Historical background

Nei-chia fighting arts put emphasis on the internal moving factors. That's why we speak of internal fighting arts. This also is the case with Tai-Ki-kenpo which ideas and principles can be traced back to the famous Yellow Emperor Huang-ti (2696 -2598 BC) and his 'classic work of internal healing' (Nei-Ching Su Wen)

Yue Fei (1100 - 1140 A.D.) was a famous Chinese general, who gave birth to the development of our fighting art. He is the founder of the famous Ba Duan Chin exercises. From his tradition and through the Shaolin monastery and the Wu-tang Boxing the Hsing-I-chuan (body mind boxing) was developed. From this school a famous boxer would come forward from the Hopei-school called Kuo Un Shen (Divine Crushing Hand)

This boxer would become the teacher of Wang Chang Chai (1885-1963) who developed the Hsing-I school of boxing further and stressed naturalness. Later on he changed the name into I-chuan / Yi-chuan (Mind Boxing) Wang would become so famous that he was called 'China's National Hand' and his art would get the honorific name of 'Ta-Cheng-Chuan'.

When in that time master Sawai - who was on diplomatic and military service in China- heard about him, he called upon the famousWang in Beijing and challenged him right away. Wang was at his best and Sawai could not beat him, and he was so impressed that he asked permission to train with him. He decided to stay in Beijing and study with Wang and his favourite senior student mr.Yao. When Sawai no longer could stay in China, Wang helped him to travel back to Japan and gave him permission to teach Ta-Cheng-Chuan. Out of reference for Wang he would call it Tai-Sei-Ken in Japanese, conform the original name. Later on Sawai would change the middle character Sei into Ki and called his school Tai-Ki-Ken. He did so because he wanted to become more precise about the essence of the art and also to make clear that real expertise only would come by 'ki-training' and the mastering of 'ki'.

Sawai soshi (1903-1988) the headmaster of Tai Ki Ken was born in south Japan. He underwent a classic budo-education under master Aoyagi Seicho in iai-jutsu and ju-jutsu. In the Butokuden in Kyoto he learned ken-jutsu from Naito Takaharu and ju-jutsu from Isagai. Later he would study at the military academy in Tokyo, where worked under the famous judo-sensei Tokusambo and sensei Mifune.

We can say that Sawai sensei's Taiki school is rooted in the Chinese Yi-chuan and wushu method of Wang and became enriched by the enormous bujutsu/ budo experience of our headmaster himself, in such a way that Tai-ki could grow out to a unique combination and blend of two budo systems.

Jan Kallenbach started in 1957 with judo and ju-jutsu in Amsterdam. After his training in Kyokushin karate he went as 3e dan blackbelt in search after the Japanse teachers of whom he had learned to know by Jon Bluming. It was during these budo studies in Japan (1967- 1968) that he got accepted by Sawai sensei as his student. In Japan he trained besides Taiki, judo under sensei Donn Draeger in the Kodokan, iai-jutsu and jo-jutsu under Kuroda Ichitaro sensei in the Kidotai police dojo and Kyokushin karate under Mas Oyama. In 1974 he started with the help of sensei SatoYoshimichi the budoclub ShinBuKen in Amsterdam Osdorp.

In 1976 he became graded as Taiki 'Renshi' in Japan and in 1987 he was awarded Taiki 'kyoshi' license by Sawai sensei. Contact with 'the Yi-chuan brother boxers' in China took place after his study trip to Beijing in '93 together with his kenpo brother sensei MacDonagh from Sweden. Through these efforts and through the help of Taiki colleagues in France grandmaster Li Yuan Ju could come to Paris and ShinBuKen Amsterdam to teach Yi-chuan.

In 1998 master Li awarded him the license to teach Yi-chuan. Jan Kallenbach is a qualified judo- and karatedo teacher, 7e dan karatedo, graded in physical education at the ALO and responsible for the self-defence education at the HvA faculty ALO (Academy of Physcial Education) and SM&O (Sport, Management, Enterprise) in Amsterdam.