The Succession of Yang’s Tai Ji Quan in Yongnian during the Period of the Republic of China
    The Yang's Tai Ji Quan was originated by Yang Luchan. He spent his most time imparting it to his disciples outside his hometown. There was no record stating that any person from Yang's hometown formally acknowledging him as a teacher to learn the Quan. Most of the successors of Yang's Tai Ji from Yongnian were disciples of Yang Jianhou and Yang Banhou. From the yea of 1911 to 1937 when Yongnian, Guangfu was occupied by Japanese troops, Tai Ji Quan had got a very flourishing development in Yongnian, mostly since that Sun Yatsen (the founder of Kuomintang and the Republic of China) had encouraged Chinese people developing their martial and warrior citizen spirit so as to make themselves and the country strong. Within that period, there were no any specific schools of Tai Ji Quan yet in Yongnian, the various schools of Chinese traditional Quan went round over there were all named Tai Ji Quan usually called "Nian Quan" (sticky boxing) or "Mian Quan" (soft boxing) by those local people in simultaneity. Though the successors of the members of Yang's family and the Wu's were belonging to different social classes, they respected and promoted each other with Tai Ji development also in the communication of Quan techniques. They had a very good relationship with each other then.
   However, there were still two potential developing trends inside and outside the city. Inside the city, most of the upper class-the rich people practiced Wu Jia (Wu's style) Quan. They stressed that both the study and the summing up of the Tai Ji theory as well as its practice had been emphasized so their Tai Ji Kung-fu was leaning to be more systematic and academic. Therefore, when the Yongnian Domestic Wushu School was founded in 1929, the Tai Ji Quan imparted to the learners was of Wu's school characteristic called "Xiao Jia" (small frame), "Li Jia" (Li's style frame) and "Hao Jia"(Hao's style frame). Outside the city there lived the ordinary people. Most of the successors of Yang's Tai Ji Quan had stayed there (many of them were in Nanguan). They imparted Tai Ji Kung-fu to their disciples by verbal words, unwritten memory and demonstration. They emphasized practice mainly. There was hardly any record discussing their Tai Ji theory or its practices. The Yang's was usually called "Da Jia Zi" (big frame), "Yang Jia" (Yang's style frame) and so on.
    Within the period of the Republic of China, most of those practicing Yang's Tai Ji Quan were the successors of Yang Banhou. Banhou was rather grumpy teaching Kung-fu usually in a hot temper so hurting some of his disciples on occasion when he hit them, thus there were not so many people learning the Quan from him, but whoever learned Tai Ji from him would be very accomplished. His disciples wereChen Xiufeng, Zhang Xinyi, Li Lianfang, Zhang Yintang, Jiao Liantang and Li Wancheng.
    Chen Xiufeng was from Heying village. At the beginning he practiced Meihua Quan (plum blossom boxing), from then on he learned Tai Ji Quan from Banhou. He was very skillful at playing Tai Ji falchion. He ever went to Beijing to impart the Quan following Banhou. After the death of Banhou, he acknowledged Hao Weizhen as his teacher to learn Wu's Tai Ji. He once went to Tianjin on behalf of Master Hao to teach Yuan Shikai's nephews Tai Ji Quan. When the Yongnian Domestic Wushu School was founded, he served as a coach in it.
Zhang Xinyi was from Caoshi Street, Guangfu. He learned Tai Ji Kung-fu from Banhou when he was ten. He was very accomplished in it. He was a very famous head constable in Guangpingfu within the last period of Qing Dynasty. He had done his best to uphold justice and earned lots of admiration from many people. His successors were Liu Jiangao, Long Ju, Yi Furu, Zhang Anguo and so on.
    Li Lianfang was from the Lianhuakou village, a mile away from Nanguan. He was very good in practicing Da Gan (a big pole). He had taught Kung-fu in Linfen region, Shanxi province for ages.
    Zhang Yintang was from South Street, Guangfu. He had been the shopkeeper of Gaosheng Store often appearing in Shandong and getting to know people in comparing notes about Tai Ji Kung-fu. He made friends with more than a dozen Shandong people, and got a nickname of "Guangfu Zhang" in Shandong.
Jiao Liantang, one of the cousin brothers of Banho, learned Tai Ji Quan from Banhou.
    Due to some reasons, the successors of the above five martial artists could not be found out nowadays. Only Li Wancheng had the most successors. Li Wancheng was from Lianhuakou village. His mother was a maid of Yang's family, thus Wancheng had the chance to be with Banhou day and night. As Banhou returned home from the capital, Wancheng stayed with Banhou for an age. When Banhou went hunting, Wancheng caught Yang's gun and picked up the preys for him. Banhou had a very hot temper, but he was very kind to Wancheng and seldom lost his temper to him. Wancheng had a very good understanding in Kung-fu, he was very accomplished all in Dajia (big frame), Zhongjia (middle frame), Xiaojia (small frame), Paochui (cannon punch), combat old frame, Dashou and weapons. He seldom went out of his place but ran a tea house named "Yang Family Teahouse" in front of Yang's family place in Nanguan. Therefore, his successors were all local people, such as Lin Jinsheng, Jia Zhixiang, Hao Tongwen, Guan Zijing, Han Huiming, Zhou Shide, Guo Runqing, Zhang Tiansuo, Zhang Qi, Mu Zhengjing, Bai Yanru and so on. Lin Jinsheng passed his Kung--fu down on Jia Anshu, Chen Jianguo, Guo Jianzeng, Su Yongzhi, Zhang Xiangkui and others. Hao Tongwen's successors were Hao Jinxiang, Fan Baolin, Liu Yongping, Tao Jinxiang, Lu Yan'an and so on.
                                  

The Methods and Usages of Xiong Shan Bang and Ying Zhua Ba in Yu Huang’s Xin Yi Liu He Quan
    Xiong Shan Bang (the bear spreads his shoulders and arms): The beginning style: Xiong Chu Dong (the bear comes out of his den) (stand lightly) You should stand with your left foot in front of the right and turn your body rightward. Then you make the tiptoe of your back foot pointing to the heel of the foot ahead and keep a distance of 15 centimeters between the two. You should keep the toes of your front foot raised up a little bit and bend your elbows protecting your fibs. Open your fingers naturally with the centers of your palms facing downward. Your left hand should be in front of the right. Sag your wrists in front of your chest, sink down your shoulders, droop your elbows down ward naturally, shrink your chest a little and pull your back in protraction, raise your anus slightly, draw your chin backward to protect your throat and look straightly forward. You can refer to the picture (1).
Then step your fight foot rightward and forward. Your left foot should be closely following the fight. Bend your knees a little, crook your fight hand and raise it beside your right shoulder, sag your wrists, make your fists in emptiness with ten fingers curved a little and the centers of your incurvate hands facing downward simultaneously. Your left hand should be moved back making a twining pose inwards placed beside your crotch. You should slant your left shoulder a little bit ahead and look forward. Shrink and constrict your body keeping yourself ready to attack the other suddenly. Please refer to picture     (2). You should practice it this way from right style to the left in reiteration for many times.
    Notice: Practicing Xiong Shan Bang primarily exercises the Nei Wu Xing (interoceptors within one's body as five elements including his heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney). Practicing each action, you have to agglomerate yourself, sink down your shoulders, drop your elbows downward naturally, shrink your chest and pull your back in protraction, raise your anus and breathe naturally.
    Usage: if my opponent is hitting my face with his fight palm, I immediately twine his fight hand inward with my left hand making his chest exposed. Then I beat his chest with my left shoulder and hit his face with my fight hand applying Dan Ba (single grasping).
   Ying Zhua Ba (eagle-like grasping)
   The beginning style: Xiong Chu Dong(stand lightly)
Stand with the left foot in the front and the right back and keep the toes of your front foot raised up a little. Cross your hands in front of your head with the left ahead and lower than the right. The arch made by the thumb and the forefinger of your hand behind should point to of your front one. Your fingers should be all opened in unwinding. Look evenly and horizontally from your right side to the front somewhat like a lanneret is spreading his wings. Please refer to picture (3). Then you should press your palms downward to your knees and squat down like a palm-civet watching a rat. Please refer to picture (4). Then you grasp and simultaneously turn your hands inward through your insteps. Stand up like a lanneret is spreading his wings when you grasp and raise your hands. You should practice it this way from right style to the left in reiteration for many times.
    Notice: Practicing Ying Zhua Ba, you have to sink down your shoulders, droop your elbows downward naturally, relax your waist and arch your back, raise your anus, keep your tongue touching your palate and breathe naturally.
    Usage: if my opponent hit my ears with his hands at once, I am immediately separating his hands by applying Ying Zhua Ba, then strike his chest with Zhong Men Tou hitting with my head moved in midline) and beat his crotch with my knee raised rapidly.

    Tai Ji Quan’s Uses for Strengthening One’s Body and Preserving Heath—A Kung-fu Attributive Research on Taiji Quan
    Fate in the Ming Dynasty and early in the Qing Dynasty, Chen Wangting created Chen Style Tai Ji Quan by assimilating the strong point of the Thirty-two Styles of Qi Jiguang's Scripture of Quan's theory and from other styles.  At that time, Tai Ji Quan was stressed at attacking and defending since that era was different from that of today. In the Quan techniques, there were Ti Er Qi (kicking upward continuously twice) requiring jumping upward and kicking in the air continuously, Yi Tang She (one hall snake) making one's feet swinging and faking after falling down the ground, Yan Shou Hong Quan (performing hands and red fist) or Huo Yan Zan Xin (fire collected in heart) demanding one's feet stamping strongly and sending out his force fast, Gui Cu Jiao (one step to kick of a ghost) asking for one's hitting pouncing on forward and his foot sweeping backward and Qi Cun Kao (seven inches leaning against) requesting one's waist and feet being extremely soft. These styles are high-difficult actions indeed.
     As the time passed and the situation changed, being a model of succeeding traditional Kung-fu, Tai Ji Quan of Chen Style has been also developed and producing new creations in later years. Till one hundred or more years ago, as the firearms had been in fast evolution, the effects of cold weapons and boxing skills in battlefields gradually became limited and reduced. This made Wushu experts reconsider the goal and developmental orientation in practicing Kung-fu with some
other questions. Therefore, the slogan of "What on earth is the meaning of practicing Kung-fu" rose before them. "It's good for preserving one's health and prolonging his life", had firstly brought forward by experts of Tai Ji Quan , this was the illuminative pensee and a new channel of Tai Ji Quan turning from attacking and and defending to strengthening one's body and preserving his health. Besides, it has been evidently hard generalizing the actions with larger quantities of movements and higher difficulty, especially to the aged. Even being Wu-shu experts for ages, those couldn’t acclimatize themselves to these actions when they became old. That is an actual rule of the development of Tai Ji Quan, and that developmental rule has made Tai Ji Quan actions change little by little and day by day.
     The summarization is that Tai Ji Quan emphasized the development of attacking and defending Kung-fu skills about one hundred years ago but has been mining to develop four directions in recent years, they are attacking and defending skills, competition, strengthening one's body and taking medical care.
     Concerning the functional orientation of Tai Ji Quan, different situation should be analyzed concretely according to its characteristics in different historical periods. The historical, materialistic views of dialectic developmental should be used as well as the practical and realistic attitude. We could neither deny the Kung-fu aggressive and defensive function of Tai Ji Quan completely nor only emphasize its functions of preserving health and having medical care. We could not emphasize its function of attacking and defending merely but ignore its functions of preserving health and medical care either.
     As Tai Ji Quan stresses lightness, softness, roundness and quietness, its training principle suggests one starting his practicing with relaxation then entering into softness, after converting softness to firmness then making the softness and firmness associated being assistant each other and consistent as a whole. At the same time, it combines guiding massage, breath control and the theory of Meridine, and adopts spiral circling actions, these enlarge the athletic effects and enhance the eruptible force. The series of training methods and principle aim at achieving attacking and defending Kung-fu skills, and embody factors of strengthening one's body as well as preserving his health and having medical care.
     Taking some actions of Hong Style Tai Ji Quan, we are to illustrate the macrobiotics and regiment of Tai Ji Quan as the following.
     The motions of Hong Style Tai Ji Quan are screwing movements as the external shapes expressed by their internal eddy. Originally called it "Wrapping Thread Strength". Preserving breath by one's minding between periosteums and condyles. Accumulating all our breath into the spinal-colume, we could make our breathing moved to our skin and run on it circling more and more. Starting from interior and extending to exterior, these movements are zigzag hovering. They move circle-wise along screw-big mute, forward, backward, crookedly or straightly to form circular movements. This is the soul of Hong Style Tai Ji Quan. These movements could help all the arthroses of human body to relax and loosen. Accumulating our breathing by minding between periosteums and condyles and tangly running on the skin circularly to expedite maridines, we could make our blood and breathing circumfluent to develop our skills of "making intertwist, circle and mucosity, and following up" and "having indraught, entering, falling and emptying. At the same time, the Tai Ji Quan practice also helps us to cure some sicknesses, to protect and preserve our health and strengthen our bodies.
      The most important principal of practicing Tai Ji Quan is "keeping calm and using mind". Tai Ji experts thought that "mind, breath and body trainings" form the unitary and the interior and exterior combined being the close cooperation of mind, breath and action as well as the main nature of Tai Ji training method. This makes Tai Ji Quan being an excellent Kung-fu requiring training the interior, the exterior, body and mind all together at the same time. If only one could live up' with "keeping calm and using mind" earnestly, insist on practicing perennially, he might feel his nerves of related parts being in an incitant state at a certain level. This state will accelerate one's breath and blood circling, expand all his velums, maridines and capillary. He might have the feeling of fever, swelling and impulsion of emission in the tummy of finger as well as tremor in the points of Huiyin, Yongquan, names of some acupoints on one's body etc, and in lower abdomen. Besides, along with the extension and eddy of the action, celiac airflow makes sound of "coo-coo", one could feel his body so relaxed either moving up easily or sinking lightly downward all the time. Practicing Tai Ji Quan could cure someone of some kinds of chronic sicknesses, make his health much better, have his spirit uplifted and also help him to preserve his efficiency and power of work as well as to prolong his life. The essential reason of this is the principle of "moving in quiet with one's minding, feeling the nerves relaxed with each act, acting without any force just as still in quiet" really benefiting both one's spirit and body.
      Chen Style Tai Ji Quan requires fully release of all of the limbs, body, the interior and the exterior. This is a principle as important as "keeping calm and using mind" and an important step to carry through "no force but mind" to decrease the improper use of force. With the precondition of calmness when one is stating to act, he has to use his mind to relax an his limbs body, the 'interim, the exterior, his organs, arthroses and muscles. By doing so, gradually will he enter into an excellent bourn of ever no a tiny force when it's not needed with a complete and excellent relaxation of all parts of his body. Mr. Chen Xin said in his boxing theory, "the route kept on is an endless twisting, moving calmly but not in any hurry. It will let one's skin and arthroses extremely relax and widely open". Videlicet, when one is moving, his spirit and heart should be calm and dilatory his motions should be twisting, light, quick and exquisite for ever, his muscles, skin and condyles should be relaxed extremely.
    When one is practicing Tai Ji Quan lightly and slowly, he could experience and catch the unrelaxing parts of his body gradually, and make amends and improvements for them in softness and relaxation. Through some long-term training of inner and outer relaxation in case of maintaining the relaxed state info fast-movements, he must achieve the "softness", "easiness" and "leisureliness" even under the tense situation we said generally. From the view of health care and preserving, relaxation is a training method that is to obtain "quiet moving work" in lots of actions and "seeking quietness in the actions" at the same time during it is being taken by one's movements.
      Tai Ji Quan requires not only the relaxation of muscles, skins and condyles, but relaxation of central nerve system, viscous, organs, muscles, skin and condyles, it requires relaxation from head to foot, interior to exterior. This training method of the inner and outer syncretized of one person has lots of advantages. Firstly, it avoids emotional tension, secondly, avoids the interfering to the positive horizontal midriff movements of abdominal breath (natural breath) and brings more effects in curing disease, in health care and in attacking and defending, thirdly, the "opening and extension of skin and condyles" makes one's blood and airflow of Qi circling and being some natural expedite, air flow of Qi inside one's body run between the gaps of condyles to enhance the effect of impenetration between condyles, the human body produce elasticity, blood airflow and blood run fluently, and help himself to recover and promote health, fourthly, it helps to highly develop the sense of skins and the interior, the visual acuity of eyes, and the smoothness, roundness and flexibility of his movements, fifthly, as one being relaxed, each condyle of his body will sink downwards to develop the support ability of his lower limbs, the followed thoracic ribs will sink to help his breath concentrated in his lower abdomen and stabilize his barycenter, sixthly, it helps to develop his strength and moving speed. As long as one's whole body relaxed, his strength could be sent out without any block or break and be used collectively. His movements could be sped up without any stiffness. The complete and excellent relaxation helps one to achieve the stabilization of his barycenter, keeping the "quietness as a mountain" by which he could get strong supporting ability and "moving as a fiver" by which all his movements can be flexible,smooth and successive.
      Tai Ji Quan requires one practicing always relaxed, for his complete relaxation has got a direct relationship with his recovering from fatigue, earning the amassment of power, the enhancing of strength, stamina, speed, agility and technique.
     Calming down first, then relaxing one's whole body guided by his mind is the main training method of Chinese traditional health care being the right way of preserving one's strength for ever in China. There were some methods and ways handed down since before like Jing Zuo Gong (quietly dittingrxercise), Jing Xing Gong (suietly moving exercise) and Qi Gong (breathing exercise). Tai Ji Quan adopted the same training method as those ancients ways did. With the proper exercising quantity, Tai Ji Quan could meet anyone's need of disease curing, health care, corporeity enhancing and skills training. That is the strong point as well as one of the reasons of its wide applicability.
                                        

    Successors of Kung-fu
    Wilson Wu, graduated from Zhong Shall University in Guangdong, being the founder of Kung4h Ocean in Canada, is one of the Chinese Kung-fu instructors in Vancouver, Canada. Learning Shao Lin and Nan Pai (south school) Kung-fu from his uncle Wu Jianwei at his age of
four, then he had learned Chinese Kung-fu from other six teachers and had been one of the disciples of Master Su Huayin in Jin Wu School in China within a total period of twenty-six years. What he has studied and practiced in Kung-fu training from northern to southern styles has been covering both the internal and external ones. Wu has had
    Zheng Weiru, One of The heirs to Pak Mei Quan
    I liked Kung-fu and being very naughty when I was a child. I was lucky enough to meet and follow Zhang Bingfa, the third son of Zhang Liquan in my boyhood. Zhang Liquan was the master of Pak Mei Quan. Since I learned Kung-fu from Mr. Zhang Bingfa, I have never stopped practicing the Quan even during the rainy and windy days. The day-to-day practice made me a success. Mr. Zhang Bingfa often taught me what he had learned, the transformation of Yin and Yang, San Gong (the three skills) and Liu Jin (six forces), Tun Tu (breathing in and out), Fu Chen (floating up and sinking down), Wu Xing (five elements) and Ba Fa (eight methods) as well as the
practice on one's waist, legs and arms. I was emulative then, I always took opportunities fighting with those who belonged to other schools of Kung-fu. Fighting different rivals had given me different reactions and feelings. Trying my best in combating with them, I accumulated the experiences in fighting.
      Learning the Quan from Mr. Zhang for more than a dozen of years, I was collected
by him as his close-door disciple. I had gradually understood the essence of the Quan. As time goes on, I have experienced and realized more and more what my teacher had been getting and teaching me. I strongly led that my Kung-fu in some or most of his contribution to the social activities of Chinese Kung-fu in combining Chinese classical philosophy with his Kung-fu studying and practicing. He has been trying his best to extract the essence of Chinese traditional Kung-fu blending his scientific training methods and some of its secrets. secular practicing really benefits my life when I have been on my business. Running my business, I unexpectedly use the ideas and the ways in practicing Kung-fu Running business is just like joining a war. The common
 skills of Kung-fu like Gang Rou Bing Ji (applying hardness and softness together, or using the stick and the carrot jointly), Yuan Hua Shun Bian (being slick and sly treating any change in flexible sequence) and Fu Chen (floating up and sinking down) Tun Tu (swallowing and spitting or breathing in and out) are all useful at doing business. Actually I never give up practicing Kung-fu though I have been always busy. I often invite several Kung-fu fellow-brothers to study Pak Mei Style Kung-fu. During my spare time, I have been also teaching some youngsters the Quan as teaching Kung-fu benefits both teachers and students.
      In my memory, Mr. Zhang taught us many tips in practicing Kung-fu including how to fight our opponents and improve our potentials, foremost he shared a lot of his life stories and experiences with us to indicate how to do things properly. This benefits me greatly as an ordinary member of the society.
      Being busy though, I have still taken time teaching Kung-fu in Pak Mei Federation in order to advocate Pak Mei Quan. As the Vice President of Global Pak Mei Kung Fu Federation from 2003 to 2005, l will apply myself in popularizing Pak Mei and in holding Pak Mei followers together in different areas. I have been calling for a simultaneously physical and mental training and carry forward the faith of Pak Mei Quan, respect ancestors, teachers and the moral of Kung-fu, learn benevolence, righteousness and Kung-fu as well, realize that Kung-fu is for self-protection but never pretend to be a hero to bully others.