Antoine Richard -
Certified Taiji Instructor / CTND Berlin-Friedrichshain
Unlike many practitioners, my path in martial arts is quite a simple story: I chose one art — Chen-style taijiquan — and stayed with it. Not from lack of curiosity, quite the opposite: year after year this discipline keeps revealing itself as an endless source of insights on many levels.
I started for two reasons: first because I wanted to learn some self-defense without diving head-first into fighting madness, and second, to understand how ancient Chinese philosophy can be embodied and applied in a fighting method. In 2011 I began training taiji through the Chen Yu line and one of his direct disciples, Nabil Ranné, and I’ve been practicing this method ever since.
Because Taiji has so many facets — and because they all complement one another — it’s the only “sport activity” that has kept my full attention over the years. Working on developing gongfu is a lifelong adventure. Curiosity can be fed forever. The continuous refinement of body awareness, the study of body architecture, the development of fighting skills, the concentration and the patient, structured learning of mechanics — all of this gradually condenses one’s presence.
I was born in France and have lived in Berlin since 2009. I’m a CTND-certified instructor and continue to study with Nabil Ranné. I teach classes and workshops at the main CTND Berlin school in Prenzlauer Berg — the very place where I began my Taiji journey in 2011. I also wanted to share my enthusiasm for learning gongfu in my own neighborhood (Nord-Kiez Friedrichshain), where I’ve been living for more than 15 years. That’s why I built the smaller CTND Berlin-Friedrichshain branch and created this page. I’m happy to teach in German, English, French, or Italian – but the first two are the official languages of the school!
Q&A: The Inner Adventure
Here's an uncut version of the interview published on Gongfu Crew's instagram some years ago!
What kind of martial art do you practice and teach? when, where and how did you learn it?
I do Chen-style Taijiquan, from the Chen Zhaokui - Chen Yu tradition which I have been learning from Nabil in Berlin since I started in 2011. My taiji journey is a bit boring! I started in my thirties, very late compared to many teacher colleagues. My interest cannot be traced back to any childhood passion (Bruce Lee and kungfu movies played a very minor role for me as a kid). I only reluctantly maintained a passable level in tennis until I finished school! I started Taiji because I wanted to learn some self defense — and I loved Zhuangzi. Taiji training quickly provided me with a curious mix of challenges and joyful epiphanies that I never encountered in any other activity. I was hooked! My body is now thankful, persevering has been and still is a sweaty pleasure.
What do you love about your own practice? and what do you emphasize when you teach?
I love the intricate body work, it really is like working on a jigsaw puzzle! such joy when something falls into place! You don’t just move your body, you connect, organize and mold it bit by bit. All the knowledge contained within the art really fills you with awe at some point. When integrated, it all becomes incredibly relevant in terms of strength, mobility and wellbeing. I also enjoy the patient, slow and steady building of skill (Gongfu). When I teach, I try to pass on the enthusiasm. As a born generalist, I specialise in not specialising too much!
Where do you usually practice yourself? and what would be your favorite training spot?
I mostly practice at home, in an apartment, or outside, in parks or sport areas. I also willingly follow the “train anywhere anytime” rule, because sometimes you really just need to sit or stand or walk. I love training new qualities while walking, I believe the naturalness of walking makes the integration of structural or mechanical elements easier.
Any quiet place with no walls and a horizon is ideal enough for practice, I’m not too picky!
If someone made a kungfu movie about your martial arts journey, what would it be called?
A Frenchman learning and teaching Chinese concepts in German? – sounds like Lost in Translation!
Nah, an adventure movie maybe, but compared to others, my journey wasn’t adventurous at all, really. Yet it could be some kind of static adventure movie! something like Innerspace, where a manned miniaturized ship goes inside a human body — actually a nice metaphor for what consciousness does during training. As a kid, I enjoyed adventure movies but action felt quite alien to me, I was and still am more of an “inner adventure” kind of guy.
And here the original post: