Can tai chi fight? How can a tai chi practitioner gain the ability to fight?

Chen Zhenglei, 68, a master of the Chen-style tai chi from Chenjiagou Village, the cradle of tai chi, 75 km northeast of the Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan Province, talks to Beijing Review reporter Li Nan about what the real tai chi is on May 28, 2017 in Beijing.

The Chen-style tai chi, created in the early 17th century by Chen Wangting, is believed to be the origin of all the other popular tai chi schools, including the Yang, Wu, Wu (Hao), He and Sun styles. It was listed as one of the nation's intangible cultural heritages in 2006.

Chen passed the ninth-ranking Chinese Wushu Duanwei exam, the highest national martial art evaluation and ranking system, run by the Chinese Wushu Association (CWA) in Beijing. In 1995, he was ranked as one of China's Top 10 Martial Artists by the CWA. At the age of 60, he was named one of the inheritors of the Chen-style tai chi.

Copyedited by Dominic James Madar

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