The Yang family style of Tai Chi Chuan is arguably the most widely practiced martial art in the world today. Formal historical records trace Tai Chi back to the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in the Henan province of Northern China. At the collapse of the Ming in 1644, and army officer named Chen Wangting returned to his home village and began teaching his martial style. Successive generations within Chen Village inherited and refined the system, which was treated as a closely guarded family heirloom. By the early nineteenth century the fame of the Chen family’s Tai Chi Chuan had spread throughout Northern China. A young Shaolin Kung Fu boxer named Yang Luchan, having heard of the Chen family’s high level of martial skill, traveled to Chen Village in search of instruction. As an outsider, Yang was initially refused, but he stayed on as a farm worker and through observation was able to absorb many of the techniques of Tai Chi. In fact, his skill became such that Chen Changxin, then head of the village’s boxing school, was impressed, and Chen eventually transmitted full knowledge of the system to Yang.
After having studied under Chen Changxin, Yang Luchan returned to his home in Beijing, where his martial style became legendary. Many stories attest to Yang’s skill, and within martial circles his ability to prevail against all challenges earned him the title of “Yang the Invincible”. Luchan’s sons studied and carried forward his art, which was then taught to Luchan’s grandson, Yang Chengfu. Yang Chengfu’s interpretation of Tai Chi led to what is commonly recognized as the Yang style of today. He was among the first generation of teachers to offer Tai Chi instruction to the general public through the Beijing Physical Culture Institute in the early years of the twentieth century, and in the 1930’s published two books on Tai Chi Chuan.
In the 1950’s, in an effort to make the benefits of Tai Chi still more widely accessible, the mainland Chinese government enlisted a group of martial arts masters to create a shorter sequence of Tai Chi movements. The Yang style 24 Step form was the result. This sequence, (the first taught here at Laughing Dragon Kung Fu), is now widely practiced throughout the world, and has gone even farther towards opening up this once closely guarded secret art to the public. While it remains the case that true Tai Chi mastery requires diligent practice over time, beginners will discover immediate benefits from this centuries old art. From the very start, the practice of Yang style Tai Chi develops the very harmonizing of mind, body and spirit that its practice requires.
After having studied under Chen Changxin, Yang Luchan returned to his home in Beijing, where his martial style became legendary. Many stories attest to Yang’s skill, and within martial circles his ability to prevail against all challenges earned him the title of “Yang the Invincible”. Luchan’s sons studied and carried forward his art, which was then taught to Luchan’s grandson, Yang Chengfu. Yang Chengfu’s interpretation of Tai Chi led to what is commonly recognized as the Yang style of today. He was among the first generation of teachers to offer Tai Chi instruction to the general public through the Beijing Physical Culture Institute in the early years of the twentieth century, and in the 1930’s published two books on Tai Chi Chuan.
In the 1950’s, in an effort to make the benefits of Tai Chi still more widely accessible, the mainland Chinese government enlisted a group of martial arts masters to create a shorter sequence of Tai Chi movements. The Yang style 24 Step form was the result. This sequence, (the first taught here at Laughing Dragon Kung Fu), is now widely practiced throughout the world, and has gone even farther towards opening up this once closely guarded secret art to the public. While it remains the case that true Tai Chi mastery requires diligent practice over time, beginners will discover immediate benefits from this centuries old art. From the very start, the practice of Yang style Tai Chi develops the very harmonizing of mind, body and spirit that its practice requires.
