陈照旭
【家庙打白吼】
白吼欲试照旭(公)之能，自后环抱曰：“此招何解？”旭转身，吼已倒悬，足触梁，头将地。忽为所托，毫发未损，吓之胆惊。举族哗然，皆叹其神。
【飞檐走壁】
照旭(公)困于囹圄。陈宁叩窗夜告：”照旭，不了”旭移至两墙中间，手足攀援而上，破瓦而去。时人皆传陈公有飞檐走壁之神功。
【智打恶犬】
照旭(公)背手行于途，恶犬突至。旭持布袋如鞭，”啪”然中犬鼻。犬呜咽而遁，路人皆骇然，始信太极之妙，无物不可为器也。
【家风墨化】
其父两弟子合力试照旭(公)拳脚，无能。旭归家，父听闻之，曰：”闻汝兄皆不敌尔。”语毕转身，倏然反手，旭已仆飞而出。遂绝杂娱，研习家拳，终成大家。
【号称小师父】
发科(公)授拳于北平，照旭(公)佐教。旭拳劲如游丝，势如雷电，虽齿序当称“师兄“，然诸生无不折服而呼其”小师父”。
其传承人主要有陈小旺、陈小星。
陈照奎
【睡觉显神功】
照奎(公)卧榻，阖目养神。族人欲试其功，探之，方触其身，忽惨呼跌坐，腕骨欲裂。方知奎擒拿乃天下一绝，肌骨皆兵也。众骇然拜服，始信”太极太保”之誉非虚。
【同门切磋见桩功】
照奎(公)代父教拳于北平。父众弟子轻慢其身形普通，其一虎背熊腰，身法灵活，率先发难，挥拳直取。奎稳立未移寸步，出手者扶手跪地，右臂垂若败絮。众徒折服，其忍痛叹曰：“此神拳，必为陈家之拳技也。”
【擒拿功夫无人敌】
发科(公)心忧新架及擒拿拳术失传，晚年执奎手嘱曰：“沟中无继，汝当归之。”盖族兄照丕虽承老架，然未得新架。奎受父命，遂苦练家学，擒拿之术已臻化境。后携绝艺返乡，陈家武脉拳术由是得续。
其传承人主要有陈小旺、陈小星、陈瑜。
陈照旭（太极妙手）
陈照旭（1912-1959）陈家沟陈氏第十八世(余祖)太极拳嫡系传人。
其一生极具传奇色彩，性情雅致，聪慧异常，好游猎，擅胡琴，喜绘画，多才多艺。
自幼秉承家传，日练拳30余遍，1928年随父至京，学练教多年，参以诸艺之理，功夫达妙化之境，为一代之佼佼者；拳法精微奥妙之处往往为同道称颂；参与了太极拳套路的整理与完善工作，对太极拳的完整性及套路的发展演变作出了卓越贡献。
后遵父命，回乡持家兴业，曾任民办教师，教村中子弟学文识字及拳术拳法。其子陈小旺与陈小星，承其严教，同出一脉各展风华，皆成当代太极拳界的泰山北斗。
小旺继承家传拳学，传拳于海外，闻达于四方，善德于族中，被推举为“陈家沟陈氏第十九世太极拳掌门人“。
小星自幼受父辈及兄（小旺）影响受教，坚守太极祖地，守护太极魂，德高望重，数十年悉心培养族中子弟，家学门风，永惠乡里，被推举为“太极拳守门人”。
陈照奎（太极太保）
陈照奎（1928-1981）陈家沟陈氏第十八世(叔祖)太极拳嫡系传人。
自幼随父迁居北京，少年时便勤习拳术，其拳法造诣精深，尤擅拳走低架，胸腰折叠手法多变。拳架中正流畅，精于闪、战、弹、抖等技法；推手擒拿功夫已达随心所欲之境。
陈照奎所传新架，乃承袭其父陈发科所创拳法精髓。六十年代，应其父弟子顾留馨之邀赴上海传拳，其后辗转京沪，更赴郑州、石家庄、南京、焦作、开封等地授拳数载。七十年代因时局变迁，先生返归故里，教拳于族中子弟，并参与筹建陈家沟武术队，多次随队指导参赛队员，为太极拳的传承与发展作出卓越贡献。
陈照奎与顾留馨、沈家桢定编了太极拳新架一路、二路书籍，并出版发行；加上日复一日传拳授拳，积劳成疾53岁英年早逝，实为拳界之重大损失。其一生研习拳艺传授拳法，为太极拳的推广传承做出了巨大贡献。
Chen Zhaoxu
【Striking Fear into Bai Hou】
Bai Hou wanted to test Chen Zhaoxu’s skill. He embraced Zhaoxu from behind and said, “How do you counter this move?” Zhaoxu turned, and in an instant, Bai Hou was hanging upside down—his feet touching the beam, his head about to hit the ground. But Zhaoxu caught him just in time. Unhurt but utterly terrified, Bai Hou was left trembling with fear. The entire clan buzzed with astonishment, marveling at Zhaoxu’s extraordinary prowess.
【Leaping Across Rooftops and Scaling Walls】
Chen Zhaoxu was once imprisoned. Chen Ning came to his window at night and whispered, “Zhaoxu, it’s hopeless—” But Zhaoxu moved to the center of the cell, climbed up the two walls using his hands and feet, broke through the roof tiles, and escaped. People at the time spread word that Chen possessed the supernatural ability to leap across rooftops and scale walls.
【Outsmarting a Ferocious Dog】
Chen Zhaoxu was walking with his hands behind his back when a fierce dog suddenly lunged at him. Zhaoxu took a cloth bag and cracked it like a whip, striking the dog’s nose with a sharp smack. Whimpering in pain, the dog fled. The onlookers were stunned, and from then on, they believed in the subtlety of Tai Chi—that any object can be used as a weapon.
【Family Legacy Through a Hidden Lesson】
Two disciples of Chen Zhaoxu’s father once joined forces to test Zhaoxu’s martial skills, but neither could best him. When Zhaoxu returned home, his father heard of this and said, “I hear neither of your brothers could defeat you.” With that, he turned and, in a sudden reverse movement, sent Zhaoxu flying to the ground. From then on, Zhaoxu gave up all trivial pursuits, devoted himself fully to the family’s boxing art, and ultimately became a grand master.
【Known as ‘Little Master’】
When Chen Fake taught Tai Chi in Beiping, Chen Zhaoxu assisted as an instructor. Zhaoxu’s fist energy was as delicate as a silk thread yet as powerful as thunder. Though by age he should have been called “senior brother,” all his students were so impressed that they addressed him as “Little Master.”
His main successors include Chen Xiaowang and Chen Xiaoxing.
Chen Zhaokui
【Sleeping Display of Skill】
Chen Zhaokui lay on his bed, resting with his eyes closed. A clansman wanted to test his abilities and reached out to touch him. The moment contact was made, the clansman let out a sharp cry and fell to his seat, his wrist feeling as if it were about to shatter. Only then did everyone realize that Zhaokui’s Qinna (joint-locking technique) was unparalleled—every part of his body was a weapon. The crowd was awestruck and conceded that the title “Tai Chi Guardian” was well deserved.
【A Sparring Session Reveals Hidden Strength】
Chen Zhaokui taught Tai Chi in Beiping on behalf of his father. His father’s disciples looked down on him for his unassuming build. One of them, broad-backed and bear-waisted yet agile, was the first to attack, throwing a punch directly at Zhaokui. Zhaokui stood steady, not moving an inch. The attacker’s arm went limp as if it were a withered branch, and he dropped to his knees in pain. The other disciples were convinced, and the man, gritting his teeth, exclaimed, “This is divine boxing—it must be the true Chen family art!”
【Unrivaled Qinna Mastery】
Chen Fake worried that the New Frame and Qinna techniques might be lost. In his later years, he took Chen Zhaokui’s hand and said, “There is no successor in the village. You must return.” His elder cousin, Chen Zhaopi, had inherited the Old Frame but not the New Frame. Accepting his father’s charge, Zhaokui trained hard in the family art, perfecting Qinna to an almost supernatural level. Later, he returned to his hometown with these unique skills, thus ensuring the continuation of the Chen family’s martial lineage.
His main successors include Chen Xiaowang, Chen Xiaoxing, and Chen Yu.
Chen Zhaoxu (Tai Chi Virtuoso)
Chen Zhaoxu (1912–1959), a direct lineage inheritor of the 18th generation of Chen-style Tai Chi in Chenjiagou.
His life was highly legendary. He was elegant, exceptionally intelligent, fond of hunting and traveling, skilled in playing the erhu, and loved painting—truly a man of many talents.
From childhood, he immersed himself in the family tradition, practicing Tai Chi over thirty times a day. In 1928, he followed his father to Beijing, where he spent years learning and teaching, integrating the principles of various arts into his training. His skill reached the realm of near-magical refinement, making him one of the finest of his generation. The subtlety and profundity of his boxing art were often praised by his peers. He participated in the organization and refinement of Tai Chi routines, making outstanding contributions to the completeness and evolution of the style.
Later, obeying his father’s wishes, he returned to his hometown to manage family affairs and revitalize the village. He once worked as a teacher, educating the village children in literacy and boxing. His sons, Chen Xiaowang and Chen Xiaoxing, trained under his strict guidance and each flourished in their own way, eventually becoming towering figures in the contemporary Tai Chi world.
Chen Xiaowang inherited the family’s boxing tradition, taught Tai Chi overseas, gained fame far and wide, and upheld virtue within the clan. He was elected “Head of the 19th Generation Chen-style Tai Chi of Chenjiagou.”
Chen Xiaoxing, influenced since childhood by his father and elder brother Xiaowang, has remained in the ancestral home of Tai Chi, guarding its soul. Respected and virtuous, he has for decades nurtured the younger generations of the clan, benefiting the hometown with the family’s martial heritage. He has been elected “Keeper of the Gate of Tai Chi.”
Chen Zhaokui (Tai Chi Guardian)
Chen Zhaokui (1928–1981), a direct lineage inheritor of the 18th generation of Chen-style Tai Chi in Chenjiagou.
He moved to Beijing with his father at a young age and trained diligently in boxing from his youth. His mastery of Tai Chi was profound, excelling particularly in the low-frame style and the intricate folding and turning of chest and waist movements. His postures were upright and fluid, and he was highly skilled in techniques such as flicking, battling, bouncing, and shaking. His Qinna in push-hands reached a state of effortless mastery.
The New Frame taught by Chen Zhaokui inherited the essence of the art established by his father, Chen Fake. In the 1960s, at the invitation of Gu Liuxin (a disciple of his father), he went to Shanghai to teach Tai Chi. Later, he traveled between Beijing and Shanghai and taught for several years in Zhengzhou, Shijiazhuang, Nanjing, Jiaozuo, Kaifeng, and other places. In the 1970s, due to the changing times, he returned to his ancestral village, taught boxing to the younger generations of the clan, participated in the establishment of the Chenjiagou martial arts team, and mentored competition participants on multiple occasions, making significant contributions to the inheritance and development of Tai Chi.
Chen Zhaokui co-compiled and published books on the New Frame First Routine and Second Routine together with Gu Liuxin and Shen Jiazhen. Due to years of teaching Tai Chi day in and day out, he fell ill from overwork and passed away at the young age of 53—a great loss to the Tai Chi community. His lifelong dedication to the study and teaching of Tai Chi contributed immensely to its promotion and inheritance.