Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

When I first became interested in T'ai Chi, my initial experience was from a book by Cheng Man Ching which I bought in a secondhand book shop. I started teaching myself his form as envisaged in the book, but found that the book was not as self-explanatory as CMC claimed and in the end I had to buy m...

Audi: it's actually not the same picture. The picture you refer to can be seen here, and as you say, there is an opponent in the picture. http://www.chipellis.com/Pictures/comparitive-pics/yang_cheng_fu_single_whip_application_2_75.jpg However, in the picture to which I have provided a link, there i...

My teacher in London's rule is that the tips of the fingers are generally in line with the eyes if the palm is erect or such that they would be if they were erect in positions in which they are not erect. I make that a difference of about 4 centimetres. Such variations are to be expected among the g...

Bob: I get your drift, but if that's the case, then which of these two photos reveals YCF as he really performed Tanbien (if either)? The same applies to the Tanbien photo of what you might call his middle period, as exemplified in his book, where the right wrist is somewhere between the two photos ...

Audi, thanks for these comments and you could certainly have a point. On the other hand, photos of YCF from what you might call the middle period, the period of his book in other words, show the right hand a bit higher than in the early period, but not as high as in the late photo, which might just ...

Rich: thanks a lot for these additional tips which I shall start incorporating today! Especially the Ta Hu point makes a lot of sense and I think that coupled with an earlier comment about my right shoulder being too elevated in the posture, this will really help me get it right (well, as right as p...

I've been viewing as many images of Yang Cheng Fu as possible from books and on the web and it's clear from the pictures, as well as from what I've read, that he modified his Form continually in details over the years. I think these two images of him performing Tanbien when he was apparently in his ...

I am copying below private correspondence on this topic between Audi and myself with his permission and I hope that I hope that everyone reading this will find the points discussed relevant and useful. Hi Simon, Below is the email I sent you before. It has more comments than what I was prepared to p...

Serena: thanks a lot for these observations and also for making them graphic by reference to the photos of Master Lu. As I explained, I don't live in London anymore and at present it is not easy for me to commute up there from here for lessons and the fare involved is actually three times the price ...

Rich: I've just had a double check myself of the photo of me in Hsia Fei Shih and you're right - my right arm really does look too far out to the side and that certainly isn't how I've been taught it. Perhaps the photo was taken fractionally after I thought it had been so I was actually fractionally...

Rich, thanks for the tips and I'll try and incorporate them. On the question of relaxation, of course I do bear in mind Yang Cheng Fu's emphasis on that point when I am practising. But in these static postures in the photos, that probably doesn't come across. Also, another thing was that both my fri...

Bob: I forgot to include the link to Master Lu, so here it is:
http://zhenwei.org/index.php?option=com ... &Itemid=29

Kind regards, Simon.

Bob: I began T'ai Chi in 1999 and that stage I knew next to nothing about it and just bought a Cheng Man Ching book in a second hand book shop and taught myself for about a year. Then I found out more by reading other books and became disenchanted by the brevity of the CMC form and wanted to learn t...

Audi, Thanks for your comment about the neck position. I think the reason why I do this is probably because I've taken too literally the advice about doing the form with the neck and body aligned as if the head is suspended from the Nei Wan point 'as from a golden thread hanging from heaven'. It's h...

Shugdenla: thanks for these remarks. Before I set about addressing them in my form practice, however, I'd just like to seek some clarification about what you mean by increasing 'torso radius' as I'm really not sure what this phrase means in practical terms. I do try to make my postures elastic - tho...