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Yang Chengfu was born into the famous Yang family of tai chi practitioners, the son of Yang Jianhou and grandson of Yang Luchan.With his older brother Yang Shaohou and colleagues Wu Jianquan and Sun Lutang, he was among the first teachers to offer tai chi instruction to the general public at the Beijing Physical Culture Research Institute from 1914 until 1928.
Yang Cheng Fu. Yang Zhao Qing, called Cheng Fu, or just “3rd Son”, was born in 1883 and died in 1936. He started receiving his father’s teachings at an early age. During his youth he worked hard at making a careful study of Tai Chi, practicing hard through both summer and winter with his skill increasing daily.
- Empty, Lively, Pushing Up and Energetic. ‘Pushing up and energetic’ means the posture of the head is upright and straight and the spirit is infused into its apex.
- Hold in the Chest and Slightly Round The Back. The phrase ‘hold in the chest’ means the chest is slightly reserved inward, which causes the chi to sink to the dantian.
- Relax the Waist. The waist is the commander of the whole body. Only after you are able to relax the waist will the two legs have strength and the lower body is stable.
- Separate Empty and Full. In the art of Tai Chi Chuan, separating full and empty is the number one rule. If the whole body sits on the right leg, then the right leg is deemed ‘full’ and the left leg ‘empty.’
- Elevate the crown and lift the spirit, the head should be upright so the Shen or (spirit) can reach the top of your head. Don’t use Li (force), or the neck will be stiff and the chi (breath) and blood can not flow through to the head.
- Contain the chest, expand the back. The chest is slightly sunken so that the chi can sink to the dantien, If the chi gets stuck in the chest, the body will become top heavy and you will be easily uprooted.
- Sung (Relax) your waist, the waist is the commander in charge of your whole body. If you can relax your waist then your legs will have the power and your lower parts will be stable and strong.
- Understand the difference between insubstantial and substantial, this is one of the very first things you will learn in Tai Chi Chuan. If the weight is on the right leg, then the right leg is substantial and the left leg is insubstantial.
- Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan History
- The Origin of Yang Style Tai Chi
- Yang Style Tai Chi Movements
- Yang Style Tai Chi Forms
- Yang Style Tai Chi Forms – Weapons
- Yang Style Tai Chi Books and Video Resources
The story behind the development of Yang style tai chi is really quite fun and interesting. It begins with a peasant farmer’s son and his rise to prominence in the martial arts world and eventual founding of Yang tai chi. Like every great “rags to riches” story, there is a mixture of anecdote, truth, and embellishment which brings the truth to life...
Yang mastered what he had been taught in Chen village and was given permission to move to Beijing to teach. He began fighting in Beijing and all reports indicate that we went undefeated earning the name: “Yang the Invincible.” In all of the accounts, be they real, fictitious, or stretches of the truth, it is clear that Yang was using something soft...
What makes Yang different than the other families of tai chi is also what makes it so popular. There is a beauty that exists in the Yang form because the movements are large, circular, and extremely graceful. There is also a balance in the way how Yang style included movements going in both directions and some postures are done equally to the right...
Yang style tai chi has many short forms, some long forms, and several weapons forms. By talking about Yang style tai chi forms, we are heading into a pretty prickly area for most practitioners. There are some pretty strong opinions out there about whether someone should perform the short form or the long form or both. There are arguments both ways ...
So at least the weapons forms are consistently all the same with the same number of movements, right? I wish I could say yes but there is just as much variety here. Different schools have different weapons and different weapons forms have different numbers of moves. The one good thing is that there is agreement about competition forms to keep consi...
Yang style tai chi books are the easiest to find out of all of the styles. Add these Yang specific books to ones that are more general and you have enough reading for the rest of your life! Here are some books that cover the specifics of Yang style. The first three many would consider “must reads” and the rest are just really good. Tai Chi Sword Cl...
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Yang Chengfu demonstrates Raise Hands (提手上势) Here is a complete list of postures in the traditional hand form(s) of Yang style Tai Chi Chuan. Since Taijiquan (太极拳) was first introduced to English speakers as “Tai Chi,” its original Chinese posture names have inspired more than one translation. Some were meant to be literal ...
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In Tai Chi Chuan many documents are considered to be “classics”, such as the Yang 40 Chapters, Chen Xin’s manual and various commentaries written by Yang Cheng-Fu and/or Cheng Man-Ching. However, there are 5 core manuscripts that tell you pretty much everything you need to know about the art of Tai Chi Chuan.
