History of the Yang Style

Tai Chi Chuan is said to have been found on Mount Wudang (North-East China) around the 12th century. Zhang Sanfeng, a great Taoist, had witnessed a strange duel between a bird and a snake. The latter had won the duel thanks to its long and rounded movements. Zhang Sanfeng came to think that flexibility offered greater strength than firmness and he invented the first basic principles of Tai Chi Chuan.

For centuries, the art of Tai Chi Chuan was kept a secret, known only to a limited number of families (Yang, Chen, Wu). It was transmitted from father to son, from master to disciple.

Yang Luchan (1799-1872) invented the original Yang style. By means of an exception, he was taught Tai Chi Chuan by the Chen family. Later, he left to Beijing and set up his own school. So did his three sons, each of whom developed their own successions of movements, whether short, medium or long.

Yang Chengfu (1833-1936), his grandson, became the true ambassador of Tai Chi Chuan in the whole of China and spread the Yang style as far as Europe and the USA.

Yang Sau Chung (1905-1985), the eldest son of Yang Chengfu, moved to Hong-Kong in 1947 to flee the communist revolution. It was there and then that the original Yang style was taught thoroughly to the public for the first time.

Yang Sau Chung appointed Ip Tai Tak (1929- ) his First Disciple. He still teaches in Hong-Kong. In 1998, Grandmaster Ip Tai Tak appointed Ding Teah Chean (John Ding, 1951 - ) his First Disciple and First Master of the 6th generation of the traditional Yang style. 

Yang Luchan	Yang Chien Hou	Yang Cheng fu	Yang Sau Chung	Ip Tai Tak	John Ding