Yang Style Long Form Retreat With Yang Jun 2009
Two hundred years ago, there was a great Martial Arts master in China. He was said to be able to defeat dozens of men, one by one, without losing his breath. He became so famous that the Emperor chose him to train his elite guards. People knew him as Yang Wu Di (Yang The Invincible), but his real name was Yang Lu Chan, and his technique is known today as Tai Chi Chuan. The knowledge of Yang Lu Chan was transmitted from father to son until Yang Zhen Duo, the current bearer of style, and his grandson Yang Jun, who now teach seminars throughout the world, spreading the martial art of their ancestors.
One of these seminars took place in the city of Cuernavaca, México, on March 2009. Beginning on the 13th, dozens of Tai Chi Chuan practitioners from across the country gathered to receive the knowledge of Master Yang Jun. For three days, master Yang taught the 103 Movement Hand Form, but he did not only teach the sequence of the form. He took care to teach the fundamentals of this martial art, how the movements work, their application and their correct implementation.
In the first class, master Yang focused on the foundations of Tai Chi Chuan. He explained the stances, the philosophy of the movements, why they are done the way they are, and what the intention is with each of them. He then began teaching the first movements of the Long Form.
During the two days that followed, Master Yang taught the form, part by part. He showed a set of movements from the form, then he answered questions about them and taught their martial application with volunteers, before returning to practice several times with the proper intention. This allowed many of the participants to feel the softness and power of Tai Chi for themselves, and understand why it is said that Tai Chi is like steel wrapped in cotton.
Master Yang gave all participants a DVD to help them continue practicing on their own. This way, it was not necessary for the teacher to put too much emphasis on memorization of 103 movements. He was able to pay more attention to details, the proper implementation of each movement and clarification of doubts. The attendees, having no extra pressure to learn the sequence, were more willing to correct their postures and to understand the art they were practicing. Master Yang also took time to explain the history of certain movements, and the curious origin of their names. EThis way, everyone enjoyed the practice of Tai Chi even more.
Many of the attendees, who came from places as distant as Hermosillo and Merida, were already practitioners of other styles of Tai Chi. Those who were more experienced in the Yang Style were the students of the Yang Chengfu Tai Chi Chuan Center Mexico. Between classes, some of these students ran practices with the other students to review the movements Master Yang had just taught. Even at night, when most participants had gone to sleep, a silhouette could be seen against a wall, a participant still practicing before going to bed.
Before leaving, Master Yang said he was proud of his student and representative in Mexico, Daniel Corona (Shi Heng Yi), who spreads his teachings in this country and organized the event with his team from the Templo Shaolin de México AC and affiliated schools, and made sure everything went smoothly and successfully. Likewise, the attendees were very excited as they completed the seminar, and spoke of returning to the following seminars organized by the Temple, including next year’s seminar with master Yang, to keep learning more and more of this ancient and powerful martial art.
