Master Ren is a long term student of Master Dong Bin. (See biographies on Master Dong Bin and Ren Gang under guest Yang style push hands).
Master Ren has been studying martial arts since his early childhood, training in a Shaolin system with the late Madame Wang Ju Rong – daughter of Master Wang Zi Ping, both of whom he had the highest respect for.
The families lived in the same apartment block and Ren Gang regularly practiced under their tutelage, giving him a great foundation in his martial training.
He began his Taiji training in his late teens, with Master Dong Bin, who was a student of masters Dong Shi Zuo and Ye Huan Zi, themselves students of Dong Ying Jie.
Master Ren’s specialities in his form and push hands are “Hua Jing” or dissipating energy that dissipates the opponent’s force, in preparation for him to “Fa Jing” or discharge power/energy.
He says that the form, push hands and san shou are really about understanding how to utilize the “shen qi” or the physical manifestation or expression of the spirit’s energy.
He says that Taiji is not about using strength or just the physical structure of the body, but the energy and spirit, as well as the energy that surrounds our bodies, in Chinese they say:
“Shen qi dai gu rou”, that means the energy and spirit move the body.
He also trains his students how to really identify and train the waist as an energetic centre of the body, rather than just as a physical structure, so that the waist can be free and really drive the body and the energy, or in Chinese: “Yao zuo zhu zai”. (The waist is the commander).
His form movements are soft, smooth and relaxed and his potential energy vigorous and alive. His applications are skillful and effortless and his understanding and explanation of Taiji Quan’s classic theories are both profound and impressive.
He stresses that push hands are really about knowing when and where to discharge the energy and are a tool to understanding san shou or sparring, and the keys to this can be found in the form.
He can be a generous teacher, seeking to help students really understand how to make their form work, so that they can practice meaningful Taiji Quan, rather than “empty postures” that cannot be put into real use.
He’s also a practicing Buddhist, and ready to help those interested in furthering their own knowledge and understanding of Buddhist philosophy.