Inside Kung-Fu's 2000 Hall of Fame
Inside Kung-Fu's first Hall of Fame of the millennium is a wonderful contrast of old and new, of yesterday's heroes and tomorrow's champions. In martial arts, the true worth of a practitioner is judged not only by what he has done today, but rather how he will be remembered tomorrow. In Man of the Year William C. C. Chen, IKF has chosen someone who will go down in history as one of the finest and most influential traditional internal stylists of his generation.
Some years ago, during a photo shoot for Inside Kung-Fu magazine, an editor decided to test William C. C. Chen's tai chi skills. At the time, Chen was tossing around one of his students like a rag doll and the reporter, forgetting for a moment with whom he was dealing, thought the movements were more play acting and less action. Twenty seconds and a flick of the wrist later the reporter was peeling himself off a brick wall 20 feet away, thankful that Chen only chose to "toy" with the foolish doubter. The incident spoke volumes about Chen. Although long known as America's foremost authority on Tai Chi combat. Chen was a reluctant warrior who rarely spoke about himself. But when push came to shove, when some iodiot with a notebook drew a blue pencil line in the sand, he gladly accepted the challenge.
William C. C. Chen, Inside Kung-Fu's "Man of the Year," has been the world's best-kept secret. Which is hard to believe considering he may also have a most-impressive lineage. Unless you lived with the great Cheng Man-Ching himself, you'd be hardpressed to find someone more connected to the roots of Tai Chi.
In fact, you couldn't, because Chen not only became a disciple of Cheng, he stayed at the professor's house and taught the new students. Now that's what you call wired.
Born in Chekiang province, China, he began teaching in Taiwan in 1952. He moved to Hawaii in 1962 for good three years later, relocated to New York City. Instructors in Chinatown quickly discovered they had a martial arts gem.
There may have been many Yang style teachers, but William C. C. Chen stood apart in his approach to teaching, his incredible background and his emphasis on actual fighting.
"Many tai chi masters prefer to emphasize the health aspect and the mental relaxation, but in reality tai chi chuan is a martial art," he said in a 1999 Inside Kung-Fu interview.
Maybe a lot of teachers don't want to involve themselves in the combat aspect of tai chi and they're just happy to teach the forms," he added, "But we can't teach real combat unless we practice real combat. In combat you are able to analyze the effectiveness of the application."
Celebrated as far back as 1974 in Robert W. Smith's classic, Chinese Boxing -- Masters and Methods, Chen continues to teach out of his school on 23rd street and Fifth Avenue. He once again is a favorite demonstration guest at traditional Chinese-style tournaments and among the most-requested seminar participants. Rarely does a weekend go by that Chen is not teaching tai chi combat to students of every age and experience level.
According to the IKF article, "Studying with William C. C. Chen is like capturing a piece of history of the direct tai chi lineage. An open and giving man with worldwide charm and manners. Chen's main concern is his students' progress in tai chi and the passing on of knowledge." Adds Chen, "....tai chi is powerful. We have the tradition. Tradition gives us the guidelines and we have to apply it to make it work.... I always talk about reality."
Tradition is about sitting on the right hand of Cheng Man-Ching. Reality is what he gives to the rest of the world.