Yang style

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The Yang style ( Chinese  楊 式  /  杨 式 , Pinyin yángshì or Chinese  楊氏  /  杨氏 , Pinyin yángshì or Chinese  楊家  /  杨家 , Pinyin yángjiā ) of the Chinese martial art Taijiquan is the second oldest of the five "family styles ". The Yang style in its various forms is the most common style worldwide. The name refers to the Yang or Yeung family who developed this style over generations. Yang style Taijiquan is characterized by particularly soft and evenly flowing movements.

Yang Family History

The founder of the Yang style, Yang Luchan ( Chinese  楊 露 禪  /  杨 露 禅 , Pinyin Yáng Lùchán , W.-G. Yang Lu-ch'an , 1799–1872), learned Taijiquan from Chen Changxing ( 陳長興  /  陈长兴 , Chén Zhǎngxìng , Ch'en Chang-hsing ; * 1771 ; † 1853 ) in Chenjiagou ( 陳家溝  /  陈家沟 , Chénjiāgōu ). Some of his students became the founders of other family styles.

According to the oral tradition of the Yang family, Chen Changxing learned his art from a stranger, Jiang Fa ( 蒋 法 , Chiang Fa ), a tofu maker from Xian ( Shaanxi ), who stayed in Chenjiagou for two years. Jiang Fa's line of tradition is said to go back to Zhang Sanfeng ( 張三豐  /  张三丰 , Zhāng Sānfēng , Chang San-Feng ).

Second generation

Yang Lu-chan had three sons, the first died early, the other two, who had already received a very intensive Taijiquan training from their father as children, also became famous masters:

  • Yang Pan-hou ( 楊 班 侯  /  杨 班 侯 , Yáng Bānhóu , Yang Pan-hou ; * 1837 ; † 1892 )
  • Yang Chien-hou ( 楊健 侯  /  杨健 侯 , Yáng Jiànhóu , Yang Chien-hou ; * 1839 ; † 1917 )

Known as the "Yang Brothers", they were famous throughout China for their skills and, like their father, were honored to be called "Invincible Yang". It is said that Yang Banhou was temperamental, while Yang Chienhou was calm and gentle. As the elder, Yang Pan-hou received his father's position at the imperial court.

Different forms are known in this generation: fast, slow, with large or small movements (large / small frame). In addition, different heights of the execution: high (crane), medium (tiger), low (snake). In the low version, the entire shape could be carried out under a table.

Yang Luchan had 3 students in the imperial bodyguard who are said to be very skilled : Wan Chun ( 萬春 ), Chan Ling ( 凌 山 ) and Quanyou ( 全 佑 ). Since Yang Luchan had other students with high military ranks, these three had to become students of his son, Pan-hou. It is not known whether they are officially considered master students.

Third generation

Little is known about Yang Pan Hou's son Zhao Peng (* 1872 ; † 1930 ). Yang Chienhou had three sons, two of whom became famous Tai Chi Chuan masters:

  • Yang Shao-hou ( 楊少 侯  /  杨少 侯 , Yáng Shǎohóu , Yang Shou-hou ) (* 1862 ; † 1930 ) also trained a lot with his uncle Pan-hou.
  • His brother Yang Chengfu ( 楊澄甫  /  杨澄甫 , Yáng Chéngfǔ , Yang Ch'eng-fu ) (* 1883 , † 1936 ) only began to train seriously as a young adult, which he later tried to make up through an extreme training load. Yang Chengfu made the Yang style known and spread through his public teaching activities in China. Its shape is characterized by slow, flowing and gentle movements. Some say he standardized the Yang style in its current form and removed the fast movements from the form. Others believe that he ultimately only chose one of the variants of the Taijiquan form practiced in the Yang family.
  • Wu Quanyou (全 佑), the founder of the " new Wu style ". Actually a student of Yang Luchan, he officially became a master student of Yang Pan Hou.
  • Tian Zhaolin (* 1891 : † 1960 ), student of Yang Chien-hou, training partner of Yang Shao-hou.

Fourth generation

Yang Cheng-fu had three sons:

  • Yang Shou-chung ( 楊守 中  /  杨守 中 , Yáng Shǒuzhōng , Yang Shou-chung ; * 1910 ; † 1985 ) (personal name: Yang Zhenming ( 楊振銘  /  杨振铭 , Yáng Zhènmíng , Yang Chen-ming )) began intensive training at the age of eight with his father and his uncle. It is reported that he had to do the mold 30 times a day, which took between seven and eight hours to complete. By the age of 14 he had learned his family's extensive exercise system. He accompanied his father on his educational trips and assisted him. At the age of 18 he was already a master craftsman, but continued to receive lessons from his father and uncle until their death. In 1949 he fled to Hong Kong , where he taught until the end of his life.
  • Yang Zhendou (* 1926 ) was tutored by his father until he was 10 years old. After his death, he learned from his father's students who were outside the family. Today, as the oldest living son of Yang Chengfu, he is the official head of the family. He founded the International Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan Association to spread the Yang style in the world.

Yang Cheng-fu had 5 master students according to Yang Shou Chung, unfortunately the traditional names are not clear, so you can only be sure about the first two:

Fifth generation

Yang Cheng-fu's eldest son Yang Shou-chung (Yang Zhenming) had 3 daughters, Tai-yee, Ma-lee and Yee-li, but no sons, Yang Ma-lee still runs a school for Taijiquan in Hong Kong

Yang Shou-chung also trained 3 master students.

  1. Ip Tai Tak ( 叶大德 , Yè Dà Dé ; * 1929 ; † 2004 in Hong Kong ) also taught Yang-style Taijiquan in Hong Kong.
  2. Chu Gin-soon ( 朱振顺 , Zhū ​​Zhèn Shùn ) founded the Gin Soon Tai Chi Club in Boston , USA in 1969 with the permission of Yang Zhenming to spread the Yang-style Taijiquan in North America.
  3. Chu King-Hung (朱景雄 , Zhū ​​Jǐng Xióng ) (* 1945 in Guangzhou , Republic of China ) foundedthe International Tai Chi Chuan Association with Yang Zhenmingin the 1970s to spread the Yang style in Europe.

Sixth generation

Master student of Ip Tai Tak:

  1. John Ding (Ding Teah Chean; * 1951) founded the JDIATCC , the "John Ding International Academy of Tai Chi Chuan", today's Master Ding Academy to spread the traditional Yang style .
  2. Robert Boyd founded the Bao Tak Fai Tai Chi Institute to promote Ip's Snakestyle, the Yang family's secret fighting style, according to Boyd, in the West.

Chu Gin-Soon:

  1. Vincent Chu (son)
  2. John Conroy (1st master student)
  3. H. Won Gim (Kim Hyo-Won) teaches in New York City (2nd master student)

Master student of Chu King Hung:

  1. Paul Woofon (France, Grenoble)
  2. Andreas Heyden (Germany, Rhineland, 2001)
  3. Richard Sammer (Southwest Germany)
  4. Werner Broch (Southwest Germany, 2002)
  5. Kathrin Rutishauser (Switzerland, 2002)
  6. Guido Ernst (Switzerland, 2002)
  7. Martin Klett (Netherlands, 2003)
  8. Denis Marquès (France, Paris region)
  9. Alex Chénière (France, Paris region)
  10. François Loutrel (South of France, 2004)
  11. Philippe Zambotto (France, Paris region)
  12. Louis Mortelecque (Northern France)
  13. Gertraud Wartner (Austria, 2004)
  14. Ishu Rasel (Germany, 2004)
  15. Safi Schubert (Germany, 2004)
  16. Brigitte Fleckenstein (Germany)
  17. Carlo Lopez (Italy, 2004)
  18. Dario Milana (Italy, 2004)
  19. Jochen Albermann (Germany, 2005)
  20. Anke Bronner (Germany, 2006)
  21. Philippe Suré (France, Lyon)
  22. Leonardo Castelli (Italy)
  23. Mika Määttänen (Finland, 2017)

Developments outside the family

Following the tradition of the Chinese martial arts ( Wushu ), the art of Taijiquan was only passed on to the male descendants within the own family. This should prevent a martial art with destructive potential from getting out of the sphere of influence of one's own family and thus out of control. During Yang Luchan's lifetime there were over a hundred different martial arts in China, and there were few of them that were not kept strictly confidential. Yang Luchan's position as teacher to the emperor and princes (who were also Manchus ) and as the chief instructor of the imperial bodyguard conflicted with this tradition.

It is said that although he and his descendants trained forms and applications with their students, they held back many secrets: They did not pass on the inner principles of movement, which could only be learned with great difficulty. Very few students of masters from the Yang family achieved the status of a master student , which guaranteed that they would learn the style as it was passed on in the family.

The big difference in the way the Yang styles and related family styles are performed is also due to the didactics: the student is taught what is beneficial in his current stage of development, even if this practice has to be given up at a later point in time. When you consider that it can take a few decades to fully learn the style and that many had received a much shorter education, the differences are not surprising.

Impetus to found other family styles

  • Yang Luchan trained Wu Yuxiang ( W.-G. Wu Yuhsiang ) (1813-1880), who later became the founder of the Wu / Hao style (also: old Wu style). The Wu family owned the house in Yongnian where the Chen family ran the pharmacy where Yang Luchan worked when he was young. After learning from Yang Luchan for a while, Wu Yuxiang wanted to deepen his knowledge with Chen Chang Hsing (Chen Changxing), but instead studied with Chen Qingping in Zhaobao for two months.
  • Quanyou ( W.-G. Ch'uan-yü ) (1834–1902), a cavalry officer of the Imperial Court Guard, first learned from Yang Luchan in his position as the highest trainer of the Imperial Body Guard, but officially became Yang Banhou's student or master student. Quanyou later founded the Wu style (new Wu style).
  • Sun Lu Tang, a Xingyichuan and Baguazhang master, learns the Wu / Hao style and creates the Sun style, a mixture of Taijiquan, Xingyichuan and Baguazhang.

Some variants of the Yang style now have other names after the family in which they are passed on, for example the Tung style is named after Tung Ying Chieh , the Fu style after Fu Zhongwen and the Ip style after Ip Tai Tak . The two Wu styles also came about in this way and were probably not an attempt to create something new. However, they are now very different from the Yang family style.

Spreading the Yang style outside the family

The spread of the Yang style Taijiquan started mainly from the students of Yang Chengfu. However, more and more lines of tradition that refer to another member of the Yang family are appearing.

  • Yang Cheng Fu's master student Chen Wei-ming ( 陳 微 明  /  陈 微 明 , Chén Wēimíng , Ch'en Wei-ming ) published several books on the Yang style of Taijiquan.
  • The best known and most controversial student of Yang Chengfu in the western world is probably Zheng Manqing ( 鄭曼青 , Cheng Man-ch'ing , 1901–1975). He developed a short, simplified form and emigrated to the USA via Taiwan . Although the changes made by Zheng Manqing are controversial in most other schools and are not recognized by the Yang family, Zheng Manqing is considered to be the first to spread Taijiquan in the western world.
  • In the People's Republic of China, the Chinese Sports Committee created the so-called Peking Form in 1956 ;

weapons

The weapons commonly used in the Yang style are

  • the sword (assigned to the element water)
  • the saber (assigned to the element fire)
  • the long stick or spear (assigned to the element wood or metal)

Yang Luchan was famous for his masterful handling of the long stick.

Partner exercises

  • Tuishou (English pushing hands , "pushing" or "hearing hands"). There are different variations of this: one-handed, two-handed, with and without steps, small circle
  • Dalü ("big drawing"), Dalü form (more complex sequence than Dalü)
  • "Combat forms" (the form as well as the weapon forms): special form training with contact, Sanshou, "style of the free hands"

Bibliography

  • Frieder Anders: "Tai Chi. China's living wisdom", Diederichs 1985, ISBN 3-424-00833-8
  • Stuart Olson: Cultivating the Qi: The Yang Family Secret Training Documents . ISBN 3-89901-470-7
  • Stuart Olson: The Nature of Taiji Quan: The Yang Family Secret Training Documents . ISBN 3-89901-003-5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Yang Cheng Fu: Application methods of Taijiquan . Ed .: Society for Chinese National Glory. 1931. Tian Zhaolin's and Tung Ying Chieh's students are listed in the book, so it can be assumed that they were family students (master students)
  2. ^ Roger Bastick: Direct Yang Family Lineage ( Memento December 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). March 28, 2015.
  3. ↑ Master Ding Academy: Founder of the Master Ding Academy . Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  4. ↑ Bao Tak Fai Tai Chi Institute . Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  5. ↑ GSTCCF: Vincent Chu . Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  6. ^ Ip Family Tai Chi: Executive Director Robert Boyd . Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  7. ↑ H. Won Tai Chi Institute: Sifu H. Won Gim . Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  8. ↑ ITCCA Europe: Master student of Master Chu King Hung . Retrieved November 19, 2016.