Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

Hi Bob, there've been some great replies already. Louis's citation given of the basic mechanics of "ji" is accurate. It is characterized (in the GBT sequence) by the combination of the arms (limbs) compressing (squeezing) while the entire torso is moved forward by the legs (ji). The combin...

Hi Louis, I agree, "the fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves." People glean all sorts of things from the language. It's not the fault of the language. I think there's also an interesting thesis that TCC exists at the places where our different interpretations agree. I.e., we may not...

Hi Louis, I'm not sure what shugdenla meant, but I think it is true that TCC's vocabulary makes it possible for multiple interpretations. Otoh, the vocabulary also allows different, perhaps contradictory, elements to exist in the same art. There might even be an argument that this "flexibility&...

Hi, thanks Louis for your hard-work translating WTN. Re: his form, though. It is just a shortened version of any orthodox Yang form. The first section is pretty much the orthodox/standard order up to cross hands. One problem is that the clip seems to begin while he's in the middle of Grasp Bird's Ta...

Hi, this is an ancient argument. The part that I find most interesting is that, in general, it is rare to find an actual "Yang family" member advocating these practices. You'll pardon me for saying so, but it is the assertions of a hidden tradition. There seems to be an attempt to appropri...

Hi Linda, I didn't really intend to single out Erle M. Look at some of the other links that the google search resulted. However, if two groups claim to represent the last vestiges of a particular tradition, can both be correct? Well, how does one choose? I don't know; but, as there are several who c...

Hi Linda, well, I don't want you to take my comments and/or questions as criticism. Yes, it's true that it's very easy for something to be lost. However, once we get to the "last" possessor of an art, it's hard to tell if the art is not "his" alone. After all, in the end, imo, ev...

Hi, fwiw, I look at this more as a literary-historical question than a political debate. I've never questioned, or really mentioned, the validity or authenticity of Michuan or Wang. My main question was about the terminology used by the living members of the Yang family. I understand that YCF is con...

Hi, well, yeah, if it's out in the open, then it's not secret. If it was secret within the family, then the family should still have it. As you say, it seems like a branch coming through Zhang and Wang. There's nothing wrong with that; nor does it lessen the value of the art or the skill of the prac...

Hi, I think the claim is that Michuan came directly from YLC; and that it is distinguished from YCF by being what was taught privately within the family. I guess I was asking because, as we know, members of the family are still alive. I was wondering what they said. Secondly, I was interested in the...

Hi Linda, I'm curious. Does anyone within the Yang family practice the Michuan style? And, I'm also interested in the distinction made between "Lao" and "Xin" forms/styles of TCC. Does this appear --in Chinese-- in any of the classic literature? Or, is the classification new? reg...

Hi, well, I don't think taijiquan needs to be defended. Wang himself notes that there are tjq practitioners who can use their art. If we took his remark 'only 1 in a hundred' literally, and estimated that there were only 10 million practitioners, there'd be 100,000 effective fighters. Ironically, in...

Hi Jerry, Louis,

fwiw, I do tend to agree that qi and yi should not be "thought about". Louis, there must be a Buddhist reference to this, no?

regards,
Steve James

Hi bamboo leaf, sorry, I was following the thread of the discussion, not the title of the thread. I wouldn't worry too much about trying to convince people. My questions were not about you, but about the history and literature within the art. I disagree that there are no answers, but I agree that it...

Hi Louis, bamboo leaf, Thanks Louis, I was just wondering. Most of the "classic" literature that I've read have emphasized the achievement of "correct touch." bamboo leaf, you wrote of a story concerning YLC: "One of them he taught the method of just using the skin; The othe...