Translations (译文)
Connections is available in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Chinese. We are very grateful for our translators who volunteered to translate: Rubén Coirini, Daniela Famulari, Gennaro Ripa, Françoise Desagnat, Jean-Claude Miremont, Thilo Krienke, Milena Locci de Oliveira de Lazzari, and Li Mingyang. Thank you very much! Here are the links to the other languages:
Welcome to Our New Members
I would like to welcome all new members who have recently joined Yang Family Tai Chi. Thank you for joining us and welcome to our tai chi family! I am happy you have chosen to join us and hope that you feel welcome and receive great value from your membership.
I hope that all members will have a long and fulfilling relationship with our association. For those members who have been with us through the years, I appreciate that you have chosen to stay with us as we continue to spread tai chi chuan worldwide to help humankind.
Sincerely,
Yang Jun
President
Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo's Centennial Celebration
August 2, 2026, marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo (August 2, 1926 – November 7, 2020), the 4th-generation direct inheritor of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan. A centennial celebration was held in Taiyuan to remember and honor his remarkable achievements, his noble character, his teachings, and promote Zhenduo spirit.
The commemorative event began at 7:00 a.m. in Yingze Park at the Cáng jīng lóu (藏经楼) (Buddhist scripture building). This is where Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo began teaching publicly and continued to volunteer his time teaching for over forty years. Over 300 Yang family disciples and Yang-style tai chi practitioners from Shanxi, Shandong, Zhejiang, Hainan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and other places gathered to participate in the celebration led by his grandson, Master Yang Jun, which began with a poetry reading by Master Yang Jun together with 5th-generation disciples Liang Xiufang, Li Cunhou, Luo Haiping, Qi Lin, and Yang Yong. The heartfelt poetry looked back on the Grandmaster's journey of teaching tai chi, paying tribute to his life of integrity, harmony, humility, and openness.
Later, under the guidance of Master Yang Jun, everyone joined together for a group tai chi practice. Among the morning group were both elderly disciples who had followed Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo for decades and also new practitioners. At the place where the Grandmaster once taught, everyone expressed their deep respect and remembered him in the simplest and most sincere way - by practicing tai chi.
Afterwards, people visited Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo's grave. Students and fellow martial artists bowed one by one, paying their respects.
Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan practitioners from around the world remembered and honored Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo by gathering to practice the 49 Form that he created. They made an international video, showing that his spirit and Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan will live on around the world from generation to generation.
Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo was the 4th-generation direct inheritor of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan, the third son of Yang Chengfu, and the great-grandson of Yang Luchan, founder of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan. His ancestral home was Yongnian, Hebei. He was a ninth-rank duan in Chinese martial arts, one of the first expert committee members of the Martial Arts Research Institute of the General Administration of Sport of China, founding President of the Shanxi Yang Family Tai Chi Association, and Chairman of the Board of the International Yang Family Tai Chi Association. He lived his life by the four principles of 'integrity, harmony, humility, and openness' in everything he did in life, in martial arts, and in character. He devoted his entire life to preserving and promoting Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan, spreading its seeds across China and the world. The students he taught are countless, and the influence he had on people continues through generations.
Training Standards Department
Congratulations to our new Associate Instructor, François Chapron!
Please Update Your Email Address
Have you changed your email address since you first became a member of Yang Family Tai Chi? If so, please let us know by updating your email address. As a member, you may be missing out on messages, special announcements, and newsletters because we don't have your most current email address.
Please send any updates to members@yangfamilytaichi.com or go to the Member Area of our website and select Membership Management, where you can update your information. Forgot your password? You can reset it in Membership Management too.
We encourage directors and instructors to help us by reminding students to keep their email address current.
Seminars in Taiyuan, China
July 22-26: Push Hands Seminar, Part 1:
July 30 - August 3: 1st Push Hands Seminar, Part 2
Seminar in Kunming, China
August 7 - 11: Instructor Seminar, Part 2
Seminar in Royal Oak, MI, USA
Brazil: University of São Paulo Chinese Martial Arts Showcase
The University of São Paulo-China Center, integrating its activities with the 2026 Brazil-China Cultural Year, hosted the first University of São Paulo Chinese Martial Arts Showcase: Memory and Creation Between Brazil and China on June 17th and 18th. We celebrated the legacy of kung fu and tai chi chuan masters, focusing on presenting their arts through artistic performances and dialogues with academia.
The core activity of the showcase consisted of artistic, martial performances by masters and their apprentices, allowing the audience to experience firsthand the diverse range of existing Chinese martial arts styles and schools in São Paulo and nearby regions. On each of the two days of the event, we explored three different styles: on the first day, three lineages of external martial arts, and on the second, three lineages of tai chi chuan. The showcase also featured an opening ceremony performed by the Sai Dragon and Lion Dance Kung Fu School. Following the performances, the invited masters participated in a roundtable discussion to present and debate the memory and legacy of their styles between Brazil and China.
The showcase was curated by Gabriel Guarino and Paula Faro, both post-doctoral researchers at the University of São Paulo. Their goal is to contribute to the production of knowledge regarding Chinese martial arts in São Paulo. The curation focused on the cultural diversity present in martial arts, as well as the ways in which they have spread across Brazilian culture, centering on the Chinese diaspora in the city of São Paulo and nearby regions. They also proposed that traditional masters be featured speakers at the university in discussions and presentations regarding martial arts, rather than relying only on professors.
In this exchange, the showcase celebrated bodily arts as a way of experiencing Chinese martial arts, medicine, and thought in Brazil. The scientific committee was composed of Professors Guilherme Luz, Nabyla Fiori, Paula Faro, and Gabriel Guarino. Guilherme Luz is a member of the International YFTC Association and a Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan practitioner. Paula Faro is a YFTC Academy Instructor and disciple of Master Yang Jun.
YFTC Demo at Cultural Event - Bai Mare, Romania
In June, YFTC School Baia Mare had the pleasure of representing Yang Family Tai Chi through a demonstration within the "Night of Wishes" event, dedicated to the Romanian and Chinese cultural dialogue. The ambassador of China in Romania (Chen Feng), the mayor of Baia Mare municipality (Ioan Doru Dăncuș), and the president of the Maramures County Council (Gabriel-Valer Zetea) were present.
To us, tai chi means more than a martial art – it is a universal language of harmony, balance, and respect - values that bring people together across borders and cultures.
Thanks to the organizers for the invitation and to all those who joined us!
Ciprian & Carmen Ghise
Directors, Yang Family Tai Chi School Baia Mare
Ranking Event - San Jose, California, USA
A ranking event was held in San Jose on June 7, 2026. Twenty-six candidates participated in this event. The examining committee was headed by Presiding Judge Mingyang Li, and with Patricia Cao as the Marshaling Judge and Forms Examiner. Zhengmei Hao, Duan Wang, Ronald Tom, Li Zhang and Ruiyu Li were the Scoring Judges.The event was well done. All candidates passed the examinations.
Silver Eagle:
Scott Patten, Jean Teramoto, Song Wang, Xing Wu, Yvonne Liu, Kirk Riemer, Jie Meng, Andrew David Harkness LeMat, Maggie Burgett, Felicia Tam, Emily Chen, Po-Kang Wang, Jack Parnell
Copper Eagle:
Vicki Shu, Xiaoqing Ma, Amy Chen, Maggie Zhao, Emi Baruni, Hua Zhong, John Calvin Brown, Laifong Vo, Yitmin Liang, Wei Song, Sheng-Yin Lin, Margaret Chan, Clara Liu
Judges
Judges and ranking candidates
2nd Annual Meeting - YFTC Center Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
The 2nd Annual Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan Meeting at YFTC Ribeirão Preto Center was held June 26 - 28, 2026. It was a highly productive and joyful three days filled with training and study. We practiced and refined the 103 Traditional Form, 26 Form, Saber Form and push hands. We also studied the principles, methods, and fundamentals of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan.
Thanks everyone! See you at the next gathering!
Fernando De Lazzari
Director, YFTC Center Ribeirão Preto
YFTC Center Michigan, USA
In recognition and celebration of Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo's 100th birthday, the Michigan Tai Chi Center performed the 49 Demonstration Form at beautiful Shain Park in downtown Birmingham.
YFTC Summer 2026 Seminar – Sozopol, Bulgaria
Every year, practitioners of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan gather for our summer seminar at the National Sports Base in Sozopol – the pearl of the Southern Bulgarian Black Sea coast and a town with more than 6,000 years of history. They experience three hours of intensive training every day, combined with sea, sunshine, nature, friendship, and dedicated time for tai chi chuan.
The seminar was organized and taught by Stanislav Bagalev, (楊雅泓 Yang Yahong – disciple of Master Yang Jun), and Maksim Iliev – instructor of the YFTC Plovdiv school, and World and European Tai Chi Chuan Champion.
The unique atmosphere, sunny weather, training sessions, beach, and evening gatherings brought together tai chi practitioners from Sofia, Plovdiv, and the United States. We were also joined by Guerman Atanassov, from Chicago, a long-time student of Master Yang Jun.
Everyone trained the 22-Movement Essential Form, individual movements, stepping, weight shifting, coordination, and footwork. We worked on details, structure, smoothness, and how the whole body participates in every single movement.
At the end of the training sessions, Stanislav Bagalev and Guerman Atanassov, taught push hands.
Seminar in Madagascar
Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo said: “Tai chi chuan, is a cultural bridge between people.” This was wonderfully illustrated in Madagascar.
Directors of the YFTC Center Paris, Duc and Carole Nguyen Minh, at the invitation of the YFTC Center in Antananarivo, held an intensive workshop from July 31 to August 2. It included hand forms, sword, saber, and push hands. It was a fabulous 3-day program where everyone enriched their practice and another half day for a ranking exam (Bronze Tiger).
For three days, we were happy to share and exchange our knowledge on tai chi chuan basics, the 26 Form and martial applications. Also, there was one day of weapons training and one day of push hands training with separate workshops for advanced and beginner practitioners.
As 2006 was our first training session in Antananarivo, the 20-Year Anniversary of fruitful collaboration and mutual enrichment between Antananarivo and Paris Centers was celebrated with a nice symbolical ceremony. All of us were happy and proud to have shared these extraordinary moments of tai chi and friendship.
Madagascar offered us hospitality that will forever be etched in our hearts. Thank you, Hugues Raharimanantsoa, Yolande Ma-Ky, and all your loved ones for what you have sown.
Finally, the seminar ended with traditional delivery of certificates before farewell.
A huge thank you to Hugues Raharimanantsoa and Yolande Ma-Ky, the Director and Co-Director, for the exceptional organization of this workshop. Congratulations to the instructors who attended in large numbers with their students, and to everyone who supported this project. Same to every attendee for your attentiveness and your skills as practitioners.
Thank you, everyone for your wonderful presence!
Hugues Raharimanansoa YFTC Antananarivo Center Director and Yolande Ma-Ky
Duc and Carole Nguyen Minh - Directors, YFTC Paris Center
Journal Gem
"Talking About Press Energy - Interview with Master Yang Jun" by Edward Moore. Issue #51 (2023), pages 10-13.
This article can be found in our Members-Only Area on our website.
Contribute to Our Journal
Volunteer Opportunities
Yang Family Tai Chi depends on volunteers who donate their time and talent to make our association a success. We currently need more volunteers to help our association as we move forward into the future. We have an immediate need for people with skills such as website updating and management, writing, translating, video editing, social media, and assisting our department heads and executive with various tasks. We also welcome volunteers in other areas.
Do you have any skills or knowledge you would like to share? If you would like to volunteer but aren't sure how you can help, please just send an email telling us you would like to help in some way and we will suggest some ways you could volunteer.
We are very grateful to all our volunteers who have helped make our association and its events successful. Building a strong group of new volunteers will help us improve our service to our members and also reach more people around the world! Please contact Pam Boyde (pamboyde@yangfamilytaichi.com) if you would like to volunteer.
Join Our Association
Become a member of Yang Family Tai Chi! For more information about membership benefits and how to apply, please visit our membership page on our website.
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Previous Issue
Did you miss the last issue of Connections? You can read it here.
Next Issue of Connections
Connections is published in March, June, September, and December. We publish association news and school news (upcoming events, recent past events, awards, other news) but not general school advertisements.
The next issue of Connections will be published in December 2026. Please send any announcements to me at carolyn@yangfamilytaichi.com by November 20, 2026.
Carolyn Fung,
Editor
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