real thing. Most places in the U.S. can't say that.”
Then again, most places can't say they're the home of World Tai Chi Day. The celebration, now in 65 countries, was founded 10 years ago in Kansas City by local tai chi expert Bill Douglas.
World Tai Chi and Qigong Day is an annual event on the last Saturday of April each year to make people aware of the benefits of tai chi. It starts at 10 a.m. in New Zealand and begins at 10 a.m. across the globe, ending at 10 a.m. in Hawaii.
“It's very gratifying to have one of the original family members here because the whole purpose of World Tai Chi Day was to acknowledge this great gift that Chinese culture has given the world in the form of tai chi,” Douglas said.
Chen Huixian, a tall, lean and buff woman with a joyous smile and infectious laugh, has practiced tai chi since age 6. By all accounts she's pretty good at it. As a young girl, she said, she was once matched against two older boys at the same time. She beat them both.
Now she's a tai chi master.
What is tai chi?
It's both a martial art and a health exercise. There are five styles. The two best known are Yang Style, a slower, more upright style that focuses on relaxation and health, and Chen Style, which incorporates low-crouching movements with jumps, stomps and explosive energy releases.
Both styles, which emphasize breathing and balance, are based on Taoist principles of yin and yang. Tai chi is recognized by many medical experts as having numerous health benefits.
Chen (her last name, which is written first in Chinese) said tai chi is good for both the body and the mind.
“There was one of my uncle's students who was a high level officer in the Chinese air force who had a very bad temper,” she said through a translator. “He always yelled at his subordinates. After he practiced tai chi he changed a lot. He changed so much he said tai chi must have done something good for him.”
Studies have shown the regular practice of tai chi can help with everything from blood pressure and blood sugar to weight loss, arthritis pain, stress reduction and sleep.
Chritton even thinks it can make you a better person.
“There's just this spirit,” he said, using his wife's uncle as an example. “From cultivating years of tai chi, Master Chen is almost like a kid when it comes to personality. He's fun, he's jovial, he's energetic. It's just amazing.”
Today Chen wants to bring these benefits to more students. She's teaching the original Chen-style tai chi at various locations throughout the city.
How did she get to Kansas City?
That story involves local tai chi master Gary Huff. Huff owns Three Dragons Way, a tai chi school that leases space from Plaza Wellspring, a wellness center behind the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Library.
It started around 2000, when Huff was looking for an authentic source from whom to learn tai chi. He came across Chen's uncle, who was giving a seminar in Iowa.
For Huff, a black belt in karate and in many other disciplines, this was an opportunity not to be missed. Huff went to Iowa to meet the master.
Huff invited him to Kansas City. Later, Chen Zhenglei — whose fame Huff likens to Tiger Woods’ — invited Huff to China to attend his international tai chi camp.
When Huff traveled to China in 2004, Michael Chritton was one of the students who went with him. It was there that Chritton would meet his future wife.
The relationship started in an unusual way.
With pizza.
After a training session, Chritton wanted a break from Chinese food.
“Cappuccino!” Chen said.
“Yeah,” Chritton said. “Cappuccino. The American pizza restaurant. Who knew?”
Here's the thing. Chritton, who didn't know the language, needed someone to take him.
Chen got the job.
Despite the language barrier, the two hit it off. There was a lot of smiling and laughing and drawing on napkins. But one thing was clear. They both liked tai chi — and each other.
Chritton was smitten. He returned to China two more times, and not just to train. He also wanted to see Chen, whom he had kept in touch with via phone and e-mail. Chritton knew a few phrases in Mandarin, and Chen spoke just enough English to make it possible to communicate.
Love bloomed. And one afternoon sightseeing in Beijing, Chritton took Chen to the Temple of Heaven, a giant park with monuments where Chinese emperors would pray to the gods.
With Chen standing on the center stone of a famous monument, Chritton got down on one knee, pulled out a diamond ring and proposed. She accepted, and a crowd of tourists began applauding.
There was only one problem.
“Both our hands were shaking, and it was hard to get the ring on her finger,” he said.
A year and a half later, Chen got her visa approved and came to the U.S. She and Chritton were married two months later on Valentine's Day.
Chen likes her new life here. She's constantly amazed at how clear the skies are. In China, she said, they're too often polluted. When she's not teaching tai chi she takes English classes.
She's not as homesick as she might be coming to a new country. That's because Huff has a girlfriend he also met in China. Liu Katya does tai chi, and she and Chen have become great friends.
Said Huff: “Huixian, Michael, Katya and I share Chen tai chi. That's what's brought us together. That's why we're friends and why we're all together here. And we're actively promoting Chen tai chi in the Midwest. And now that we have an authentic (teacher) who goes right back to the source, we couldn't be happier.”
Related FYI photo page
