I have always been interested in martial arts and health and fitness. However in all my time studying martial arts it always led to or directed me to Tai Chi. When I was younger I always used to watch Jean Claude Van Damme films and was amazed how graceful and precise he was, I later learned he studied both ballet and Tai Chi.
我一直以来都对武术，健康和健身感兴趣。然而在我所有学习武术的过程中，最后都将我引导或者是指向太极。在我更年轻一点的时候，我一直观看尚格·云顿（Jean-Claude Van Damme）的电影，总是为他的优雅和精准所折服，后来我才知道，他同时学习了芭蕾和太极。
Having already realised the potential of Tai Chi within martial arts I also noticed Tai Chi’s application to health, fitness and longevity. I have meet all kinds of martial artists, some gave it up in their 30s or 40s, they were too old. I met others with all kinds of injuries. I then came across people in the 50s and 60s doing Tai Chi and old men in their 90s doing Chinese Kung Fu and performing headstands and balancing on one leg.
在了解武术中太极的潜能之后，我同时注意到太极在健康，健身和长寿的应用。我遇见过各种各样的武术人，其中很多人在30-40岁的时候就放弃了，因为太老了。我也碰到过各种受伤的武术人。我后来遇见过50-60岁练太极的人，甚至90多岁练功夫的老人还能倒立和一只脚保持平衡。
I had already made up my mind I wanted to eventually study Tai Chi by my teenage years’ due to its broad scope and historical significant, and identified the Chen style as the one that interested me due to its long history, focus and combat application. It was in 2016 I was sitting at my computer in Ireland when I simply decided to wait no longer and to just go to China and study Tai Chi.,
考虑到太极的应用广泛以及历史源远流长，我在10几岁的时候就下决心要学习太极，并且认定陈氏太极历史悠久，专注和实战应用最让我感兴趣。2016年当我坐在爱尔兰的电脑前收集信息时，我就决定不再等待，来到中国，学习太极。
In coming to China my aim was to learn a style of Tai Chi and then go and train in Chen Tai Chi at Chen Village. I initially picked Suzhou as it is close to Shanghai. So when I arrived in Suzhou started working and then tried to find a Tai Chi gym. One day I went walking around the area by my apartment and found Chen Tai Chi School much to my delight. I spoke with the instructor who said the master would be back at a later time. I then arranged to go and observe a class another day. Although I was familiar with martial arts and familiar with Tai Chi I really didn’t understand the training methods and how these methods set Tai Chi apart from the vast majority of other martial arts and fitness training.
来到中国我的目标最初是学习一种太极，然后去陈家沟学习陈氏太极。我最初选择了苏州是因为靠近上海。当我来到苏州开始工作后就开始找太极馆，一天当我在公寓周围逛时发现了让我喜欢的太极馆。我跟教练交流，他们说老师要一会才能回来，我就安排了一节试听课。虽然我已经了解武术和太极，但是我并不懂其中的训练方法以及为什么这些训练方法能够让太极从众多武术和健身训练中脱颖而出。
What I was missing was real knowledge and information, that which cannot be learned from books or videos and instead must be transmitted by a master. I simply could have gone to Dublin, London or somewhere else in Europe but I really wanted to learn firsthand from a Chinese Tai Chi master, whilst also living in and learning about China. If I started in China with the right master I knew it would be far and away much better.
我所缺少的是真正的知识与信息，这些都不是通过书本或者视频能够学习到的，都是需要通过老师才能传授的。我可以简单的去都柏林，伦敦或者欧洲的其他地方，但是我希望能够从一个中国的太极老师那里学到第一手的太极，并且在中国生活和学习。如果我能够在中国开始跟随真正的太极老师，我知道这会好很多。
So I observed a lesson, took part and later returned for a trial class if I remember correctly. In any I later joined the club. It was very easy to join. I really enjoyed the first few classes and found it was the very thing I always wanted to learn and I started to understand how Tai Chi changes the body structure overtime and how the body learns to put the energy into the ground. I then started to learn why Tai Chi makes the body much more efficient and why Tai Chi masters are renowned for all kinds of different abilities.
所以我观察了一节课，如果我没有记错的话，我随后又参加了一节体验课。后来我就加入了这个太极馆，非常的容易。我真的非常享受开始的几节课，发现这就是我一直以来想要学习的东西，并且开始理解太极如何改变身体结构以及身体如何将能量传递到地面。我随后开始学习到太极如何让身体更加的高效，同时开始明白为什么太极大师会拥有各种不同的技能。
Everybody at the club was always extremely helpful and friendly despite my lack of Chinese speaking skills and the locals were more than happy to help me to translate to English if there was a need for it. I found it extremely helpful watching the locals as many of them were at different levels, some beginners and some advanced.
尽管我中文口语很差，太极馆的每个人都非常友善和协助，只要有需要，他们中国人都会很开心的帮我翻译。我发现观察中国人练习也极其有帮助，他们中很多人处在不同的级别的，一些是初学者，也有一些是比较高级的。
Some of the highlights of joining the club was going to some dinners and functions and going to the Tai Chi seminars. I also found it extremely interesting to work with the club president Shifu Ma Li. I am particularly grateful for being invited to the dinner that was held during one of the annual Tai Chi seminars, this was one of the most interesting experiences I have had during my time in China.
加入太极馆的一些亮点是一起晚餐和参加太极拳的研习班。我发现跟太极馆馆长马力老师一起也非常有意思。我特别感谢有一次受邀参加太极拳年会的晚宴，这是我在中国期间最有意思的经历之一。
I feel very lucky to have met My Tai Chi teacher Ma Dizhi Shifu, so I initially found the club in 2017 and he wasn’t there, I said I’d call back. I called back only to realise he was from Chen Village and he had the very lineage I wanted to learn, this was the very opportunity I was looking for. It didn’t take long for me to realise I really wanted to work and learn from him.
我觉得非常幸运能够遇到我的太极老师马弟致师父，我在2017年发现这个太极馆的时候，马师父不在馆里，我就说我会再打电话。我再打电话回来的时候才意识到他就是从陈家沟来的，并且是我希望学习的陈氏太极拳一脉，这正是我想寻找的机会。没过多久我就意识到这就是我真正想要学习和努力的地方。
I was able to develop a rapport Shifu Ma and he quickly learned I could follow his instruction if he demonstrated something, gave me a few simple prompts and gave me sequences of numbers, 1-2-3. I was extremely grateful for this, his patience, perseverance and attention to detail. I was familiar with some principles of Tai Chi and martial arts and followed them, listen to your master, practice and repeat, “try harder”. My understanding of body mechanics has been extremely useful.
我与马师父之间发展了一种默契，他知道只要他演示一些招式，或者一些简单的提示，或者给出1-2-3的顺序，我就能很快的跟上他的指导。我非常感激他这样的指导，耐心，毅力和专注细节。我已经熟悉并且遵循太极和武术的一些基本原则，听从老师，勤加练习，不断重复， “更努力”。我了解的身体结构知识非常有用。
If I had a question I would ask, if I didn’t understand something Ma Shifu would show me, not with words but with actions, if I still didn’t understand he would simply help me to mimic the actions until it was correct. This was by far and the most impressive aspects of his training and skills as an instructor, that he could break down the most complex patterns and movements into simple steps that garnered results, because it didn’t take me long to understand. He would then keep it simple and tell me to practice.
如果我有问题，我就会问。如果我没有理解，马师父就会演示，不是通过语言而是实际动作，如果我还是不理解，他就会帮助我来模仿动作，直到动作正确。马老师作为教练最令人印象深刻的地方，就是他能够将最复杂的招式和运动分解为有效的步骤，因为这样会让我很快理解。他能够让事情简单，然后敦促我勤加练习。
This approach was again extremely helpful to me in learning some of the more detailed aspects of Chen Tai Chi, like fajing and explosive movements, or movements that combined together as Ma Shifu could first demonstrate it, then explain it and demonstrate it again so I could see how it all combined together to an end result. By watching him I could see how his body was precisely trained and where he was placing his weight.
这种方法对我学习陈氏太极中一些复杂的招式非常有用，比如“发劲”和爆发运动，或者是一些综合招式，马师父会先演示再解释，然后再演示。这样我能够仔细观察这些招式是如何关联起来达到最终的效果。通过观察马师父，我可以看到他的身体是如何精确训练，以及他怎样调节自己的重心。
I saw myself as a blank canvas and as Ma Shifu’s student and just to follow his direction and to keep things simple, he said it, I’d do it. One thing that has always stood out in my mind is how he identified all my injuries immediately, was able to work around them, and was able to place me in proper alignment and posture form the very moment I met him. I never experience that before. Besides that he always had kind and wise words and has given me a real appreciate for Tai Chi and Chinese culture.
作为马老师的学生，我将我自己看作一张白纸，只需要简单的遵循他的指导，他说什么，我就做什么。另外一个我印象非常深刻的是马老师能够立即发现我受伤的地方，并且能够帮助我恢复，帮助我调整位置，纠正姿势，这是我之前从来没有经历过的。并且他总是能够用友善和智慧的词汇，这也让我对太极和中国文化非常的钦佩。
From the beginning Ma Shifu said I would learn the traditional way, I was happy to do as such and it has been a very interesting and invigorating experience working with him as he definitely represents the values of the Tai Chi and Kung Fu masters I have read about.
从一开始马老师说我能够从传统的方式学习，我就非常乐意这样做。跟马老师学习是一段非常有意义并且令人精神振奋的经历，这在我的理解中无疑就代表着太极和功夫大师的价值。
In finishing I have dramatic improvements in all aspects of my life from relaxation, breathing, fitness, posture, senses, observation skills, mental processes and patterns. To simply be able to come out of the intellect and into the body and forget all issues is a welcome relief. I have also seen a significant difference in how people relate to me and feel the Tai Chi gives me a significant advantage over others in all kinds of ways from martial arts to simply day to day life.
总而言之，从放松，呼吸，健身，姿势，感官，观察能力，精神过程和模式的各个方面，我已经获得了巨大的进步。能够简单的从智力与体力方面都忘记所有的东西绝对是一种非常受欢迎的解脱。我同时也注意到我对周围人的感知也有了巨大的不同，感觉到这些也是太极，相较于其他武术，给我的日常生活带来的巨大优势。
I feel now I just let go of tension by default, if there is still tension I can do some Tai Chi to get rid of it, just focus and release the tension naturally.
I was back in Europe in 2019, people are very interested in Tai Chi, and anytime I did some Tai Chi again people were very interested. Tai Chi is very misunderstood but I for one am delighted I set about to study it, now to build further upon it.
现在我能够感觉到我能够无意识的放松，如果还有一些紧张我能够通过练习太极来消除，只需要专注，这些紧张就能自然的消除。
我在2019年时回过欧洲，人们都对太极非常感兴趣，任何时候我一练习太极就会有很多人感兴趣。太极很大程度被误解了，但是我很开心当初立志学习，现在我将在太极之上规划我的未来。
作者：爱尔兰学员Fergus
翻译：秦川江(学员)
