Chen Xinjia Yilu
陳氏太極拳新架一路
A later Chen form derived from the old routine. It adds denser silk-reeling and more releases; Chen Fake brought it to its present shape.
Quick Facts
About this Form
The label new frame is misleading, since this is not a new style but a more elaborate working of the same content. The skeleton matches the old routine — the order of movements does not differ in essentials — but more spiralling transitions and more points of force release have been added between the movements. The result is a form that looks more complex and denser although it follows the same route. The shape most schools teach today was settled by Chen Fake (1887–1957) during his years in Beijing, where he arrived in 1928; his version has been handed on as the standard ever since. The form has some 83 movements and a run takes about fifteen minutes. Chen schools teach it only after the old routine is solid, because it assumes the practitioner already has the basic coil and need not think about the order. Anyone seeing both side by side can tell them apart easily: the new frame has more movement in waist and shoulders and fewer quiet passages.