Grandmaster Wang Xian 1944-2024

From May Chen:

Grandmaster Wang Xian, one of the Four Diamonds of Chen Style Tai Chi, left in advance of the Chinese Lunar Year of the Wood Dragon, February, 2024. In life, Grandmaster Wang was an ambassador for Tai Chi through his exemplary practice, his dedication to teach and to promote interest and understanding of this incredible sport/art, and his regard for humanity.

Grandmaster Wang encouraged his students to be diligent and patient in seeking excellence in their pursuit of learning Tai Chi and the related, inseparable disciplines of Qigong and meditation.

Early on, Grandmaster’s words were etched into my consciousness. “Practice or train with a serene mind and a calm body. And that which you strive to understand or incorporate in Tai Chi will clarify itself. Be compassionate. Aim to be counted among the best for good company.”

At our last time together, as we were sharing a meal with many in attendance before my departure from Chenjiagou (Chen village where he resided), Grandmaster Wang asked for a bowl of plain sugar. Quietly with serious gesture, Grandmaster added sugar to his and to my bowls of steamed rice. He then leaned in and said, “Eat your rice like this once in a while, a bit of sweet helps to reset the balance.”

From Gigi Oh:

I first met Grandmaster Wang Xian was during his visited to our KungFuMagazine.co, office when he was invited to teach in the United States. In our studio we took a few pictures of him. But I got to know him more in October of 2015 when I was invited to attend Chen Xiaowang’s 60th Anniversary of Martial Arts Training celebration. This was the first time I visited Chenjiagou. I had two good friends accompanying me, Sifu May Chen, a disciple of Wang Xian and Yan Lin, a Chen Taiji enthusiast. During that trip, I also visited Chen Bing, Chen Xiaoxin, Zhu Tiencai and Wang Xian’s schools, plus I attended the China Chen Taijiquan Summit Forum hosted by Chen Zhenlei. KungFuMagazine.com created a large poster with all the Chen Taiji significant masters.

Wang was a very reputable Grandmaster among the Chen Taiji community. Wang has kept his school in the same place with a traditional look for all these years compared to other schools in the area that have closed, moved or adopted a more modern facade. Wang had dozens of students come from all over the world for a two weeks’ workshop. I was lucky enough to join his Chen Taijizhuanzhuang(pole standing) class followed with push hands practice.

Grandmaster didn’t talk much.Most of the time his eyes were half closed when the students were practicing, but he had a very sharp and aware of the students’ movement. With just a very small correction of your postures, you would feel the energy flow more smoothly.

From Gene Ching:

I first met Grandmaster Wang Xian in 1998 during my only visit to Chenjiagou. I had been at Shaolin Temple with many of my classmates from Lam Kwoon, and we made an extra pilgrimage to the birthplace of Taiji. It had some personal connection for me because my surname in Mandarin is Chen. It’s only Ching because my family is Hakka, so the character is pronounced differently. It was cool to see the character of my surname on steles and signs everywhere.

We bumped into Grandmaster Wang rather randomly. He had the weirdest handshake ever. The Chinese are not big handshakers. Some might shake hands to be cordial, but they don’t understand it, or at least they didn’t back when I was travelling in China. Instead of getting a firm grip, shaking hands with most Chinese was like holding a cold fish. Not so with Grandmaster Wang. His handshake was like grasping a cloud. It was like nothing was there. I can’t even imagine what it might have been like to push with him. There was nothing to grasp. True emptiness. Void. I felt like I was about to fall into a black hole.

At that time, I had never felt anything like it.

Since then, I’ve felt similar handshakes from Chen masters. Grandmaster Ren Guangyi could do it and by strange coincidence, he was there at Chenjiaguo that year, along with a few of his students. It was delightful to cross paths with them there. Years later, I would befriend both Ren and his student Jose Figueroa, and we often reflect on how auspicious that chance encounter was, the beginning of our friendship.

We were supposed to go back to Chenjiagou later but ended up getting into a car crash. But that’s another story.

I crossed paths with Grandmaster Wang a few more times over the years, however I can’t say we interacted that much. He was always polite but kept a professional distance. However, I’ll never forget that first meeting, and the feeling of his handshake.

About author:

Gigi Oh is the Publisher Emeritus of Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine.
May Chen is a Tai Chi instructor in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Gene Ching is the Publisher of KungFuMagazine.com and the author of Shaolin Trips.

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