FREE MAN

Zhang Zhijun is a Han Chinese citizen who was born in March 1946, Longdong Township, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province in Xuhe village. He was a worker in the Zhengzhou National Textile Factory Number Four and is now retired. Zhang started Chen Style Taijiquan in 1970 and in 1974 he began his studies with the famous Chen Taijiquan master Chen Zhao Kui.

Master Zhang has been practicing Taichi for more than four decades, trained a large number of students from anywhere; he has not only created a comprehensive and systematic teaching method of Taichi and its martial aspects, but also he is a respected expert in pushing hands, grappling and more generally in fighting systems. From this strong basis extracted from Taichi's traditional theory and fighting techniques, Wang impulses a new hope in Taichichuan for faster results and more efficient training especially for beginners.

Zhang started to teach Taijiquan in the late 1970s in many areas of China such as Zhengzhou, Henan, Xinyang, Jiaozuo, Zhumadian... Then in the 1980s and 1990s he formed more than one hundred direct disciples in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Huizhou, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Macao and other places, while organizing constantly very succesfull workshops in these cities. Among his most famous disciples such as Wufang Cheng, Liu Yue, Zhang Peng, Zhang, Li Wen Qin in Macau, etc... many of them participated in the national and international martial arts competitions and gained top ranking achievements.

His highly appreciated writings on Tai chi theories, boxing techniques and many general topics in Chinese martial arts are regularly published in "Wuhun" and all main Chinese martial arts, Shaolin and Tai Chi magazines in China, Hongkong and Macao.Zhang has been appointed, in Xinyang City, Zhumadian City, Chongqing, Nanjing as Chen Style Taijiquan Research Association Honorary President and also as Hong Kong, Macau Chen Style Taijiquan Head Coaching Honorary President.
According to Zhang Zhijun, with the right guidance of a competent instructor who agrees to pass synthetic knowledge, it is possible to accelerate the learning process of Tai Chi Chuan, so that a student can master all authentic Taichi skills within three years.

From the 1970s up to the mid-1980s, locally in Zhengzhou or other external training facilities, Wang has openly accepted many martial arts exchange with well-known or unknown fighting experts of all tyes of schools. This includes more than one hundred duels from where Zhang Zhijun walked out always undefeated while gaining, in most of the cases, the friendship of his opponents.
In May 1983, Zhang Zhijun was leading Henan Taichi team to Nanchang, Jiangxi Province in order to participate to the National Wushu Symposium, as the event just ended, he received an urgent telegram from Zhengzhou, Henan Provincial Central Physical Education Administration: "There is a foreign delegation which needs reception, please return rapidly." Zhang Zhijun felt that this was an important moment and so returned Zhengzhou the next morning. It turned out to be the Japanese National Shaolin Karate Central training delegation. This Japanese martial arts organization has more than 50,000 disciples. This time, this delegation has 25 members, "well prepared," visiting Henan Province and asking directly for "hand to hand fighting exchange" with Chinese Tai Chi Chuan's experts of Henan Province. In the past, Chinese international martial arts exchanges were presenting exclusively performances which were disdained by Japanese representation arguing that it was purely stylish and emptied from any practical substance, underestimating the efficiency of Chinese martial arts.
The first opponent was a young and vigorous Three Dan black belt (it is generally known in Japan that the Three Dan Black Belt are the most dangerous fighters). Zhang Zhijun managed cut down the frontal pressure, played diversion and after three rounds pushed his opponent on the ground. Later came even larger karate opponents except the Leading Japanese representative, all participated and finished in a clean and neat face to face defeat. The Leading Japanese representative did not finally participate in this exchange. At the end, he showed up and went to felicitate Wang and said: "Mr. Zhang, very good! Very very good!" Once back in Japan, this Association will even send four successive invitations to Zhang Zhijun, opening him widely doors in Japan for teaching his art.
Then from 1984 to 2000, Zhang Zhijun, naming himself “Taiji Free Man", declined all social activities, retreated for 16 years, studying the sources of Tai Chi Chuan. In fact, he was fighting against his new opponent: "Finding a shortcut to explain the theoretical basis and develop a new generation of Tai Chi".
In his research on Tai Chi Chuan, he understood that his previous predecessors have progressively defined a general theoretical apprehension (or Macro Theory) of this art which can hardly surpass. So he turned to "micro-niches principles" (or Micro Theory) and after these 16 years he finally discovered what he calls: " Two extremities leading strength, two poles coiled on themselves" theory.

When Zhang Zhijun teaches boxing, one of his greatest particularities is not to engage in metaphysics but rather methodically in every detail, each moment, each technique, explain precisely the direct purpose of it. Is it leverage force? Is a tangential force? Or a spiraling force?... Enabling each participant to capture plainly the essence of it. His vision of Tai Chi's internal strength is very different from many other experts. He uses to say: " Elasticity, toughness and coordination are called internal strength." It happened once in Macau, during a discussion with another famous Chen style expert Li Wen Qin concerning boxing, Zhang was asked to demonstrate a move called "Hungry tiger pounces on prey" and it was with a very strong and bulky student, making this student fall down. As Li did not see clearly, he asked Wang to demonstrate it one more time. This time the student prepared himself against Zhang Zhijun's move. Wang used the same move but now with a different speed: as a result, this time the student fell even harder on the ground.
Then when he got up with his eyes largely opened, staring at Zhang Zhijun, he asked Wang: "Teacher, was it internal strength?"
Zhang Zhijun answered: "No, it's not internal strength. It's martial application. Anyone can reach this level after hard training once having mastered the correct way."
Zhang Zhijun uses to say: "Learning how to throw one's opponent on the ground, with me, is not difficult; the key point is to learn how to throw him -elegantly- (naturally and unrestrained)."