楊家太極拳楊

Yang Lu-chan, Founder of Yang Style Tai Chi

(1800-1873)

 

楊健太師 

 Great Grand Master Yang Jian-hou, son of Yang Lu-Chan

(1843-1917)

 

楊澄甫大

Great Grand Master Yang Cheng-fu, son of Yang Jian-hou

(1883 – 1936)

 Yang Style Tai Chi Quan (楊氏太極拳) and Chen Style Tai Chi ((陳氏太極拳) are the most popularly practised styles of Tai Chi today. Tai Chi is one of the four main styles of Internal Martial Arts that originated from China and is practised by young and old alike throughout the world for health, competition and as a martial art. It needs little introduction here.

The Founder of Yang Style Tai Chi was Yang Lu-chan (楊露禪), who secretly learnt it while working as a servant in the household of one Chen Chang-xing (陳長興 ) at Chen Jia-kou (陳家溝) village in Henan Province (河南) in Northern China. Chen Jia-kuo was the hub from which Tai Chi developed originally which practised the then unknown style of martial art within the boundaries of the village. No outsiders were allowed to learn it or even to see it. Yang Lu-chan would secretly watch his master practising and teaching his family members at night. This was the stuff classic kung fu movies were made off – servant boy learning in secret until being discovered, gets ejected from the household and later developed into a top notch martial artist. Many Chinese wuxia (武俠) novels and movies have borrowed from such a plot except that the story of Yang’s founding of Yang Style Tai Chi was true and was properly documented.

Yang Lu-chan was challenged by the Chen villagers for committing the offence but was said to have easily disposed of each one of them. The master, Chen Chang-xing, who had the foresight and wisdom to recognise the talent and potential of the young Yang Lu-chan, decided to further teach him the finer points of the Chen Family Tai Chi before he was formally asked by the village elders to leave. Yang Lu-chan on leaving the Chen Family household, went on a sojourn across northern China trying out his new skills and refining and modifying as he went. It was said that none could defeat him. Eventually, Yang Lu-chan found his way to the capital, Beijing, where his skills was brought to the attention of the Ching court. Yang Lu-chan was made an instructor to the Imperial troops as well as members of the Imperial Family. It was from two of the generals he taught that two another branches of Tai Chi, the Wu (吳氏) and Wu (武氏 ) Styles developed. Yang Lu-chan spent eight years meditating at the historic Tiantan or Altar of Heaven (天壇 ) in Beijing to further refine his art. His skills were truly tested by many top martial artists and his fame spread far and wide. The Imperial court awarded him the title “Yang the Invincible” (楊無敵 ) in recognition of his achievement and his services.

Yang Lu-chan had two surviving sons, Yang Ban-hou (楊班侯) and Yang Jian-hou (楊健侯). The older Yang Ban-hou, like his father, taught as an instructor in the Imperial Court. Both brothers were different in temperament and their development of Tai Chi differed.

Yang Cheng-fu was the third son of Yang Jien-hou, and grandson of Yang Lu-chan. His style of Yang Tai Chi was known to be a more expansive style which used larger circular movements. Yet his power was subtle and was variously described as steel wrapped in cotton wool.

By the time of Great Grand Master Yang Cheng-fu, the Five Major Styles of Tai Chi had developed. Together with the grand masters of the other styles, Yang Cheng-fu made Tai Chi accessible to the public. He was responsible for bringing Yang Tai Chi to southern China and generally making it a popular martial art nationally.

Grand Master Li Iu Ling, in his late teens, learnt from Great Grand Master Yang Cheng-fu. He and his master’s son, Yang Shou-zhong (楊守中)were close friends and remained in contact when the latter moved to live in Hong Kong in 1949.

Some of the Great Grand Master Yang Cheng-fu’s famous disciple were Dong Ying-jie (Hong Kong), Chen Wei-ming, Fu Zhong-wen (China) and Cheng Man-ching (Taiwan).