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Yang Family Tai Chi Founders
Biography of Yang Zhen Duo
Master Yang Zhenduo is the 4th Generation of the Yang Family and internationally recognized bearer of its rich heritage.
He was born in Beijing in 1926 and is the great grandson of Yang Lu Chan, the creator of Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan.
His grandfather is Yang Jian Hou, second generation of the Yang Family. His father is Yang Chang Fu, the third generation of the Yang Family and one of the most famous martial artists of this century.
The postures set forth by Yang Cheng Fu in his latter years are the standard that Master Yang Zhen Duo emulates in his teaching and strives to achieve in his own practice. He started studying with his father when very young and continued studying with his elder brother after his father passed away. Not only did he practice hard, but also he enjoyed researching and advancing his technique.
He worked hard at understanding and advancing the theory of tai chi chuan. Being very approachable and caring, he has continuously treated those around him with kindness and respect. His patience is a reflection of his father’s character. He possesses a great desire to pass on his ancestors’ consummate skill and spends his time unselfishly sharing the benefits of tai chi chuan.
In 1960 Master Yang Zhenduo moved to Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. Since then, Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan has gradually spread within Taiyuan and to other cities, provinces, and countries. Now, his students number in the tens of thousands in his home province and are spreading throughout the world at an ever-increasing rate. He has traveled to 8 different countries to share his charisma and his art.
Since 1980 he has served as Vice-President of the Shanxi Wushu Association. In 1982 Yang Zhenduo founded the Shanxi Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Association, and has served as President since. The Association has now grown to over 30,000 members throughout the Province and is the largest martial arts organization of its kind in China.
In October 1998 Yang Zhenduo founded the International Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan Association, serving as Chairman of the Board. Under his leadership, in just one year the International Association has grown to 18 centers in 9 countries with over 350 members.
The Chinese Wushu Academy recognized Master Yang Zhenduo in 1996 as one of the top 100 Wushu Masters in China. He has also been honored by proclamations from the Mayors of San Antonio, Texas and Troy, Michigan. Master Yang Zhenduo has appeared on the covers of Tai Chi and other martial arts magazines at home and abroad.
He has written 5 books on the study of Tai Chi and countless articles. He has produced 3 complete sets of videos instructing in the Yang Style system of Tai Chi.
Biography of Yang Jun
Master Yang Jun is a 6th generation Yang family descendent. Born in Taiyuan, China, he grew up with his grandparents and watched his grandfather, Master Yang Zhenduo, train students. He began training with his grandfather at age five. Later, he began assisting his grandfather at seminars in China. After graduating from Shanxi University in 1989 with a degree in physical education, he began traveling with his grandfather to help teach internationally.
In 1998, the International Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan Association was created by Master Yang Jun and Master Yang Zhenduo with the mission of bringing Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan practitioners together and promoting a system to share the family’s standard of practice of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan worldwide to help humankind. Master Yang Jun left China in 1999 and moved to Seattle to begin developing the association internationally.
He became the first Yang family member to spread his family’s art in the West. Despite many significant challenges of moving to a new country and culture, including a language barrier, he succeeded in growing the association to currently include over 46 Yang Family Tai Chi Centers and over 37 Yang Family Tai Chi Schools on five continents with teachers in 24 countries. This spreading of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan internationally has been one of his finest achievements.
He also contributed to increasing tai chi chuan’s visibility in the West by leading the organization of the 2009 and 2014 International Tai Chi Chuan Symposiums in Nashville, Tennessee and Louisville, Kentucky. These events brought grandmasters from the traditional schools of tai chi chuan from China to the USA to teach seminars and exchange ideas with scientists conducting research related to tai chi chuan. At the 2009 symposium, Master Yang Zhenduo officially named Master Yang Jun the 5th generation direct-line inheritor of Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan.
Currently a director at the Seattle/Redmond Yang Family Tai Chi Center in Redmond, Washington, Master Yang Jun frequently travels nationally and internationally to teach. Since 2016, he has travelled more frequently to China to develop Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan in that country. His greatest wish is to unite practitioners in China and the West into one big family where despite national borders and cross-cultural differences, everyone is linked together through their love of tai chi chuan.