In the words of an English poet: "OO are Yer?"

Wasn't Richard Dunn banned from this forum, for being a numpty??

 

You are lucky to have met him, sadly he died this spring from lung cancer aged 78. It is the loss of the only authenticated link back to the forms and training of Yang Jian Hou - Yang Lu Chan's second son and 2nd generation family gatekeeper.

For those who don't know Tian Yin Jia was son of Tian Zhao Lin adopted son of Yang Jian Hou and "brother" to Yang Cheng Fu.

Richard is doing seminars on the middle frame this winter if you want to renew that training.

 

He has a bit of a rep for not suffering fools and saying so, where as I will suffer anyone and probably be just as foolish as them.

 

I started a thread here on the tai chi forum "a sad day" (sorry, I don't know how to link to it...if you scroll down the threads you will see it) to tell everyone here of his death.

I would very much like to attend (transport is a problem, but everything can be overcome). Can you email me with details as you don't have enough posts to pm yet.

 

Ta! I will look at the thread. The venue he uses is on the Central Tube at Epping. I don't know any dates, just been told it is being planned, when I know I will post details here if allowed. I am very unsure of what I can do at the moment this forum seems very full of rules.

 

Hi,

My name is Alistair and I have been training Traditional Yang Family Taijiquan for almost 20 years. My lineage comes directly from the Yang family (via Yang Zhen Ji, the 2nd son of Yang Cheng-fu). I run a Taiji school here in Scotland with 8 Instructors teaching throughout Fife, Forfar, Angus and the Highlands. I am an "A" level Instructor member of the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain and an Advanced Instructor on the Register of Exercise Professionals. I have done some Bagua and study and teach Zhan Zhuang, Yang Family Sword and Sabre as well as some other Qigong systems. The school only teaches the Traditional Yang Family system with strict adherence to Cheng-fu's 10 essences.

Outwith Taiji I play classical guitar, do some botanical painting and have a passion for geology and astronomy.

I look forward to participating on the board.

Very best wishes.

 

So, you have t3h r34l t@i Ch1???

Lol, only kidding.
IMO, lineage is a nice thing to have, but is never concrete evidence of skill.

Nice to have you here East Winds, I'm sure your traditional training will bring a nice outlook to the forum

 

Taiji Student,

"IMO, lineage is a nice thing to have, but is never concrete evidence of skill".

Couldn't agree more with you!!! However, I think if your lineage claims are verifiable, it at least shows prospective students that what you are teaching has SOME credibility.

Very best wishes

 

Perhaps - but it can never guarantee the ability of the teacher to clearly or acurately pass on his knowledge, no matter how credible the source of such knowledge is.

It's all Bagua mate, goin' round in circles

 

Hi East Winds and welcome, new blood is like a breath of fresh air here.

Re your comment...

Lineage claims can be verified.......however the transmission never can, therefore nothing holds much credibility beyond a few decades back. Just my personal opinion.

 

Carys and Taiji Student,

Many thanks for your warm welcome.

Carys, "Lineage claims can be verified.......however the transmission never can, therefore nothing holds much credibility beyond a few decades back". That's an interesting point of view and one that should probably be discussed on a separate thread. I think that transmissions only change when teachers put their own interpretations on particular aspects of the art. Yang Cheng-fu was quite succinct on that point when he said "The greatest danger is in introducing one's personal innovations and passing on errors as true transmissions. The true transmission of principles and applications is easily lost, even to the point of obscuring the original intention of former masters."I] I look forward to further discussions on this forum with both of you.

Very best wishes

 

I'm 32 and I'm learning Yang Style-

have had 5 years of Southern Preying Mantis under Sifu Manuel Rodriguez in Ventura California - which was always a mix, a little Chu Ka, a little Chow Gar, borrow forms from here and there, so it was never purely one style -
but I feel that my base understanding is better for it - I've done lots of weapon and apparatus training, and Sifu had me doing various 100 day training gongs at all times - I've also competed with broadsword and knife sparring for a few years now, but didn't compete last year because of the new baby

anyway, I've made the switch because after having my second child I do not have the time to do SPM properly, and also because if I ever move away from my Sifu there are only a handful of people that teach SPM scattered around the US and I wanted to learn something that there is more literature on and I can pick up in most places - plus, I like how when people ask if you do martial arts and you say you're doing Tai Chi, they are like "Oh, thats nice."

before that I did TKD and Hapkido, and before that my pops taught Kenpo under Ed Parker back in the day - but once I saw real kung fu, my mind was set

I'm involved in the southern California hip hop scene, which like kung fu, your judged every time you present yourself - and I like that about it - haha

 

I've just realised that I've neglected to introduce myself, so here it is.

My name is William Weston, but everyone calls be Bill, I'm 74 years old and I'm currently living in the South of England.
I joined the Royal Navy when I was 18 and was stationed out in Asia for some time, which is where I started training in Taijiquan and a little Baguazhang. Left the Navy at 26, stayed in Hong Kong for a while doing this and that while continuing to study Taijiquan, I gave up on bagua as it was too expensive at the time.
I came back to the Uk, got involved in banking, and had done that ever since until I retired at 70.

Well, that's me in the proverbial nutshell.

 

Dear Bill,
Anthony here, if you're up for it, I'd love to discuss a number of things with you in private - you may contact me directly at a.walmsley@alice.it

Best regards,
Anthony Walmsley.

 

Hi guys, just joined the site. This looks like as good a place to start as any. I'm 21 years old, living in northern Virginia. I have been studying Chen style Taiji for about a year and a half now under Christopher Pei at the United States Wushu Academy. When I first went to check out the school I had been planning to learn Yang style, however after watching both classes I decided I liked the explosive movements in the Chen form better, as well as the fact that he teaches it more primarily as self defense. After the first class I was hooked.

The past few months I have also begun training in Shuai Jiao under another student who had studied it when he lived out in California. I like it because a)it follows the same principles as my Taiji and b) it's fun to throw people around, haha. About 6 months ago I also began training San Shou under Coach Pei after watching some fellow classmates compete in a full contact lei tai tournament. I'm planning to compete in the same tournament come July.

Because of my class schedule, I am pretty much limited to training on the weekends. Between the beginning of last summer and Thanksgiving, I had lost about 25 pounds. But since Thanksgiving, I've gained back about 10 pounds! Argh! I know I need to get back into the gym, and quit eating the junk food. But it's hard! As bad as it sounds I wish I didn't have to go to school so I could just focus on training and getting into better shape.

This Saturday and next Saturday my school is putting on a performance for the Chinese New Year, I'm looking forward to it. Especially since my Shuai Jiao instructor and I are doing a demonstration for it, should be fun. If anyone lives in or near Gaithersburg, Maryland it's going to be in Lake Forest Mall around noon, so feel free to come watch!

Anyway, that's my introduction and I look forward to lurking around the forums and sucking in as much information as I can... Haha, I may even post something!

 

Maelstrom_AC

Welcome to MAP. You are SO lucky to be working with Coach Pei on a regular basis. I work with him on his yearly visits to Nottingham, here in the UK. He is such a knowledgeable and generous teacher. He will know me as Alistair, part of his Scottish contingent. Please give him my regards. I follow Traditional Yang Family Taijiquan with him and his UK representative Shelagh Grandpierre. Take every opportunity you can to work with him. It is rare to find such a great teacher and such a nice guy.,

Very best wishes

 

Ah, that's so cool to have met one of his overseas students. I know he makes visits to the UK, I will give him your regards next time I see him (hehe, I bet he'll be surprised!). I agree, I feel very lucky to have found him and hope to study under him for as long as possible.

 

.

 

Why was Taiji Butterfly banned?

I'm happy I never liked him anyways.

 

I'm 23, and I've been practicing the Yang Style Short Form since Mid-January of 2009, so just a little over 2 months as of this writing. I'm learning in a college Tai Chi introductory class which also covers qi gong exercises and the philosophy behind Tai Chi. I just finished learning all parts of the form today, so I'm pathetically new.

After my course ends, I'm planning on either practicing with a DVD until I graduate or learning at a local place (I haven't been able to get ahold of them to ask about their Taiji classes to see exactly what they style they teach, whether the class is solely for health and not martial reasons, etc).