Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

At first I take up T’ai Chi as a hobby,
Gradually I become addicted to it,
Finally I can no longer get rid of it.
I must keep on practicing for my whole life—
It is the only way to preserve health.
The more I practice, the more I want to learn
from teachers and books.
The more I learn, the less I feel I know.
The theory and philosophy of T’ai Chi is so
profound and abstruse!
I must continue studying forever and ever . . .
It is the only way to improve and better myself.
—T. T. Liang

Master T. T. Liang passed this week. He was 102.

"Nobody can be perfect. Take what is good and discard what is bad.

"If I believe entirely in books, better not read books. If I rely entirely on teachers, better not have teachers.

"To remove a mountain is easy, but to change a man's termparament is more difficult.

"Life begins at seventy...."

--T.T. Liang (Four of his "ten theorems for [his] daily guiding principles")

Louis, thanks for this bit of news, although I greet it with sadness. T.T. Liang is one to whom I owe a personal debt because of his teaching of at least one of my teachers. I think his legacy will endure.

Take care,
Audi

Greetings Audi,

I bought T. T. Liang’s book, _T’ai Chi Ch’uan for Health and Self-Defense: Philosophy and Practice_, in 1977. I still refer to it as an essential source, and each time I return to it, I find nuances that escaped me before. His presentation of the taiji classics is excellent, and his commentaries are insightful and authoritative. I regret never having had the opportunity to meet him.

Louis