Can someone tell me about Yang Chengfu & his Taiji?

[Kuen]

I was looking into attending a school that teaches his style of Taiji but I am a Wing Chun guy and I don't know anything about Taiji. Any comments from you internal guys would be appreciated.

[Nexus]

Yang Cheng-Fu changed the form he learned with adjustments he felt was proper and befitting. Cut some movements here and there, changed things a bit. The primary thing people point out is that Yang Cheng-Fu removed the fa-jing from the form.

The form itself is an excellent foundation in t'ai chi however and many applications can be derived from the postures.

Meditation can be ingrained into the practitioner which will pour into the form also.

You will find plenty by doing a www.google.com search.

[GLW]

Aside from Cheng Manching's version of Yang style and the Simplified 24 Posture routine, Yang Chengfu's routine is the most widely practiced Taijiquan in the world. (actually, it is probably more widely known than the Cheng and 24 sets).

It is a routine that is VERY easy to learn and do badly...and very time consuming to learn and do well.

If the teacher looks spiritless or limp, I would say do something else. It is supposed to be relaxed but still have a spirit.

[Kaitain(UK)]

as others have said - Yang style is the most widely practiced style in the world - and also the style most commonly filled with charlatans and hippies. Currently there is a 'purging' going on by the Yang family to stop non-family instructors proclaiming 'Yang Family' style - consequently it is getting harder to find Yang family instructors.

If you're going to learn Yang style then the safest bet is to find a Yang Family instructor -( there are excellent non-family Yang instructors about - but they are rarer than rocking horse sh*t) - go and watch a class. It's always worth asking on this forum for schools in a particular area - and also asking about a particular instructor.

Fa-jing (explosive energy) is not present in the long form - but it is trained, just not as a beginner. Yang is popular because it is relatively easy to get the basic shapes in place - the hard work comes from internalising the large movements you first learn.

Last note - don't train at a Yang school that doesn't train Standing Post (a type of QiGong). Yang style is based on immense rooting - becoming an immovable object as much as becoming untouchable and ephemeral. This conflicts with some other styles, but it is a Yang family 'feature'.

Oh yeah - last, last note ;) - is there a reason you are limiting yourself to Yang style? If there's a good Chen school near you then you should definitely consider it - don't limit yourself to a particular style. Equally - why Taiji? The other internal styles are just as good and you're more likely to find good training partners in those styles (sad fact of Taiji - the popularity is based on the 'hippy' and meditation aspects of the style, so consequently it's full of lazy arse hippies thinking of rainbows). Depends what you want to do it for...

[RAF]

Here is a good site by a traditional practitioner of Yang's taiji.

http://www.geocities.com/yongnian/history.html

Check out his film clip section, too.

[Kuen]

Thanks for the information guys.



Kaitain(UK) -Oh, I would love to do Chen style most of all but I've never even met anyone arond here who does legit Chen Taiji. There are some Shaolin Do guys here who claim to teach it but even as a Wing Chun guy I realize that it lacks even basic principals common to all CMA such as good structure, rooting, fluidity of movement, etc. I have also found Wu style to be interesting but honestly the only decent school I can find is this Yang school. They say they are a branch of the Yang Family Taiji and he lists his primary instructor as Yang Zhen Duo. He has also studied with Yang Jun, Han Hoong Wang and Yang Jwing-Ming. Other than Yang Jwing-Ming I don't know much about the others so does that sound pretty legitimate?

[GLW]

The amount of time with an instructor is almost as important as being with the instructor.

Learning from Yang Zhenduo and Yang Jun...that could be ...and is highly likely that it is ...a person who has taken a set of seminars with them.

Starting about 5 or so years ago, Yang Zhenduo came to the US and did a set of 1 to 2 week classes on Yang barehand, then on sword, and broadsword at different times. Then he brought Yang Jun (grandson, I think) and di the same thing.

Then sometime in 2000 or 2001 he and I think Yang Jun moved to the US.

Now, there were some folks who went to China for a few weeks to a few months at a time to learn from him. however, this all does not really add up to a ton of in depth training with a teacher in a classical sense.

It is possible to get good this way...but difficult. On those two, I would suggest you ask for more information.

yang Jwing Ming's methods and Yang Zhenduo's you may find at odds with each other or difficult to connect.

The other teacher I am not familiar with.