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, 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: A Celebration of His Life
It is a Chinese tradition to mark the 100th day of passing of a family member by coming together to remember them and honor their life. On March 6/7, 2021, Yang Family Tai Chi marked the 100th day of the passing of Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo with a celebration of his life. The celebration brought together disciples, directors, and instructors around the world in an online gathering to honor him, his humanity, and his worldwide contributions to tai chi chuan.
In the celebration, participants honored Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo's life with video presentations, poetry readings, and songs. They spoke of their fond memories, their love and gratitude for all he gave them, and pledged to carry on his legacy and teachings in the world.
A beautiful video honoring the grace and spirit of his wife, Hu Ruidi, including photos from her time with him and her performing tai chi was shown. She hoped that everyone would work together to spread Yang Family Tai Chi in the world, continuing her husband's legacy.
Participants enjoyed video presentations with photos of Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo in earlier years, including teaching in Yingze Park, and his 70th birthday. Disciples in China read the poems, "How Can I Not Love You" and "Never Forget", expressing their great love and respect for Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo. They also shared video presentations of their time with him, and the difference he made in their lives through his teaching, patience, and kindness. The heartfelt song "Teacher, I Miss You" was performed by Duan Zhibian and tai chi practitioners from the Shanxi Agriculture University.
Pat Rice, who invited and helped organize Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo and Master Yang Jun's first trip to North America in 1990, shared how that experience influenced her and influenced the spread of tai chi chuan outside of China. With deep love and gratitude, she spoke: "When I contemplate how significantly all aspects of my life have changed since I decided to learn from him and to follow his teaching, I can feel happy that Heaven has smiled on me, and I am forever grateful."
Yang Zhenduo hoped that tai chi could be used to bring people from different cultures together, united as one family. His vision was expressed through disciples, directors, and instructors from the international community singing "Imagine" by John Lennon.
Master Yang Jun thanked everyone for attending the celebration and called us to remember his grandfather's grace and kindness and follow his example. He reminded us of his grandfather's words:
"May tai chi make more contributions to human health." (“愿太极拳为人类健康做出更多的贡献”) This gives us a clear direction and purpose.
"All tai chi is one family". (“天下太极是一家"). This teaches us to have an open mind; a bigger heart.
"Unity, mutual assistance, and development". (“团结、互助、发展”). These are our expectations.
Following these ideals will keep his grandfather's spirit alive in the world through all of us. In this way, Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo will always be with us.
Finally, Master Yang Jun shared that the relationship with his grandfather, who raised him from the time he was a child, was one of affection between teacher and student as well as between grandfather and grandson. He expressed deep gratitude for his grandfather's kindness, nurturing, and encouragement of his tai chi career. Then he shared the beautiful lyrics from the song "You Raise Me Up" to express his heartfelt feelings.
Instructors' Meeting: March 17, 2021
Due to people being unable to travel during the pandemic, Master Yang Jun has generously been giving his time once a month since January to meet with instructors via Zoom. These meetings help instructors maintain and improve their skill. The meetings are a precious opportunity to connect with Yang Family Tai Chi instructors around the world, share information, and get to know each other better. Master Yang Jun has been teaching the Senior Form and answering questions. This is such a wonderful opportunity to connect with Master Yang during this time! Even if you don't speak English, it is possible to follow him in the practice section. We would love to see you at our next meeting! Please plan to attend, if possible. You'll practice with Master Yang, see the other instructors around the world, hear the latest association announcements, and leave feeling even more motivated to continue your tai chi practice!
All instructors will receive an email prior to the event with the Zoom link.
The next instructors' meeting is Wednesday, March 17 at 10:00 am Pacific Time (US & Canada).
Teacher Academy USA: Winter 2021 Virtual Academic Program
On January 10, 2021, senior instructor Holly Sweeney-Hillman presented the Anatomy and Biomechanics on understanding the “waist” with practical techniques to relax the waist. This class was followed by a discussion group on January 24.
On February 7, 2021, senior instructor Bill Walsh conducted the Tai Chi Pedagogy class in which he presented a “starter kit” and other teaching resources for new teachers. A follow up discussion group was held on February 21.
Spring & Summer Programs:
The Teacher Academy USA will be offering virtual courses and seminar in the Spring and Summer 2021. These events are open to all association members.
For more information, please contact Mari Lewis: mari@yangfamilytaichi.com
Master Yang Jun's Seminar Schedule
Due to Covid-19, Master Yang Jun's in-person seminars are canceled until further notice. He will be giving live-stream seminars and his 2021 seminar schedule will be available soon on our website.
Inspiration from Italy
Eddy Martello is a Yang Family Tai Chi instructor from Torino, Italy. He shares with us the inspiring story of one of his tai chi students, Angelo, hoping that Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan can reach and help more people improve their lifestyle. Eddy says that Angelo's story is one of the beautiful experiences that shows again, the benefits of tai chi chuan.
"My name is Angelo and I am 63 years old. About three years ago, I had a stroke. This first stroke was followed by two more within six months. I was hospitalized for months and finally discharged with a prognosis that did not give me much hope. I was told I would be in a wheelchair for life. I didn't give up and continued physiotherapy with the goal of getting out of the wheelchair. After months, there was some progress, but then I stopped improving. I even felt my physiological conditions regress and also my desire to continue physiotherapy. The stroke caused many other problems. It affected my balance, coordination, strength, language, vision, cognition, and mood.
I tried alternative therapies, such as attending a kundalini yoga course. This immediately made a difference. I was able to be in a walker instead of a wheelchair. However, eventually I stopped seeing improvement. I didn't want to give up so I decided to try tai chi chuan. I met instructor Eddy Martello at a gym near my home. I saw improvement in my ability to function in my daily activities from the very first lessons that I had with Eddy.
After about two months of tai chi lessons held twice a week, I abandoned the walker and any other support. I can finally get up effortlessly from a chair and even from the floor after performing exercises on the ground. I can walk, and although I still have some difficulty, my sense of balance has improved as I walk. I didn't see that improvement in balance before I practiced tai chi. I feel lucky that I met a tai chi instructor who worked not only at the physical level, but also with the cognitive and emotional areas. I noticed as I improved my mind, that my body began to respond better and cooperate. Taking great care in the execution of the movements and listening carefully, my body has started to improve. I am more comfortable with my body and I don't feel it as something alien to me anymore. Even though tai chi seems like less physical work compared to physiotherapy, my muscles are improving.
My posture, balance, and ability to walk have improved since practicing tai chi. My joint mobility in my upper limbs has improved so much that I can now hold small weights and do housework that I couldn't before, such as emptying the dishwasher. Another improvement that I experienced from practicing tai chi was the ability to manage and dissolve my emotional blocks.
I still have a lot to do to fully recover, but the confidence that tai chi is giving me makes me feel optimistic". - Angelo Durando, Torino, Italy.
Tai Chi News from Northern Canada
We all look forward to the day when the coronavirus pandemic will be a memory and all of our association's centers and schools can enjoy in-person classes and seminars again. There is hope! Some schools are already able to offer in-person classes with certain limits. While not fully back to normal, it is great to see some progress!
Tai Chi Yukon in Whitehorse, Canada is very pleased to be offering indoor in-person tai chi classes. Five instructors are teaching in seven different locations around Whitehorse. They follow Covid-19 protocols: using hand sanitizer, staying six feet apart, wearing masks, and limiting class numbers. There are currently no active cases of Covid-19 in the Yukon Territory and the vaccination campaign continues to grow. The instructors send their best wishes to all tai chi schools and practitioners for good health and a return to in-person classes!
Seminar in France - August 2021
Tai Chi France will hold its summer seminar August 14 - 20, 2021. A team of certified International Yang Family Tai Chi Association instructors will lead this seminar in the beautiful Dordogne valley.
More information and registration on website.
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.
Posting to Yang Family Tai Chi's Social Media Pages
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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.
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Journal Gem
"Yang Zhenduo: Master Teacher - An Appreciation", by Dave Barrett. Issue 11 (2003), pages 8-10.
This article can be found in our Members-Only Area on our website.
Contribute to Our Journal
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 2021. Please send any announcements to me at carolyn@yangfamilytaichi.com by May 16, 2021.
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