Yang style

The Yang style (杨式太极拳) is the most widely practised Tai Ji style. Its movements are expansive and call for a certain suppleness. There emerges from it an aesthetic quality that has no doubt contributed to its success.

The sensations and the circulation of energy appear with regular practice, but the accumulation seems slower. Yang Tai Ji has incorporated the practice of numerous weapons (sword, sabre, fan…), which brings variety to the teaching.

It is a well-established and very rich tradition within Chinese culture, which Master Jung learned by following the teaching of Master Fu zhong Wen, successor of Yang Cheng Fu, himself the grandson of the founder of this school.

Yang Luchan (1800-1873, 楊露禪), considered the founder of this form, learned Taiji quan at Chenjiagou with Chen Changxing (1771-1853 ﹐陳長興) in his youth. As an adult he returned to his native land of Yongnian, in Hebei province, to transmit the Yang form of Taiji quan.

Yang Luchan indeed changed the Chen form in order to make it accessible to as many people as possible. His son Yang Jianhou (1847-1917, 楊健候) and above all his grandson Yang Chengfu (1883-1931, 楊澄甫) also brought their own contribution to making the style evolve towards a form that is easier to practise.

Thus, in the Yang form, the fajing (發勁): the bursting forth of elaborated force, jing (勁), as opposed to raw muscular strength, li (力), are different from those of the original form; the jumps, the violent landings and the difficult movements have been removed, and all the postures are relaxed, simple and upright, hence the popularity that the Yang form enjoys.

It should also be added that Yang Chengfu was a tireless promoter of Taiji quan, which was still almost unknown in China at the beginning of the 20th century.