ZHENGZHOU, China, Jan. 12 -- Almost every morning at 7:30, Pang Aiqin travels half of central China's Zhengzhou City to its downtown sports park with one simple purpose -- to practice Taiji with Ma Chunxi, who is a Taiji master.

"At first, I learned Taiji Fan from online courses given by Master Ma, then I heard she teaches Taiji in the park for free, so I came here to practice," said Pang, who has practiced Taiji with Ma for two years.

"I come here everyday. It is more effective to learn directly from Ma, who is a national Taiji master," she explained.

Now, Pang can perform three types of the art: Taijiquan, Taiji Fan and Taiji Sword. She also devotes a significant amount of her time as a retiree to attend Wushu exchanges both in China and abroad with Ma.

Ma Chunxi, 78, is the fourth generation of the Ma family, which has developed a style of Wushu that is unique to the family. In 1919, her great grandfather, Ma Guitang, moved the family from Fugou County to Kaifeng, then the capital of central China's Henan Province, to perform martial arts in the streets outside of the Xiangguo Temple.

In 1953, 13-year-old Ma Chunxi was invited to participate in the first Ethnic Minority Traditional Sports Competition.

Ma Chunxi won the championship of the competition with a performance of Emei Ci, a traditional Kungfu instrument, and since then she has performed it several times for foreign leaders visiting China.

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