Master Yang Chengfu (1883 -1936), a grandson of Yang Lu Chan, was a member of the third generation of the Yang Family. He was instrumental in taking Tai Chi Chuan outside the realm of the ruling class and making it available to all the Chinese people. He wanted this long-kept secret treasure to belong to the entire Chinese nation; and so he dedicated the last 30 years of his life to the transmission of this knowledge, traveling across China. He is credited with having taught Tai Chi Chuan to over 50.000 people. In order to achieve this aim of making Tai Chi Chuan available to everyone he created the "all slow" moving form that most of us are accustomed to seeing in the west. The new form he created combining the early concepts of self-defense with the concepts of therapeutic exercise and Nei Kung -internal development-, signaled the birth of the Yang School of Tai Chi Chuan. In this new form all the movements were performed slow, and at an even pace from beginning to end of the form.

All high kicks and movements requiring excessive exertion of force were deleted. He removed the strength explosions (Fa jing) and replaced them with using the mind to move the chi to extend the limbs instead. This is a basic practice which teaches one to bring chi to power the limb, and only after this has been achieved can strength explosions (Fa jing) be done properly. He also smoothed out the form to emphasize flow, rootedness and relaxation which is primary to the art. This form would take approximately 35 minutes to be performed in it's entirety. These changes allowed for many people to become interested in learning and practicing this form of exercise that up to that point have been the privilege of only a few people in China.
Through Yang's own genius and the energy and prestige of his sons and students the Yang Style of Tai Chi Chuan established itself as the dominant system of internal development and self defense in China. Today the Yang Style of Tai Chi Chuan is also the most widely practiced form of exercise on the planet, as everyone (men and women, young and old, healthy and sick) can study it and enjoy and participate in its practice.

Among his many students, some of the most widely recognized in China as having reached a high level of achievement are Tung Yingchieh, Fu Zhongwen and Chen Weiming. Another of his students who later became well know in the West was Cheng Manching.

Professor Cheng Manching, who studied for about 2-4 years with Yang Chengfu (* see below), later modify (simplified) the form learned from Yang Chengfu . The form he popularized is known in the West as the "Short Form" of the Yang Style. Since the Yang Family does not have a "short form" in its curriculum, and since Professor Cheng himself called what he practiced: "Simplified Tai Chi Chuan" (** see below), a more correct name for that form would be: "Cheng's simplified Tai Chi Chuan". This in no way is meant as a demeaning commentary on Professor Cheng's creation but as an attempt to clarify and distinguish between two different systems for doing things. For a comparison of the two styles, click here.

Yang Chengfu's writings (click here)

Fourth and Sixth Generation (click here)

* Cheng Manching said in the Chapter " Introduction to Yang Chengfu's Unified Form and Function in Tai chi Chuan", from the book "Cheng Man-Ching, Master of Five Excellences" translation and commentary Mark Hennessy:

"...In 1932, P'u Ch'iu-chen introduced me to Yang Chengfu. After accepting me as a disciple, I received the Master's oral teachings on Internal Martial Arts..." written in 1933. end of quote.

Yang Chengfu passed away in 1936. Apparently he had transmitted his oral teachings to Cheng Manching before 1933.

** Cheng Manching said in "Three introductory Chapters", from the book "Cheng Manching's Advanced Tai Chi Form Instructions", Compiled and Translated by Douglas Wile, page 21:

..." I have therefore eliminated seventy percent of the repetitions and have given this form the name Simplified Tai Chi Chuan..." end of quote.

Yang Chengfu picture: Copyright 1992. Horacio Lopez

Home