several my friend
i just posted this on another board some vcd and videos i recently bought and observed .
Yang variations study:
what i purchases to survey this past few months were-
1. guang ping 1st form (no 2nd cannon fist is available right now) basically it has apparent chen movements and a few interesting variations of part horse mane, fair maiden play shuttles, 7 stars ride tiger, brush knee, and jump kick.
2. Imperial Yang Taijiquan- both Li Zheng's and Xiao Tieseng 'old frame' were the same form, li zheng is a bit older and more refined. it contains alot of rear leg weighted stances and some chen-like and wu-like postures. the imperial 'small frame' seemed a shorter and faster version of the old frame with same type of postures while the chang chuan or 'longfist' form was faster more agile, more fajing and had even bagua walking in it!!
3. Middle frame taijiquan of Yang jianhao- by wang Dianzhen. 13 animal shapes- each resembled linear sections of the yang long form or repeated single postures like grasp birl tail, part horse mane, brush knee, kick section, fair maiden. the postures look more comfortable and open compared to the other forms, but its not da jia (large frame).
4. the 64 yang spear form by jiang jie-ye (aka video man of every style-no shame in the game) probably got this form in china and brought in back to the states probably from someone more legit than himself (wang chouyu). i wanted to see what it compared to with the 24 spear i learned from my yang teacher xianhao. it didnt resemble it at all. it seemed more like shaolin/lohand spear. it has figure 8's, jumps, fast pace, quick turns. no taiji flavor, but interesting in its own right. some of the spear movements of this form were the same as those by wang dianzhen who studied with the yang jian hao lineage.
5. earl montagui's yang lu chan old form. (had to see why everyone either hates or loves this guy) this was nothing like the other old frame forms and recent research suggests this might be a form related to Chen pan ling who studied with yang shou hao and yang chen fu, the wu's, and chen's at one point. and that what the form looked like a different expression of those styles. there is plently of fajing, and different variatins of part horse mane, brush knee, fair maiden play shuttles, strike tiger. he has a second video on small and large san shou i felt covers some good self defense.
total assesment- might be good to have in your yang library if you like to see other variations.
final assesment- better to practice with a great master one thing really well, stick to a legit lineage than the hybrid styles.
stay true to the form...
matt
http://www.polariswushu.net