My partner and I wandered into a discussion about the ancient Hindu concept of gunas: sattva (goodness, constructive, harmonious), rajas (passion, active, confused), and tamas (darkness, destructive, chaotic). We couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that so many problems of modern society are due to an imbalance in these forces: an overabundance of rajas and tamas and a paucity of sattva. As we proceed into this tumultuous future, we agree to acknowledge this outer imbalance but commit ourselves to an inner balance guided by the shining light of sattva.
Screed #001
I am riding, descending over, the lip of a wave; a wave unlike any in modern memory, unlike any within modern scientific reaches. This is a wave with deep roots in the human psyche. No other species on the planet has contributed to Earth’s denuding and polluting to the degree attributed to human activity. These activities are the manifestations of our desire for constant stimulation. The price we pay is constant accumulation without attaining satisfaction and contentment. Our roles tend to be accepted without question. Education, religious influence, economic status and more form the framework within which those roles are defined. The planet will do well without us. We may have a chance if we can transcend the constraints of that framework to create a relationship with our planet based on respect, humility, and acceptance of our place within the fabric of life upon this small jewel of a planet.
What is Yang Style Tai Chi?
Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan is one of the gems in the realm of Chinese martial arts. Ever since the founder of Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Yang Lu Chan, his sons Yang Ban Hou and Yang Jian Hou, his grandsons Yang Shao Hou and Yang Cheng Fu, and his great-grandsons Yang Zhen Ming, Yang Zhen Ji, Yang Zhen Duo, and Yang Zhen Guo have all worked together to research, change, develop, and spread Tai Chi Chuan. Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan has become extended and graceful, carefully structured, relaxed, gentle and flowing, while still maintaining the martial arts aspects. It is also a method for improving health and curing illness. Tai Chi Chuan is loved by tens of millions of practitioners, spreading Tai Chi Chuan at home and abroad. It has become the most popular of all Chinese martial arts, providing a remarkable contribution to the health of mankind.
by Master Yang Jun, 6th Generation
YANG STYLE TAI CHI OVERVIEW
Cheng Man Ch’ing Lineage
Cheng Man Ch’ing
For many centuries Tai Chi was practiced privately, passed on from father to son, in the Chen Village in northern China. In the mid-1800s Master Yang Lu Shan became the first to learn the Chen form, and as the commander of the imperial guards, taught this advanced self-defense method to his men. In the early 1900s His grandson, Master Yang Cheng Fu, modified his family’s form into what now known as Yang Style Long Form Tai Chi.
In the 1930s, Yang Cheng Fu’s famous student Cheng Man Ch’ing, shortened and simplified the Yang Style form while maintaining its martial arts applications. He taught it to students at a military academy and later to the Chinese army. It soon became popular with he public as a health exercise. This is known as the Yang Style Cheng Man Ch’ing Lineage form, Yang Style Short Form, Simplified Tai Chi or Cheng Man Ch’ing’s 37 postures.
In the 1960s, Tai Chi began to take root in the United States and Europe. Grandmaster Cheng Man Ch’ing, a student of Yang Cheng Fu and already a renowned teacher in China and Taiwan, came to New York and became one of the first to teach this ancient exercise openly to non-Chinese students. Since then, his students, including Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo, William C.C. Chen and Maggie Newman have taught Cheng Man Ch’ing lineage Yang style Tai Chi to thousands of students across the United States and Europe, making it the most popular form worldwide.