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
Annual Directors & Instructors Seminar - Bothell, WA USA
The annual directors and instructors' seminar was held from February 2 – 6, 2023 with the annual meeting on February 4. This was the first time in four years that directors and instructors have come together in person to learn, practice, and enjoy each other’s company.
The seminar focused entirely on push hands with Master Yang going over the progression of teaching the discipline. It was an intensive 4½ days covering everything from basic one-hand circles to dalu (big rollback).
At the meeting on February 4, each department head reported on their activities since 2019 and their goals for the new year. In his report, Master Yang Jun reflected on the past 20 years of the association from the early and challenging first days to the established organization we have today and how much has been accomplished together. Although his attention in the coming years will be to build up Yang Family Tai Chi in China, he will continue to connect with the greater Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan family by giving seminars around the world.
Master Yang also announced the recipients of the association’s first dragon ranks. He was also able to personally present Pat, Han, and Bill with their certificates and pins. Congratulations to the following members for achieving Dragon ranking!
Copper Dragon: Andy Lee, Angela Soci, Bill Walsh, Claudio Mingarini, and Ray Tom
Silver Dragon: Han Hoong Wang and Pat Rice
Han Hoong Wang: Silver Dragon
Pat Rice: Silver Dragon
Bill Walsh: Copper Dragon
The meeting ended with everyone participating in a Chinese New Year Celebration dance produced, directed and choreographed by Bill Walsh (see video) followed by a pizza party.
VIDEO
Summer 2024 TTM-1 Seminar
The Tai Chi Chuan Teacher Academy USA will host the 2024 TTM-1 (Teacher Training Methods) seminar with Master Yang Jun, July 12-16, at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury CT USA.
On July 11, the day before the seminar, there will be a ranking event for levels Copper Eagle (Rank 1) to Silver Tiger (Rank 5). This ranking event will be held at Maron Hotel, Danbury CT, across from the WCSU campus.
2024 TTM-1 Schedule:
July 11
2:00pm-5:00pm: Ranking Levels 1-5
July 12 & 13
9:00am-12:00pm, 3:00pm-5:00pm: Hand Form Yang Family Tai Chi Essentials (20 credits)
July 14
9:00am-12:00pm, 3:00pm-5:00pm: Push Hands (10 credits)
July 15 & 16
9:00am-12:00pm, 3:00pm-5:00pm: Yang Family Tai Chi Sword (20 credits)
Academic classes on "Tai Chi and the Knee" will also be offered at this seminar.
For more information and registration please contact Mari Lewis at mari@yangfamilytaichi.com
Please Update Your Email Address
Directors and Instructors, please help our membership department by announcing this information to your students:
Members should know that they are missing out on messages, newsletters and renewal notices from the association when we do not have their current email addresses. Please update the association with your current email address. We want to keep in touch with you. 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.
Training Standards Department
A few messages from our Training Standards Department:
Instructor application:
Teacher Academy TTM Trainers who apply to become Associate Instructors can transition without an interview or teaching assessment.
Please send any questions to: Martine Salane ts-dept@yangfamilytaichi.com
New instructors:
Congratulations and welcome to our new instructors! Effective January 1, 2024, these members are certified at the following levels:
ASSOCIATE INSTRUCTORS
CERTIFIED INSTRUCTORS
ACADEMY INSTRUCTORS
Master Yang Jun's Seminar Schedule
Paris, France
April 6-7: Senior Form
April 8: Push Hands
April 9-10: Sword Form
Antananarivo, Madagascar
April 14-15: 49 Hand Form
April 16: Saber
Royal Oak, Michigan USA
June 20: Push Hands
June 21-22: Essential Form
June 23: Saber Form
June 24: Push Hands
Snohomish, WA USA
July 3-4: Senior Form
July 5-6: Sword Form
July 7: Saber Form
Danbury, CT USA
TTM (Teacher Training Methods)
July 12-13: Sword Form
July 14-15: Essential Form
July 16: Push Hands
Mexico City, Mexico
September 6-8: Hand Form
San Francisco, CA USA
October 19-21: 103 Hand Form
Lyon, France
October 31-November 2: Traditional Form
November 3: Push Hands
Rome, Italy
November 8-10: Instructor Seminar
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
November 15: Push Hands
November 16-17: Senior Form
Please visit our association's website for more information as it becomes available.
Seattle YFTC Center
Photo: Master Yang and Fang Laoshi with Seattle Center directors and teachers who attended the Director and Instructor Push Hands Seminar (02/02/24 to 02/06/24).
Happy New Year!
Wishing you success, prosperity, and good health in the new year! Some of our members celebrated the Lunar New Year and sent photos. Yang family disciples from countries around the world created a video wishing everyone a happy new year.
Seattle, WA USA
Happy Year of the Dragon greetings from our Seattle School to our Yang Family Tai Chi friends around the world!
Director: Stefanie Russell
Argentina
This year, the Escuela Mendocina de Tai Chi had a double New Year's celebration. The first one was at the facilities of the Club Mendoza de Regatas, where we have been teaching for 10 years. The second one was at the school's headquarters, where we shared pleasant moments with our students. Have a happy new year!
Director: Viviana Uliarte
Royal Oak, MI USA
Members of YFTC Center Michigan celebrated Year of the Dragon at Golden Harvest Restaurant. We enjoyed wonderful Chinese food and hot tea together!
Director: Han Hoong Wang
YFTC Center Michigan
Members from the YFTC Center Michigan performed the Essential Form and single fan form on December 15 at the Detroit City Hall "China Day" event. They were invited by Detroit City and Dragon Eagle TV.
December 9th: Holiday cheer lunch at Fuji Buffet with 50 friends and families.
Training at YFTC Center Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
Fernando De Lazzari, director of EQUILIBRIUS (YFTC Center in Ribeirão Preto City, Brazil) held a training at the center for instructors and students from February 23-25. Attendees improved their knowledge and skills in Tui Shou and the Traditional (103) Hand Form.
Tai Chi Yukon, Canada
Associate Instructor, Alison Conant, was invited to lead a 30-minute qigong session during an all-day government staff meeting on January 12th. The group was very engaged and appreciated the opportunity to move their bodies. Praise to the organizers for recognizing the importance of such a wellness break.
Seminar in New Jersey, USA
North American Teacher Academy Faculty member and Senior Instructor, Holly Sweeney-Hillman, hosted a push hands seminar assisted by Certified Instructor, Jason Timony in Hackettstown, New Jersey on February 18. The seminar focused on correcting errors in footwork and body mechanics in the single-arm horizontal circle fixed-step practice for students of all levels.
Journal Gem
"The Process of Learning Taijiquan: A Talk by Master Yang Jun" by Eric Madsen. Issue #33 (2013), pages 24-25.
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.
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.
VISIT YANG FAMILY TAI CHI'S SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES
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 June 2024. Please send any announcements to me at carolyn@yangfamilytaichi.com by May 19, 2024.
Carolyn Fung,
Editor
|
