Taijiquan enjoys popularity abroad

Ren Guangyi, one of Cheng Xiaowang’s disciples, has never failed to lead a dozen of his students to practice taijiquan at Central Park in New York every Sunday over the past three years.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, local residents’ enthusiasm toward taijiquan has not been dampened.

“I used to teach indoors, but moved the class into the open air for health concerns,” Ren says.

“Taijiquan has become increasingly popular over the past three decades in the United States, and the rest of the world,” says Ren, who studied Chen-style taijiquan with Chen Xiaowang for eight years in Henan province before moving to New York in 1991.

People started to beat a path to his door, and his weekly group class has grown from two students to more than 30. He has also been invited to give private lessons to celebrities and business tycoons.

Many of Ren’s students originally practiced taijiquan for health reasons.

Over the years, Ren has managed to help stage public taijiquan performances in New York’s Times Square and Lincoln Center, and on the Brooklyn Bridge.

He has been acutely aware of the rising popularity of taijiquan abroad, especially compared with how things were when he first arrived.

“They are not strange to taijiquan and have a very high understanding of it when they approach me,” Ren says.

“Some of them actually already play well and just want to refine their skills out of their fondness for the Chinese martial art,” he adds.