Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts Blog

Silk-Reeling Exercises Can Help You Develop Internal Body Mechanics

silk-reeling tai chi silk-reeling taiji silk-reeling Aug 02, 2021

Silk-Reeling exercises are forgotten by some Chen style Taiji students after they practice forms, but I believe these exercises should be included in everyone's training routine.

I first learned Silk-Reeling exercises from Chen Xiaowang and my first Chen Taiji teachers, Jim and Angie Criscimagna. Silk-reeling is known in China as chan ssu chin. As I understand it, the exercises were created in recent decades. They are not part of the traditional training in the Chen Village. I went through a silk-reeling workshop with Chen Xiaowang back in 2000 but was already working on them at that time.

When I began teaching, I tried to organize material in easy-to-understand pieces for my students (and for me). For the past 23 years, I have taught six key principles of body mechanics to beginning students:

1. The ground path

2. Establishing and maintaining peng jin

3. Opening and closing the kua

4. Dan T'ien rotation

5. Whole-body connected movement

6. Silk-Reeling energy

New student...

Silk-Reeling Exercises - Fighting Applications of Chan Ssu Jin

chan ssu jin silk-reeling energy tai chi silk-reeling taiji silk-reeling Oct 19, 2016

I am finishing up production on a new DVD -- actually, a replacement of my original Silk-Reeling Energy DVD, a 2-disc set I did back in 2008.

The new revised version is all on one disc and it should be ready for market next week.

It includes in-depth instruction on 19 silk-reeling exercises that help you put the key body mechanics of the internal arts into action.

I'll announce next week when the DVD is available on my websites and on Amazon.

In the meantime, here is a quick highlight of some fighting applications for silk-reeling exercise number one. We shot applications for each of the SRE exercises for the website. Every movement in Tai Chi has a fighting application, even silk-reeling exercises, which are really just Tai Chi movements.

Author - Instructor

Ken Gullette

I have practiced martial arts since 1973 and began studying the internal arts in 1987. My goal is to cut years off your development time by coaching you in the real skills for high-quality Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua. To see more about my bio, click the "About Ken" link on the menu at the top of this page.

Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

Silk-Reeling Exercises Can Help You Develop Internal Body Mechanics

Silk-Reeling Exercises - Fighting Applications of Chan Ssu Jin

Author - Instructor

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