From: twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts
Subject: Re: A few questions about T'ai Chi..
Date: 29 Sep 1992 06:56:49 GMT
Organization: Department of Redundancy Department
Reply-To: TWChan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.12.117

david@xlnt.com (David Johnson) writes:
   [some stuff edited out] 
  +I am the one who posted about the physically demanding form.  My teacher
  +said it is analogous to the Chen Pau Chui form discussed in Tom Osborn's
  +post "Yang & Chen (was Re: A few questions about T'ai Chi..)".  I have
  +had some people tell me that there is no such thing.  My teacher claims
  +it is generally not taught in the US but it is easier, not necessarily
  +easy to find in Taiwan.
  +
  +Many have said that it was Yang Cheng-fu made taiji more accessible by
  +creating a less physically demanding form.  The question this raises is
  +what did he do with the more physically demanding techniques.  I find it
  +hard to believe that he just discarded them.  Some have said my teacher
  +is wrong but he makes sense.  I do not think Yang Cheng-fu would just
  +throw those techniques away.
  
  +Will someone out there please post details of the evolution of the Yang
  +style?

Well, one source I have is the commentary by Gu Liuxin, formerly Deputy
Director and researcher of the Shanghai Institute of Physical Culture
(just died within the past few years) in the first chapter to _Chen
Style Taijiquan_.  The first chapter is on the origin, evolution, and
development of Taijiquan.  I'll skip the Zhang Sanfeng stuff right off
since it's not really relevant here.

Chen Wangting had 7 sets of boxing routines.  These were inherited
by Chen Changxing (1771-1853) and Chen Youbeng.  At this point, Gu
states that simplification of the original routines already begins
with Chen Changxing and Chen Youbeng because:

  - The introduction of firearms changed the role and relative 
    importance of boxing skills on the battlefield, 

  - difficulty/lack of time of learning the seven (empty hand) sets, 
    plus push hands and spear exercises so that most Chen family folk 
    were expert in just two routines, push hands, and sticky spear.  And
    finally,

  - "Another factor causing shadow boxing to change is its difficult
    sets of routines involving great physical strength, which were
    unsuitable for even highly skilled martial arts masters in their
    advanced age."

The two routines that Chen Changxing passes on are referred to as the
"original big style."

Chen Youbeng developed a New Chen style to suit fitness purposes which
dispensed with some of the difficult movements of the old style.  Chen
Qingping (Youbeng's nephew) also revised this form and it was called
Zhaobao.

Chen Changxing passed the two sets of "big style" to Yang Lucan.  Gu
states that Yang Lucan modified the "Old/Big style" when Yang went
to Beijing to teach for fitness purposes.  There are branches from
Yang Lucan.

The third son, Yang Jianhou modified Yang Lucan's style to form the
"middle style".  Yang Jianhou's third son, Yang Chengfu subsequently
modified Jianhou's style to form the final "big" style commonly seen
today.

Yang Banhou (Lucan's older son) was known for developing a "small
style" which was passed by them (with the "big style") to Quan You, 
and then subsequently to Wu Jianquan (who then had the "small style").
From when comes the Wu2 school.

Chen Qingping (from above) passed on his two sets of "small style" to
Wu Yuxiang, who modified it and came up with an "improved small style"
from which comes the Wu3 school (commonly known as Hao school now).
Sun style descended from Sun Lutang who learned from a master in this
school.

Chen Fake brought the original "old style" to Beijing in the late
1920s and since, has become popular.

In characterizing the new Chen style, the Zhaobao Chen style, the two Wu 
styles, the Yang style, and the Sun styles commonly seen today, Gu Liuxin 
says they all resulted from the revision of the first set of "Old" Chen 
style.  All lack the vigorious jumps and leaps in the original form.

However, the second set of Old Chen style (the Paochui form) is 
"markedly different in style from other forms of shadow boxing."
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