Gene Golden, the founder of The Golden School of T’ai Chi Ch’uan in Bellingham, WA, and the overseer of the T’ai Chi Ch’uan program at Western Washington University, specializes in instructing Yang Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan. With over 40 years of dedication, T’ai Chi is his lifelong pursuit, emphasizing the equilibrium of the body’s internal energy flow and inducing a tranquil, meditative state. Rooted in tradition, Gene’s T’ai Chi approach preserves its essence as an internal martial art, focusing on speed, power, and connecting with attacking energy.
Diverging from conventional self-defense styles, Gene’s philosophy centers on harmonizing with energy rather than confrontation. This approach involves uniting with energy to exert control, neutralize, deflect, and ultimately return negative energy to its source.
Gene’s T’ai Chi journey began in 1975 under Grand Master William C.C. Chen in New York City. He founded The Golden School of T’ai Chi Ch’uan in 1980, extending his teachings from North Conway, New Hampshire, to Portland, Maine until 1997. Operating in Orange County, California, from 2010 to 2019, he continues his instructional journey in Bellingham, Washington.
Gene’s extensive experience includes collaborations with T’ai Chi practitioners and professionals from diverse martial arts backgrounds, refining his skills and cultivating harmony in adapting to life’s dynamic circumstances.
Learn more about this proficient martial artist in the latest MysticMag interview.
Can you provide a brief overview of the origins and philosophy behind Yang Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan, including its historical development and key principles?
Tai Chi has a rich history dating back almost a millennium. The credit for its discovery is often attributed to Chang San Feng, a monk and master of hard-style martial arts. Legend has it that, during a walk in the woods, he witnessed a crane defeating a snake with remarkable agility, avoiding talons and beaks. Intrigued by the smaller animal’s survival against a stronger opponent, Chang San Feng meditated on the encounter. About a week later, he dreamt of the first 13 movements of Tai Chi, emphasizing unyielding softness over strength.
In contrast to physically exertive martial arts like Kung Fu, Tai Chi is rooted in Daoism, focusing on internal aspects such as the body’s key or life force, fascia, stretching, relaxation, and tension-free force. The founder of the Yang Style, Yang Lu Chan, was a servant in the Chen family Tai Chi lineage. Despite being passed down only within the family, Yang observed and learned, eventually impressing the master and becoming undefeated in his lifetime. The art was subsequently passed down through generations, with Yang Chengfu recognized as a key figure in modern Tai Chi.
The Yang Style distinguishes itself by maintaining a connection to Tai Chi’s self-defense applications, emphasizing the essential link between power and health. Even as Tai Chi for health becomes popular, the Yang Style retains its roots, prioritizing internal energy for a healthier and longer lifespan. The style teaches the importance of accessing internal explosive energy while remaining soft and yielding to power. The emphasis is on defense, using yielding movements to neutralize attacks and counteract with strikes. This defensive approach sets up counterattacks, promoting a soft and yielding body rather than a rigid one—a distinctive feature not commonly found in many other martial arts.
How does Yang Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan differ in its principles of movement compared to other martial arts or even other styles of T’ai Chi? What are some fundamental movements or postures that define the Yang Style?
After nearly 50 years of practicing Tai Chi, I’ve come to value aspects that might not hold the same significance for others. One of the most meaningful transformations for me has been the cultivation of softness—both in my body and my thinking. I’ve learned to resist less, accepting that things unfold as they will. Remaining soft allows events to pass through me without causing much impact.
This softness has also fostered an enhanced ability to listen. Like water, I’ve become responsive to the energies around me. Every interaction leaves an imprint on the water of my structure, and I can adapt to it. This capacity to listen extends beyond human interactions to encompass the movements of nature—wind, water, air, and trees. Spiritually, Tai Chi has attuned me to nature, aligning with the principles of Taoism, where observing the Dao involves understanding the workings of nature and finding harmony within it.
Through Tai Chi, I’ve established a deeper communion with the elements—earth, sky, water, and living beings. Even encounters with once-frightening creatures, like rattlesnakes in California, became opportunities for understanding and communication. I learned not to fear the supposedly dangerous, realizing that most things are inherently benign unless met with direct opposition.
In Tai Chi, we avoid direct confrontation. When faced with force, we create a glancing surface, allowing it to ricochet harmlessly. By controlling our bodies and the angles at which forces strike, we maintain a sense of harmlessness even in the face of potential danger.
Yang Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan is known for its choreographed forms and sequences. Could you explain the significance of these forms and how they contribute to the overall practice? Are there specific forms that are considered essential for a practitioner to learn? How do breathing techniques enhance the effectiveness of the movements?
Mastering the principles of Young Style Tai Chi involves a combination of form practice and focusing on essential elements. Regardless of the specific form (28, 60, 128 movements), the foundation lies in repetitions, particularly the original 13 movements. These repetitions condition the body and serve as the basis for everything in Tai Chi.
The central principle is the harmony of movement, with the waist acting as the central point from which energy emanates throughout the body. The waist pairs with the shoulders, and this connection extends to the knees and elbows, ankles and wrists, and the sole of the foot and palm of the hand. Maintaining unbroken connections between these pairs ensures that the body functions as a single entity, with every movement originating from the center and flowing to the extremities.
This structural harmony not only promotes health but also serves as a foundation for self-defense. Tai Chi movements, when executed correctly, cannot be easily stopped. The entire body generates the movement, making it resistant to external force. This is a key aspect of both health and self-defense in Tai Chi.
Additionally, the practice cultivates a sense of emptiness and softness, enabling practitioners to listen with their entire body. This heightened sensitivity to the energetics of another person contributes to valuable life skills, enhancing one’s ability to navigate and respond masterfully to various situations. In essence, the skills developed in Tai Chi—softness, harmony, and attentive listening—are invaluable for leading a masterful life.
