The statement below clarifies the organizational structure of those who practice Yeung Sau Chung’s family style tai chi chuan. It was written by John Conroy and subsequently edited and approved by the three daughters of Yeung Sau Chung.

Yeung Family’s Tai Chi Chuan

The Yeung family’s style of Tai Chi Chuan is unique to the Yeung family. It was started by Great Master, Yeung Lu Chan, who was born over two hundred years ago, and has been passed down to family members, generation after generation to the present day. The lineage under discussion is that of Mr Yeung Sau Chung, the eldest son of Mr Yeung Ching Po. Mr Yeung Sau Chung moved to Hong Kong with his family in 1949, and continued to dedicate his life to practicing and teaching Tai Chi Chuan until his death in 1985. Since then his family has devoted themselves to practicing and teaching Tai Chi Chuan. Mr Yeung had taught for over fifty years, and his daughter Ms Yeung Ma Lee, taught for over twenty years. Over these seventy years, they both have taught many students. Their method of teaching is personal and individualized. Through this methodology, they have employed various teaching approaches that take into consideration an individual’s learning level, capabilities and physique.

It is important to clearly define the different categories of learning more fully:

Category one is family. Yeung family members are taught the complete body of knowledge. In the family, the methods and formulas are observed most strictly, and the teaching methods employed are quite severe. While all family members learn, not all like teaching and not all take disciples.

Category two is disciple. Generally, a student is required to spend a specific amount of time studying with the teacher before being considered for discipleship. Students are accepted as disciples based on several criteria. The disciples must have aptitude and possess virtues such as honesty, kindness and loyalty to the Yeung’s family. Once accepted, they would acquire from the Master skills that lead to a level of comprehension that far exceeds that of the students so that they can help the Master to spread the Yeung Family’s Tai Chi Chuan.

A disciple is allowed to use the Yeung family’s name when teaching. Disciples can choose to take their own disciples. All disciples are listed in the chart of School of Yeung’s style of Tai Chi Chuan but not in the Yeung’s family lineage despite the fact that some people shamefully promote themselves this way.

Category three is student. With permission from the Yeung’s family students could teach using the Yeung’s family name.

The family itself has published books about Tai Chi Chuan. One must understand that books only serve as a guide; you could only learn the art well with instructions from the Yeung family. Recently a movie of Mr Yeung Sau Chung surfaced on the internet (without family permission). The same principle applies. It may be the best form one has ever seen, but without the underlying formula, it is impossible to learn from it.

There are a lot of claims by some people saying they are practicing the “real” Yeung style, or they possess the “forgotten secrets” etc. It is absolutely important that the followers should exercise the utmost caution to discern the authenticity of these claims and whether the martial art is appropriate for their physique, otherwise it is not only a waste of time and money but also it might cause serious injury. Yeung style Tai Chi Chuan is both an extraordinary defensive art as well as an unparalleled health maintenance exercise. The principles and applications are only as valuable and effective as the source from which they spring. Know your source.

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As an example: Jim Uglow is category 3 student with advance knowledge.

Please note as mentioned above the video of Mr Yeung Sau Chung that surfaced on the internet is a gift to the Taiwan Education Department to promote Tai Chi Chuan.

Many individuals lay claim to a certain status such as 6th generation. John Conroy, Jim Uglow and Joseph Balthazar are all 6th generation students but so is anyone who has learned from Ip Tai Tak (1st Disciple), Chu Gin Soon (2nd Disciple), Chu King Hung (3rd Disciple) or directly from theYeung family. The criteria is knowledge not generation. It should be noted that knowledge is different if you learn directly from the bloodline rather than indirectly, as the bloodline includes transmission not just teaching.

© 2007 Taichi.co.uk