Selected Yang Family Quotes
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In boxing arts, what is taught or not taught is entirely up to the student rather than the teacher. The reason is simply this:
Everyone these days understands that Taiji is worthwhile and they have a mind to learn it, but they worry the teacher might not have the real stuff and before they have even made it through the door, they are already doubting a third of it. And so even if a teacher wants to pass it down, how would he be able to? Most students only go halfway and quit anyway, then only think to blame their teacher for not teaching and never imagine a need to examine their own neglect of learning. Yes, for those of you who claim your teacher did not teach you, this is an admonishment. It is like Liu Bei wanting to hire Zhuge Liang before asking if he was willing to leave his mountain or not. Liu Bei invited him, then pressed him a second time, and a third time. If Zhuge Liang really did not want to leave, what could Liu Bei have done to obtain his services? This is what students are like. I am hoping that fellow practitioners who are spreading Taiji Boxing will consider this point.”
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Yang Chengfu will teach boxing to anyone and teaches everyone the same. So why do some turn out better than others? Because everyone has a different nature, a different degree of intelligence, a different capacity to understand the principles. Also because Taiji theory is rather deep and takes more than one lesson to grasp. Since progress is a step-by-step process, Yang teaches in a step-by-step manner. If you only go halfway and quit before learning the essence of it, to proclaim that the teacher does not have the real stuff is truly an absurd assertion. If you put hardly any time or work into it and then demand it pay off with glittering results, you simply do not understand. By gradually and continuously advancing in your learning, there will not be a notion of neglect in the teaching.”
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Taiji is fundamentally an internal boxing style. If you are doing the postures correctly and understand the internal principles, it qualifies as Taiji Boxing. If you are not doing the postures correctly and do not understand the internal principles, then although it may look like Taiji, it is no better than an external style.”
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When any of you train in boxing arts, be it Wudang or Shaolin, after you have succeeded in it, be sure not to forget about other people and become presumptuously proud. It is often said that, “There’s always somebody better” and “after every skilled person you meet, there’s another one”. This truth is simply the way of things.” Yang Cheng-fu Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing1 Circa 1931
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