Friends of David Chen

Water Tiger School of T'ai Chi Ch'uan Patchogue Long Island New York

Laoshi Laurince D. McElroy

Suffolk County, Long Island

New York USA

January 2006

© 2005 - 2023 Water Tiger School

Some of our favorite T'ai Chi art originated from David C. Chen of David Chen Art and Wuwei Tai Chi Club. David has always been very gracious in allowing us to use his art. On Thursday, December 29, 2005, we received some very sad news via email:

Dear Friends:

It is with incredible difficulty and with very sad heart that I inform you about David Chen. David was recently diagnosed with a large benign brain tumor for which he underwent a long brain surgery. The surgery for removing the tumor was successful. Unfortunately, a complication set in during his recovery, David passed away in the morning of December 25, 2005. He was only 50 years old and is survived by his wife, Joanne Chang, and two sons Hank and Sean.

David has touched many, many lives; and that we all equally think of this as a tremendous shock. No doubt he is a loss to the greater Tai Chi community, especially to those who are active participants in the Cheng Man-Ching style of Tai-Chi. He is also a loss to the art world. David was a successful illustrator -- a small profile of his work can be seen on his websites: http://www.davidchenart.com/ and http://www.wuweitaichi.com/. He was a person that was a master and friend at the same time, always available to questions, comments, and reflection on the art and philosophy of Tai Chi. He oftentimes told his friends that the art of Tai Chi has no graduation and no mastery but a joyful journey of learning, refining, and cultivating. The power of his personality, the depth of his commitment, and the scope of his vision will be sorely missed by all of us who shared his passion for making Tai Chi a better tool for health both physically and spiritually.

In lieu of flowers, any donation to David Chen’s family can be made ... for further promotion of Tai Chi in memory of David and also for partial offset of funeral expenses. The check can be made payable to Joanne Chang. For those who ... would like to send their condolences or express their sympathy by mail, please send to the family address at: 2211 Newton Drive; Rockville, MD 20850.

Please help disseminate this [news] to all David’s friends that you know of. On behalf of Joanne Chang and their sons, I would like to thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

Julian Chu

With the many others who've been touched by David's profound generosity and deep knowledge, we feel the loss and our hearts go out to his family.

Yin Yang Puzzle by David Chen.Sailing into a Yin Yang horizon. Art by David Chen.