Shifu Shawn Cartwright, International Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong, Drake Cartwright

A structured starting point for Chen Taijiquan

The Tai Chi Starter Course is a practical first step into the forms, principles, applications, and lineage behind the training.

Rather than asking you to piece the method together on your own, the course organizes your early study so you can see how the parts relate: orientation, form practice, teaching principles, martial application, deeper study, and lineage context.

What the course helps you do

• Begin with a clear orientation to the course and the method.
• Practice with focused videos you can return to for shorter review sessions.
• Study teaching principles that explain what to notice as you train.
• Connect movements to practical martial meaning through an applications starter guide.
• Look beyond choreography into the structure and principles of the art.
• Understand the training in relation to Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong and the living Chen family tradition.

This is instruction that combines guided practice, study support, martial application, and deeper teaching principles.

Study support for your first steps into the method

The value of the Starter Course is not only the lessons themselves. It is the way the material is organized so you can return to it, review it, and understand why the details matter.

✔ Guided orientation

Start with a clear overview of how the course fits together and how to use each part of the training.

✔ Focused practice support

Use focused review videos when you want a shorter session or a focused review of key material.

✔ Principles and applications

Study teaching principles and application notes that connect the movements to the method behind them.

✔ Lineage context

Learn with context from Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong so the training sits inside a living Chen family tradition.

✔ PDF study supports

Use the PDFs for review, notes, and offline reference between practice sessions.

✔ Special Course Completion Reward

You get a special tuition credit toward our full Lineage Training Program when you complete the Tai Chi Starter Course.

The course gives you a clear foundation for continued study in the Mastering Chen Tai Chi Chuan Lineage Training Program when you are ready to go further.

More than a few lessons to follow

The value of this course is the way it organizes your first steps into the method.

You are not left to copy movements without context. You receive orientation, principles, shorter practice options, application notes, lineage background, and PDFs that support review between sessions.

That makes the Tai Chi Starter Course a practical entry point into serious Chen Tai Chi study. It gives you enough structure to begin, enough depth to understand why the details matter, and a clear path forward when you are ready for more.

Begin with a clear foundation

Enroll in the Tai Chi Starter Course and start learning this Chen Tai Chi method through guided instruction, practice support, application context, and lineage-aware study.

Click the button below to continue to the course checkout.

Sincerely,
Shifu Shawn Cartwright
20th Generation Indoor Student of Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong

Secure checkout for the Tai Chi Starter Course.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this course include internal or esoteric training?

Yes. The Tai Chi Starter Course introduces a few internal and traditional training ideas that belong to the larger lineage system, including principles connected to Neigong, Qi cultivation, Taijiquan body mechanics, and the development of whole-body power.

These ideas are presented in a grounded way, through posture, movement, breath, attention, and practice. The goal is not to make the course feel mysterious. The goal is to give you an honest introduction to the training culture and prepare you for the deeper work in the full lineage system.

Do I have to believe in Qi or esoteric methods to take the course?

No. You do not need to accept every traditional explanation in order to train well.

You do need to approach the material with respect. This course comes from a living training culture where terms like Qi, Neigong, Kung Fu, Taijiquan, and Fajin have specific meaning and history. You are welcome to explore them through direct practice, observation, and personal experience.

Skepticism is fine. Dismissiveness is not a good fit.

Is this course the full lineage system?

No. The Tai Chi Starter Course is an entry point, not the full lineage system.

It introduces foundational movement, training concepts, and key internal principles so you can begin building the body, attention, and discipline needed for deeper study. The full lineage system goes further into Taijiquan, including Neigong, Qi cultivation, advanced martial methods, Fajin, and other traditional practices.

This course is designed to help you decide whether this path, and this training culture, are right for you.

Who are you?

​I’m Shifu Shawn Cartwright.

I began my formal martial arts training in 1985, after first being exposed to military combative methods through a former Marine. Since then, I have spent decades studying traditional internal Kung Fu and Chinese martial arts with a specific purpose: to find, preserve, and pass on authentic lineage-based training.

Over the years, that search has taken me through Taiwan, China, and the United States to study with highly respected teachers and Grandmasters, including Grandmaster Chen, Grandmaster Bai, Grandmaster Li, Grandmaster He, Shifu Lo, Shifu Alsup, and others.

But I was not simply looking for impressive demonstrations or famous names.

I was looking for complete traditional systems with real depth, clear method, and the ability to transmit skill from teacher to student.

In the old training model, a complete art was evaluated through the Liu He Ta, or Six-Sided Tower. This refers to the six essential components that make a traditional system whole. Without those pieces, a method may still be useful, but it is not the complete art.

I also learned that three things matter when choosing a teacher:

1. They must have the real lineage method.
Not just movements, but the principles, body method, applications, and internal training behind them.

2. They must be able to teach.
High-level skill is not enough. A teacher must be able to pass the art into the student’s body and understanding.

3. The transmission must be accurately understood.
When training crosses language and culture, interpretation matters. Important details can easily be lost if the interpreter does not understand the art, the language, and the training context.

That is why I have been careful about who I study with, how the material is preserved, and how it is taught.

Shifu Shawn Cartwright co-founded TCCII with Dr. Yinong Chong to help preserve rare Chinese martial and internal arts, and to make them understandable for serious Western students.

Dr. Chong uses her proprietary P5LIM, the PhD 5 Level Interpretation Method, to interpret classical Chinese martial and internal arts teachings into modern English while preserving their meaning, training context, and teacher-to-student details.

Her interpretation work has been sought out even by professional interpreters working at the highest levels, because this material requires more than language fluency. It requires deep cultural, historical, and training context.

We are dedicated to transmitting the complete, authentic systems to the next generation of practitioners.

The mission is simple: to build a clear bridge between the Ancient Arts of the East and the Modern Practitioners of the West.

What is your Chen Taijiquan Lineage?

Our Chen Taijiquan comes through International Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong (1925–2025), a direct descendant of General Chen Wangting, the founder of Taijiquan.

Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong was one of the most senior 19th Generation Chen Family Taiji masters. He taught Lao Jia, or Old Frame Chen Taijiquan, a method believed to be among the oldest surviving streams of Chen Tai Chi Chuan.

With more than 95 years of training and teaching Chen Shi Taijiquan, Grandmaster Chen became known for a methodical, thorough teaching style. He taught according to each student’s level of ability and influenced more than 10,000 students across China, the United States, and Europe. He also served as President of the Xi’an Chen Style Taiji Association.

Grandmaster Chen created the 36 Forms of Chen Taiji, reducing repetition in the form without simplifying the art. This made the form more accessible to students entering the Chen method while preserving the structure, principles, and training depth of the original system.

Grandmaster Chen was born in 1925 in Chenjiagou Village, Henan Province. He began training at age five with his father, Chen Shigong. He was one of the rare Chen masters of his generation to train with 16th and 17th Generation family members, including Chen Liangzhi (16th Generation), Chen Guoying (17th Generation), and Chen Shengsan (17th Generation).

During World War II, his family moved to Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. There he continued training with Chen Jingping and Chen Jinao, both 18th Generation Chen family teachers. He also trained with Chen Shouli, a 17th Generation teacher and student of Chen Fake.

Shifu Shawn Cartwright, TCCII Executive Director and Co-Founder, is a 20th Generation Indoor Student of Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong. He is also Grandmaster Chen’s only Indoor Disciple in North America and was accepted as his adopted son.

This relationship matters because in traditional Chen Taijiquan, lineage is not simply a name or certificate. It carries the method, the corrections, the training standards, and the responsibility to preserve what was received.

Shifu Shawn Cartwright taught his son, Drake Cartwright, Chen Taijiquan and filmed those lessons. Those filmed lessons became the basis for this lineage training program. Drake also had the opportunity to travel to China and train with Grandmaster Chen and his Taiji uncles before Grandmaster Chen’s passing.

This gives students a rare opportunity to study material rooted in the original lineage system of Chen Taijiquan, presented through a direct family and teacher-to-student transmission.

What makes this program different?

Many Tai Chi and Kung Fu programs teach movements. Fewer preserve the full method behind the movements.

What makes TCCII different is the way we protect three things at the same time:

1. The completeness of the art
2. The accuracy of the interpretation
3. The ability to teach the material clearly to Western students

1. The art must be complete

In traditional Chinese martial arts, a complete system is not just a form. It includes structure, body method, applications, internal training, weapons, partner work, teaching progression, and the principles that connect them.

We evaluate the completeness of a system through the Liu He Ta, or Six-Sided Tower. This framework helps preserve the essential parts of a traditional art so students are not left with only choreography or isolated techniques.

This matters because many students only receive part of a system. Sometimes the teacher did not have the full curriculum. Sometimes the teacher had it but did not pass it on. Sometimes the material was hidden behind the old Veil of Secrecy, where important details were reserved, withheld, or never clearly explained.

We respect the old ways, but we do not believe serious students should be left guessing.

2. The teaching must cross the East-West communication gap

Even when a teacher has the complete art, the material can still be difficult to transmit across language and culture.

Traditional Chinese martial arts contain ideas that do not translate cleanly into modern English. Terms related to Qi, Jin, Fajin, Neigong, body method, intention, and internal training often carry layers of meaning. If those layers are not interpreted properly, students may receive the words but miss the method.

This is why Dr. Yinong Chong uses P5LIM, the PhD 5 Level Interpretation Method, to help carry the meaning from classical Chinese martial culture into clear modern English.

The purpose is not just translation. It is preservation of meaning, training context, and teacher-to-student detail.

3. The material must be teachable

High-level skill does not automatically make someone a clear teacher.

A teacher must know how to organize the material, explain the progression, correct common errors, and help students understand what to practice next. That is why TCCII places so much attention on teaching method, lesson structure, and progressive training.

The result is a program that gives students more than movements to copy. It gives them a structured way to approach the art with lineage, interpretation, and method working together.

That is what we mean when we say this program is different.

What is the Liu He Ta and why is it important?

Liu He Ta, often translated as the Six-Sided Tower, refers to six key components of a complete traditional art.

It gives us a way to understand whether a system contains more than movements and techniques. A complete art should also include the philosophy, principles, methods, tools, and teacher-to-student details that make the training work.

The six parts are:

1. Dao, the Way
   The larger philosophy and direction of the art. Dao helps you understand why the system exists, what it is trying to develop, and how the parts fit together.

2. Li, the Principles
   The rules and truths that guide the art. Li helps you understand what to do when things are uncertain, especially under pressure.

3. Fa, the Methods
   The training methods that develop the art over time. Fa shows you how to practice, how to progress, and how the skill is built.

4. Shu, the Techniques
   The specific movements and applications of the art. Shu helps you understand what to use, when to use it, and how the method becomes practical.

5. Bing, the Tools
   The training devices and support methods used to develop skill. Bing may include special exercises, equipment, drills, or training aids that help the body understand the method.

6. Mi Jue, the Oral Secrets
   The teacher-to-student details that are rarely written down and often reserved for serious students or lineage inheritors. Mi Jue helps preserve the subtle instructions, corrections, and training cues that make the art come alive.

This matters because a traditional system can become incomplete when one or more of these parts is missing. Students may receive movements without principles, techniques without method, or exercises without the deeper teaching that connects them.

That is why TCCII places so much emphasis on preserving the complete lineage method and documenting the teaching carefully for future generations.

What does P5LIM mean?

P5LIM stands for PhD 5 Level Interpretation Method.

It is Dr. Yinong Chong’s proprietary method for interpreting classical Chinese martial and internal arts teachings into modern English while preserving the original meaning, training context, and teacher-to-student details behind the words.

This matters because traditional arts like Taijiquan, Kung Fu, Qigong, and Neidan are not easy to translate word-for-word. Many important terms carry rich layers of cultural, historical, philosophical, esoteric, and practical meaning.

Dr. Chong speaks English like a native and has rare fluency in Classical Chinese, which allows her to work directly with older source material and verify meaning at a level most ordinary translation cannot reach.

Her interpretation work has been sought out even by professional interpreters working at the highest levels, because this material requires more than language fluency. It requires deep cultural, historical, and lineage training context.

The purpose of P5LIM is to keep the teaching from being flattened into a generic translation. It helps preserve the internal principles, training methods, and traditional lineage secrets so Western students can understand what is actually being taught.

How does the program work?

Once you complete your registration, you receive immediate access to the online TCCII training portal.

Inside the portal, you’ll find your course organized into clear lessons. Select a lesson, press play, and follow the course at your own pace.

Some lessons and bonuses are intentionally locked until the right point in the course. As you progress, more material unlocks so you can follow the training in the intended order.

You can return to earlier lessons for review according to the access included with your purchase. This is especially useful for revisiting posture, movements, forms, and the deeper principles introduced in the course.

Because the program is online, you can study wherever you have internet access and train at the times that work for your life. You do not have to travel across town, rearrange your schedule around a local class, or depend on whether a qualified instructor in this method happens to live nearby.

The course gives you a structured way to begin this method with clear guidance, lineage context, and practice support inside one training portal.

Can I really learn from an online program?

That’s a fair question. Let me ask you this... have you ever learned anything meaningful online?

Most people have. Martial arts are different, of course, but the real question is not whether online learning can work. The real question is what can be taught well online, what needs hands-on correction, and how is the training structured?

Every training format has strengths and limitations: books, live classes, private lessons, demonstrations, and online study all teach in different ways.

I used to doubt whether serious internal martial arts could be taught online. Then the pandemic forced us to teach remotely, and I saw something surprising... some students actually improved faster.

There were two main reasons.

First, video made it possible to present private teaching material with clear structure, multiple angles, and careful explanation. In a live group class, students often miss details because of where they are standing, who is in front of them, or how quickly the class moves.

Second, students could rewatch the lessons. That matters. In a private lesson, you may receive a correction once and then have to remember it. In an online course, you can return to the same teaching again and again, compare angles, slow down your study, and review the details between practice sessions.

That changed the way I thought about online training.

This program is designed to give you many of the benefits of private instruction while using the strengths of modern video learning:

1. Structured progression
   Lessons are organized so you know what to study next and what to review.

2. Multiple viewing angles
   Forms, applications, and demonstrations can be studied from more than one perspective.

3. Repeatable instruction
   You can rewatch lessons as often as your access allows, which helps you catch details you missed the first time.

4. Lineage training without travel
   Study from home without airfare, hotels, meals, lost work time, commuting, or navigating the uncertainty and expense of international travel.

5. A clearer foundation before private correction
   If you later choose private lessons or partner training, you arrive with a stronger base. That makes hands-on correction more focused and useful.

For advanced martial application, push hands, and partner work, nothing replaces direct contact with another person. But online training can prepare you extremely well by teaching the forms, principles, body method, applications, and training sequence before you enter that hands-on stage.

Can I go back and rewatch my lessons?

Yes. In fact, you are encouraged to return to the lessons and review them according to the access included with your purchase.

That is one of the real benefits of our online training model. You can revisit the teaching, compare details, and notice things you may have missed the first time.

I often think about how valuable it would have been to have films of my private lessons from the early days of my training. That is one reason I filmed these lessons for my son, Drake Cartwright.

These class films are an important part of the legacy I am passing on to him. I am grateful that today’s technology allows us to make this training available to sincere students, even if you live in another city or country.

What's Next?

You are standing at a simple crossroads.

One path is familiar.

Keep collecting fragments. Watch another video. Try to copy movements from the outside. Hope that, somehow, the Qi, Neigong, Fajin, and internal power of Chen Taijiquan will reveal themselves without a real foundation.

That path costs more than time.

It costs clarity. It costs momentum. It costs the chance to build your body, breath, intent, and structure in the right order before bad habits become harder to unwind.

The other path is rarer.

Step through the open door into a living internal lineage. Learn the first principles that serious students are expected to know: how to stand, sink, spiral, connect, breathe, listen, and begin training power from the inside out.

This is not a promise of instant mastery.

Chen Taijiquan does not work that way.

But it is a serious beginning. A guided entry into the methods behind the form, the Neigong beneath the movement, and the lineage secrets that make Tai Chi more than slow exercise.

Tuition for the Tai Chi Starter Course is $100.

Complete the course and that tuition becomes a credit toward your next stage of training, so your first step is not wasted. It becomes part of the path.

If you feel the pull toward real internal practice, do not ignore it.

The door is open. The path is yours to choose.

Click the button to begin...

Remember the Starter Course foundation can become your bridge into our full Taijiquan Lineage Training Programs, with tuition reward bonus available for your next stage of study.