Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

Found a great video of some of the sharpest pictures of Yang Chengfu on the internet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVHwDNo2LB8


In addition, for those of you who may not know, there are some great videos on this site of Yang Jun explaining the fine details of Yang Barehand Form. Now you can find those same great videos on the Yang Family Channel on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/user/yangfamilytaichi

Thank you so much for bringing these YouTube videos to my attention. I am a twenty plus year practitioner of the Yang family taijiquan system, but only recently began studying the Yang Zhen Duo DVDs for corrections. Those videos are very good, but the translator is somewhat difficult to follow. However, these Yang Jun videos are just what I need, and his English is excellent! I am so grateful to have discovered them. I feel like a kid on Christmas day with a shiny red bike under the tree!

taichijaco wrote:Thank you so much for bringing these YouTube videos to my attention.

Thank you.
The real person to thank is Yang Jun.
I have a feeling Yang Jun’s videos are going to make Yang style even more popular.

Hey, If you haven’t already seen his push hand demo here’s the link to part 1 & 2.

Yang Family tai chi push hands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HPFc4MgMHw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiQu_EroF-k

If you are interested here is a link to a video of Yang Chengfu’s postures side by side with one his oldest disciples Chen Wei Ming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ4D_8n24Z8
I find this last one interesting because Wei Ming’s postures seem almost identical to Chengfu’s postures.

Thank you BBTrip for the links. I have seen the link matching Yang Chen Fu's postures with his disciple's before. Two comments. First, the individual who made this video did a superb job, and the comments on his video reflect this. Second, yes, like you and many who watched the video, the similarity between the two is striking. Just as striking to me are the photos of Fu Zhongwen, which could be superimposed over those of Yang Chen Fu and would match perfectly.

As for the push hands videos, again, thanks for bringing them to my attention. I studied with several masters (one from Taiwan and one from Beijing), and we played all the types of push hands drills (including the moving step) shown in the video as well as da lu. Still, it was nice to reminisce over times past. I've been living in Costa Rica for the past seven years and haven't found any push hands partners nearby. Fortunately, I get to play push hands with the ocean every day: peng, lu, ji, and an - they're all there in surfing!

Regards,

Andrew

taichijaco wrote:Thank you BBTrip for the links.

Do you have a favorite Tai Chi video you’d like to suggest? If so, could you share?

taichijaco wrote:Fortunately, I get to play push hands with the ocean every day: peng, lu, ji, and an - they're all there in surfing!

I like that!
I don’t surf but have always admired people who do. In fact, I’ve spent lots of time at the beach practicing Tai Chi and watching my friends surf. From my view from the sand, a saying came to mind: It’s hard to surf on flat waves. I need a small wave of resistance to surf my opponent.

This vadios are really good ,thanks for the link. when talking about Taichi, I think it like water so much.

Hi all enthusiast andtaichijacko,

In the push hand form, is it peng, lu, chi, an or peng, chi, lu, an. (yang style)
Was exposed to the push hand and was to to perform solo, the gist of the later.

Somehow its like, sitting on a chair, lifting your right leg, twisting your ankle anti clockwise and writing the number 9 on a sheet of paper.
Mind boggling.

Cheers

Isaac888 the prodigy

I think I understand your feeling. Every time I begin to teach a new person the two-hand vertical circle, I am reminded of how complicated and overwhelming it can seem for a while, even though it has only four movements. I think it is kind of like learning how to juggle three balls. The mind struggles to find a fixed thing to latch onto and rest, but the minute it seems to find something and tries to rest, all the balls drop as the dynamic pattern is destroyed. Every time you want to pause and think you have got it, the changing positions continue and you can feel lost again. It can be very hard to relax the mind and let the body take over for a bit.

I have also found it pretty common that students can actually be doing quite while and be able to sustain the circle; however they can feel clumsy and frustrated because their mind has not caught up to their body yet and they do not understand what they are doing. Our method aims at being "first in the mind, then in the body," but sometimes, especially at the beginning, it needs to be the opposite.

In answer to your question, my understanding is as follows. The most accurate way to think of the sequence is: rising Peng, Lü, An, descending Peng, Ji. You could also, of course, begin the sequence in the middle with the descending Peng.

Sometimes when I first teach the sequence, I proceed slowly and call out both of our movements, since this matches the sequence in Grasp Sparrow's Tail as we do it in the form. If I begin from our formal start and choose to spiral into a clockwise circle, I would say: "We both start with Peng; I do lü; you do Ji; I do An; we both do Peng; I do Ji; you do An; we both do Peng; I do lü; etc. In this scenario, I would begin with my right hand in Peng and my left palm on my partner's right elbow. My right arm will be doing the rising Peng; and my left, the descending Peng.

If I begin by spiraling counterclockwise, I would say: "We both start with Peng; I do Ji; you do An; we both do Peng; I do lü; you do Ji; I do An; we both do Peng; I do Ji; etc. This is the same as the previous scenario, except that the direction is opposite. Also, the left arm will be doing the rising Peng; and the right, the descending Peng.

I hope this answers your question without contributing to the confusion.

By the way, let me congratulate you if you are learning this circle. To reach this level takes a lot of work. However, depending on your interests, this is when Tai Chi can reach a whole new level of enjoyment if you can persist. I have begun to caution new students that learning this circle will feel like the most difficult part of Push Hands; but once it is learned, everything else is easier to grasp. It also becomes much easier to have fruitful discussions of Tai Chi theory and energy, since a skilled person can make you feel it in your own body. We use this circle to begin teaching the eight basic Jins and making use of full and empty.

Take care,
Audi

greetings Audi

if at all possible i would like to do push hands with you and with anyone else
who cares to do push hands with me

bbtrip thanx for the links

heping

I will take that challenge. name time and place.
Bermuda triangle?

Cheers

Isaac

Hi all,

Dragon x,

greetings Audi

if at all possible i would like to do push hands with you and with anyone else
who cares to do push hands with me

If you are ever going to be in central New Jersey with free time, let me know.

One thing I forgot to say about my description above is that we also have a similar circle that we call the Four Energies Circle. I think some lineages use this as their basic method. Besides a few minor details, the basic difference is that one circle is vertical in orientation and the other is horizontal. Also, the weight shifting matches the arm movements in a different way.

Take care,
Audi