At the risk of coming across as patronising; Xue Sheng, do you have a pic or vid of you in stance for Sil Lum Tao, or any basic stances? It might provide some insight. Though of course you're doing the right thing by seeing your MD.
Don't think it is patronising at all, but no I do not. And at the moment my knee has taken a turn for the worse 4 days after a cortisone shot and I am using a cane to get around again. But for 3 of those four days it was great. My stance was not even close to the knees in stance, my hips and knees make that physically impossible. Right now I can't do anything, no wing chun, no xingyiquan, no taijiquan. Even walking is not great right now
Actually what comes directly from Tung Ying Chieh, to his students is very Yang, in form and posture, and even the Yang family agrees with that. It is what comes from Tung Ying Chieh's students that the Yang family says is not Yang. So what Dong Zeng Chen and his son Alex does, per Yang family, is not Yang style, therefore Dong style. What my shifu does is Yang style, per Yang family, but what he taught me and what I do are not, per Yang family. As for my shifu's thoughts on the topic, The Yang family is full of it.
So I wonder what is supposed to be different,other than the Wu influence,which is mostly in postural "roundness". Otherwise I can't think of anything except the additional mechanic preferences that Wu uses,which I doubt most of the folks learning Tung lineage are learning anyway. That 1st sentence is confusing,but I agree with your teacher!
To clarify Warning, Yang family politics ahead: A few years ago the Yang family made the statement that what Yang Chengfo taught was (obviously) Yang Taijiquan.And what guys who learned from him learned, and could teach, Yang Taijiquan. So Tung Ying Chieh could teach Yang Taijiquan. My Shifu could learn Yang Taijiquan, but he could not teach Yang Style. He could teach taijiquan, but could not call it Yang style.
The absurdity keeps getting greater,huh? I mean,if it looks like a duck..... ------------------------------------------------------- Student:So what kinda T'ai Chi is this? Me:Well,it's all teachings from Yang lineages but I have to call it El Medico T'ai Chi-not that it's really different . Quack quack. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Well,I don't think they can sue over it so too bad for them. Since the last known Yang family member who could fight died in the 1930s I guess they won't enforce their wishes in the traditional manner. On a side note were you aware Tung studied with Shao-hou?
I am aware it is said he did, saw it in wiki, but my shifu knows nothing about that. He knows about the Wu/Hao and Yang Chengfu
