I still remember the first time I met Roque (Yazhi). It was in 1990 during my very first visit to North America. Yazhi began his tai chi journey early in life when he was 17 years old. He had been searching for Yang family members to learn from when he saw an ad for the seminar my grandfather and I were teaching in the U.S. He came to our seminar with a translator as he spoke no English. During our meeting, he told us he was dedicated to studying Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan and wanted to promote it in Brazil. We were very happy to meet each other.

A few years later, he sent his wife, Angela (Yajing), to China to meet me and my grandfather. She received training from us. My grandfather and I taught our first seminar in Brazil in 1998. It was our first visit to South America. When we created the International Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan Association in 1999, Yazhi and Yajing were among the first group of members to join the association.

Yazhi was a scholar with a great ability to deeply understand and teach philosophy. He was very dedicated to studying the I-Ching and how it related with life and tai chi chuan. He was also dedicated to achieving any goals he set. Starting from nothing, he and Yajing overcame many challenges and successfully developed a Yang Family Tai Chi Center in downtown São Paulo and also a large temple with lodging where guests can study. Today, Yang Family Tai Chi is deeply rooted in Brazil and South America and Yazhi played a key role in that achievement. That’s the reason I chose both Yazhi and Yajing to be in my first group of disciples. He was the oldest in the first group, so he also became my first disciple. I named him Yazhi, meaning “wisdom”. I understood he had great wisdom and that his strengths were understanding things deeply and achieving everything he set out to achieve. Our international association began 20 years ago and now we have many instructors, centers, schools, and I have many disciples. Many of the instructors and disciples were originally trained by Yazhi and Yajing. I’m very appreciative of this great contribution.

Yazhi was always very supportive of my family and me. He and Yajing traveled to China many times to participate in association events and visit my grandfather. I remember he always offered to take care of me and my family if for some reason we could not live in the U.S. or China. He always welcomed us to live in Brazil if we needed to. He wanted to take care of us and always made us feel welcome. He was such a kind-hearted man. It didn’t matter that he didn’t speak much English and there was a language barrier. His energy, actions, and presence always spoke the language of kindness.

Today I feel such a great loss. The coronavirus spread so quickly throughout the world. When I heard Yazhi became ill, I kept hoping for his recovery and heard he was getting better and would be leaving the hospital soon. Then suddenly, he was gone. It was a great shock to me and many others who knew him. I still cannot believe it. His life was much too short. Yazhi was my first disciple and I lost him. All my disciples feel they lost a brother. In China we would say we lost a General or an arm. For me, it is like I have lost one of my arms. Together, we had a mission to develop Yang Family Tai Chi, but now he is gone and I feel so much sadness. His memory will live forever in my heart and I will always feel deeply grateful that I had the opportunity to meet and work with such a generous, talented person who made such a difference in my life and the lives of so many people.

Yang Jun