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, Davi Garritano, Huang Gang, Zhao Ruiyuan, and Yao Tiebin. Thank you very much! Here are the links to the other languages:
Special Message from the President
© Photo by JR Haefeli
In this time of great uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, I want you to know that my thoughts are with you, my Yang Family Tai Chi extended family. All of us have had to make adjustments in our lives because of COVID-19. These changes to our lives have been challenging but by doing what our public health officials ask of us, it is more likely that our lives can return to a more normal way sooner and that we will stay healthy.
Although we are going through a challenging time and being cut off from many social activities is difficult, practicing tai chi chuan can help keep our spirits up. Change is constant and eventually this pandemic will be over. We will meet in person again, attend classes together, celebrate together, and be even more grateful for our ability to do so.
I hope that you, your family and friends are well and that you stay safe, strong and healthy.
Sincerely,
Yang Jun
President
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
Update: China Adventure 2020
In the last newsletter, we mentioned we are planning a China Adventure for August 2020 that includes a tournament, a celebration for Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo's 95th birthday, a tour, and more. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, this event is postponed until further notice. Our members' health and safety are most important. If everything is back to normal by July, we may consider a smaller celebration in China without a tournament.
Winchester’s Yang Family Tai Chi Celebration Winchester 2020—A New Direction to Virtual
July 2020 marks the 30th year since Masters Yang Zhenduo and Yang Jun traveled to Winchester, Virginia, to teach a five-day seminar. It was an historic visit; their first visit to North America. A happy recognition of that occasion, plus a celebration of Master Yang Zhenduo’s 95th birthday, and instructional sessions with Master Yang Jun, had been planned as a five-day, multi-faceted event in Winchester.
Mindful of the uncertainties and concerns for safety and health that have arisen from COVID-19, we are very pleased to take our event into a new direction — a virtual “Celebration”! We’ll have fun with the 30th anniversary and the world-wide Happy Birthday party, and learn from Master Yang Jun. There may even be a few surprises thrown in there, too, that we could do only online. And you can now participate in everything from the safe comfort of your own home.
Join us in a salute to traditional Yang Family Style Tai Chi Chuan, as it grows and flourishes beyond its historic homeland. We are aiming for segments on June 26 and June 27. Questions can be sent to Pat Rice, Center Director, Winchester, Virginia atocrice@verizon.net.
Fighting COVID -19 Campaign
Back in January, Master Yang Jun shared with directors and instructors that as a result of the novel corona virus, millions of Chinese citizens were under mandatory stay home order in an attempt to control the spread of the virus. He asked them to send the Chinese people encouragement and support by recording videos of cloud hands along with a motivational "Zhong Guo Jia You!" (Be Strong, China). Everyone's videos were put together into a video called "Cloud Hands Relay". It was a great example of Yang Family Tai Chi practitioners making a positive difference in the world with tai chi. The video can be viewed on Yang Family Tai Chi's Facebook page. (VIDEO)
The video was posted in February. At that time, no one imagined that in less than 2 months, we too, along with hundreds of millions of people around the globe, would also be under government-issued stay home orders to help prevent the spread of the virus.
In mid-March, Yang Family Tai Chi launched its "Fighting COVID-19 Campaign", introduced by Master Yang Jun in the following video:
Tai chi chuan can boost peoples' immune systems and also improve their general health as well as raise their spirits. There is an important role for tai chi chuan in this current viral pandemic and Yang Family Tai Chi will be part of the larger global effort to fight this virus. The campaign began with Master Yang calling on YFTC instructors and practitioners to do short instructional videos on the movement of cloud hands that people could easily follow. Videos were created in many languages and posted on our social media pages. Following that, YFTC instructors began to offer live-streamed tai chi classes on our Facebook page. Master Yang also created three wellness exercises videos, simple exercises based on tai chi chuan practice and principles. Thanks to our international base of instructors, we have been able to post videos in many languages and reach more people.
Our campaign will help raise awareness of tai chi and its health benefits and increase interest in tai chi for those people who currently don't practice the art. It will also give more exposure to our instructors who are currently staying home during this pandemic. We sincerely thank all instructors participating in our campaign. You are helping make our campaign a success and we couldn't do this without your help. We know that it takes time and energy to produce your videos for our social media pages. For this, we thank you so much.
All videos that have been created for the Fighting COVID-19 Campaign can be found on our Facebook page, YouTube channel, and Instagram page. Upcoming online seminars can be found under the events menu on our Facebook page. We encourage you to visit our social media sites for updates and participate in our COVID-19 Campaign by sharing our posts.
Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan 26 Form Demonstration Video
Master Yang Jun recently created a new hand form for the Chinese Veterans Sports Association. This form, which was designed for senior citizens, is shorter than the Traditional Hand Form and removes some of the more challenging moves such, as Snake Creeps Down and Lotus Kick. Below is a video of Fang Laoshi performing the Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan 26 Form.
Tai Chi in the News
CNN: Medicine in Motion: How Tai Chi Heals Body and Mind
CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the art of tai chi. VIDEO
NBC TV's Today Show: Tai Chi and Homelessness
Inspiring story of a couple in Salt Lake City, USA who wanted to see if teaching tai chi could make a positive difference in the mental state of people experiencing homelessness. Tai chi helps to reintroduce the sense of quiet, stillness, and control they used to have in their lives. VIDEO
New China TV: COVID-19 patients practice tai chi. VIDEO
Harvard Heart Letter (Harvard Medical School): Looking for a Mellow Form of Exercise? Try Tai Chi. READ
International Musician Journal: Tai Chi and the Musician: How this martial art could help your career.
Studies show that practicing tai chi improves mental clarity and cognitive function, which is extremely important to musicians whether memorizing classical pieces or improvising. Eliminating the body of tension, tai chi allows instrumentalists to be efficient and accurate. READ
Symposium Videos
Our YouTube channel contains a number of videos with highlights from the 2019 International Tai Chi Chuan Symposium, held in Selvino, Italy. We are grateful that so many people were able to attend and look forward to a future time when we are able to gather again. These videos will bring back many fond memories for those who attended and may also inspire others to attend our next symposium!
Posting to Yang Family Tai Chi's Social Media Pages
Want to post news on Yang Family Tai Chi's social media pages?
Yang Family Tai Chi would like to keep its social media pages updated with current information from the association, centers, and schools. Ana Horta is managing Yang Family Tai Chi's social media pages on Facebook and Instagram. If you would like to share news on Yang Family Tai Chi's social media pages, please send an email to Ana at anamaghorta@gmail.com.
Master Yang Jun's Seminar Schedule
Due to COVID-19, some of Master Yang's seminars have been postponed. Please visit his seminar schedule page for latest updates.
Attend a seminar with Master Yang Jun!
VIEW SEMINAR SCHEDULE
Seminar in San Jose, CA - USA
Master Yang Jun taught a Traditional Hand Form and push hands seminar January 18 -20 in San Jose. The seminar was hosted by Mingyang Li.
Directors and Instructors Seminar
A Directors & Instructors seminar was held in Bothell, WA January 31 - February 4. Instruction focused on push hands and the new Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan 26 Form.
Seminar in Redmond, WA - USA
The Seattle/Redmond Yang Family Tai Chi Center hosted a push hands seminar with Master Yang Jun February 15-16. Center Directors: Mike and Nancy Lucero
News from Iran's Yang Family Tai Chi School
On Feb 7, 2020, the Iran Yang Family Tai Chi School held a tai chi workshop in Tehran. Meghdad Abdi (Yang Ya Sheng) taught classical tai chi theory based on the teachings of Master Yang Jun. Over 60 tai chi instructors and practitioners participated in the successful 8-hour event. This workshop was organized by school director Morteza Moradi (Yang Ya Xiao).
Also, congratulations to the students of the Yang Family Tai Chi School in Iran! They did a very good job at the National Taijiquan Competition held in December 2019. The students received 3 gold medals, 3 silver medals and 4 bronze medals. Tai chi chuan has been growing in popularity in Iran in recent years. The Yang Family Tai Chi School was opened in Tehran in 2012 by Meghdad Abdi and Morteza Moradi, and is consistently growing and spreading the art of tai chi chuan in the country.
Research Presentation - Uruguay
In November 2019, the 2nd Latin American Congress of Humanized Care took place in Montevideo, Uruguay. It was organized by Watson Caring Science Institute, the University of the Republic, and the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Catholic University of Uruguay. Nurses, psychologists, social workers, medical doctors, and students attended the event.
More than twenty specialized conferences and workshops were held in different areas of this subject so relevant to the quality of life of all citizens. Two workshops titled “Applications of Tai Chi in Medicine: Why, for what and how to do it?” were presented by Instructors Mario Suarez 杨雅塔 (Yang Yapan) and Ramón Suarez, PhD 杨雅盼 (Yang Yata) of Uruguay. In these workshops they presented methodical, operative and process evolution of Traditional Yang Family Tai Chi practice classes based on the experience of several years working with patients in health centers with various pathologies.
http://humancaringcongress.uy/
Program: http://humancaringcongress.uy/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/PROGRAMA_CUIDADOS_HUMANIZADOS_2019-1.pdf
Saber Class and Demonstration - Paula Faro
Instructor Paula Faro taught a Saber Form course from March to December, 2019.
She also performed a saber form demonstration at MASP - the São Paulo Museum of Art (Brazil). The museum is a major city site because of its architecture that was designed by a famous Italian/Brazilian architect named Lina Bo Bardi and also because it has one of the largest art collections in South America. VIDEO
YFTC Foundations Class - Davi Garritano
Photos: Last day of Instructor Davi Garritano's 6-month class "Yang Family Tai Chi Foundations. This was the third time Davi taught the course. He uses the Essential Form to deepen students' knowledge following the method taught by Master Yang Jun. Afterwards, Davi began a new class in early March.
Happy New Year!
Many of our schools held gatherings to celebrate Chinese New Year. Here are a few photos:
Yang Family Tai Chi School at the YMCA of Greater Seattle - USA
Director: Stefanie Russell
Members of the five branches of the Y where Stefanie teaches came together at Coal Creek YMCA on January 26 to Celebrate the Year of the Rat. They practiced the Traditional Hand Form together. The Demo Team performed the Essential Form for the others to enjoy. Following that, some members of their Push Hands class put on a short instructional presentation, encouraging others to join them in the future. After that, they enjoyed delicious treats prepared by their classmates from around the world! The school sends you all Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy 2020!"
Mendoza School of Tai Chi - Mendoza, Argentina
Director: Viviana Uliarte
On January 25th and 26th, the Mendoza School of Tai Chi organized a meeting to celebrate the Chinese New Year. It was held in Vallecitos, Mendoza, in the Andes Mountains, at 2,500 meters above sea level. The landscape, the enthusiasm of the participants and the great collaboration of the students of the school, made this a wonderful way to celebrate and to continue spreading Yang Family Tai Chi.
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.
Tai Chi Cat
A Real Tai Chi Cat!
At Master Yang Jun's seminar in Brazil in November, a cat wandered into the room and joined participants in the front row as they lined up for the seminar! Thank you to Ana Horta for the photo.
Journal Gem
"The Role Weapons Play in Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan: A Conversation with Master Yang Jun" by Eric Madsen. Issue #29, pages 16-19.
This article can be found in our Members-Only Area on our website.
Previous Issue
Did you miss the last issue of Connections? You can read it here.
Next Issue of Connections
Carolyn Fung, Editor
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 June 2020. Please send any announcements to me at carolyn@yangfamilytaichi.com by May 20, 2020.
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