Tuesday, February 02, 2010

2-28 Peace Park Taipei, Taiwan 和平公園 (he2 ping2 gong1 yuan2) - Precious' Experience

I've only been to the 2-28 Peace Park 和平公園 in Taipei a few times... but on the rare occasion that I made the 8 hour journey from Taidong to Taipei, the Peace Park Push Hands group was a must stop for me. Their push hands are excellent and they practice long and hard each day. There are a few masters that attend the Peace Park group regularly.


Part 2 of this Peace Park Pushing Hands video continued in Ben's Post below...

I hope anyone who has more experience with the Peace Park group will write more of their experiences there. The group usually meets at the south east corner of the park by a small pond with a bridge in an all dirt area near some public restrooms. Across the street from the park was (and probably still is) a restaurant named "California Kitchen" (or something like that). The group meets daily from 7AM-ish to 11AM-ish.

Humble guests are always welcome... Pride filled martial artists will return home humbled and dirty. Regular members pay a small and reasonable tuition. Often there are 15 or more people doing free form push hands. Students of all styles attend and often there are foreigners in attendance (some that even fly in just to train with the group for a short period or brush up before a tournament). Often there are members present that speak a bit of English.

The head master of the group 鄭顯氣 Jeng Shean Chih (Zheng Xian Qi):

Push Hands practice is preceeded by Huang Sheng-Shyan (黃性賢, Huang Hsing-hsien (WG) or Huáng Xìngxián ) relaxation exercises. Relaxation Exercises are followed by Cheng Man-Ching's 37 posture short Yang style before free push hands begins. Some students also study White Crane style forms and exercises as in the tradition of Huang Sheng-Shyan.

This listing hardly does justice to the Peace Park Group. They are a gem in the art of Tai Chi and any student of Tai Chi lucky enough to attend their group will surely taste great wisdom. Even luckier are those that stay a while, for their push hands are sure to improve.

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