Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

I was having a discussion with my Sifu the other day about students of Yang Chengfu and the fact that Yang Chengfu had a lot of students, not all good, but some were quite good, Yang Shou Zhong, Tung Ying Jie, Fu Zhongwen, etc. But there were others that were good and I imagine they too eventually had students. What happened to them and their students?

Did they get caught up in the Japanese invasion or the Cultural Revolution or are they just not as public or something else.


[This message has been edited by T (edited 12-05-2007).]

There are many students of Yang Chengfu but many do not treat taijiquan as a tool to sell or be known or lauded as public marketing. For those, it is truly an heirloom to be kept as it is. Hidden in plain sight!

My sifu does not advertise nor use it as something to sell and he was a student of Tung Ying Jie. But we were still wondering what happened to the other students of Yang Chengfu.

And are you implying that Yang Shou Zhong, Tung Ying Jie, Fu Zhongwen treated taijiquan as a tool to sell or be known or lauded as public marketing?

Many of Yang Chengfu's other students were well known teachers in China. Keep in mind that there was a long period after 49 where China had little contact with the West, so these teachers had their careers and passed it on to their own students well out of the limelight. Short answer, they are known in China, but only a few have made it out to the west to teach.

Taiji is way too good for your health to hide. I am very grateful to Yang Zhenduo for spreading his family's art worldwide.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by JerryKarin:
Many of Yang Chengfu's other students were well known teachers in China. Keep in mind that there was a long period after 49 where China had little contact with the West, so these teachers had their careers and passed it on to their own students well out of the limelight. Short answer, they are known in China, but only a few have made it out to the west to teach.</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My Sifu was born, raised and learned taiji in China and does not know what happened to all of the better students of Yang Chengfu that his sifu talked about. However my sifu has been in the west for about 40 years now and was trained in Hong Kong by Tung Ying Jie

If they are well known in China then how do I find out about them the next time I am there?

Yang Zhenduo was 9 or 10 when Yang Chengfu died. He is in his eighties now. There aren't too many of Yang Chengfu's students left active. Their students are still out there, I believe. Here are some well known ones:

Wu Huichuan
Tien Zhaolin
Li Chun-nian (Li Yaxuan)
Cui Yishi

Li Yaxuan's students are definitely still active and I have a book by one of them.
Cui Yishi's grandson is teaching, I think, and no doubt there are other students in that lineage. You really just have to look.
Tian Zhaolin's son Tian Yingjia has 49 disciples and has taught some 500 students in all, according to this site: http://www.art-of-energetics.com/New/tian_zhaolin.htm


[This message has been edited by JerryKarin (edited 12-05-2007).]

Niu Chunming is another well known disciple. He has a pretty neat book.

This article is worth checking in this regard:
http://www.yangfamilytaichi.com/adventures/2002/

Gu Rou Chen will probably come along and add some names of great teachers in the Yang lineage in China these days, not necessarily Yang Chengfu disciples...

Thank You, this is some great information.

I am not really looking for living disciples of Yang Chengfu, I would like to know what happened to them and if they had students that are still alive and teaching.

There is a person that is living (Kwan Sai Hung) that claims to be a student of Yang Chengfu but I am not sure how long he trained with him or how much he actually learned or if he was considered high level, but he is here in the US and I have meant him but he is also not just Yang Taijiquan he also does Bagauzhang and Xingyiquan and is a Taoist.

This was just a topic my Sifu and I were talking about and he was wondering what happened to the other high level students of Yang Chengfu and did those people have students

Again thanks

There is Zhao Bin, a relative (nephew) who little is heard of outside of China. His son is somewhat well known in China. Zhao Bin taught Li Zheng, who teaches "Imperial Yang style"!!

There is Ding Shuide who was taught by Niu Chiuming.
Ciu Yishi taught Zhang Yongtao!

The Kwan Sai Hung character is another situation regarding authenticity of study with Yang Changfu.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by shugdenla:
<B>There is Zhao Bin, a relative (nephew) who little is heard of outside of China. His son is somewhat well known in China. Zhao Bin taught Li Zheng, who teaches "Imperial Yang style"!!

There is Ding Shuide who was taught by Niu Chiuming.
Ciu Yishi taught Zhang Yongtao!

The Kwan Sai Hung character is another situation regarding authenticity of study with Yang Changfu.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thank You and as to Kwan Sai Hung

This is why I said “claims to be a student of Yang Chengfu” I do not know for sure.

I have been told that although the book about him is loosely based on truth that the dates he claims to have trained with Yang Chengfu and the location he allegedly trained do not match the actual location of Yang Chengfu at the time the training allegedly took place.

But I really do not know and I have never read the book and I do not meet with him, I did meet him once. I was later given the impression by one of his students that I am “persona non grata” since my Sifu is a student of Tung Ying Jie. This is also why I have never talked to him about this subject.

[This message has been edited by T (edited 12-06-2007).]