This is Wang Zi-he 王子和, a disciple of Lu Dian-chen 呂殿臣, who in turn was a disciple of Yang Jian-hou and Yang Chen-fu. Wang was also a disciple of Li Shou-jian 李壽籛 who was a disciple of Shao-hou. Like Xiong Yang-he, Wang was one of the top people to bring Yang style taiji to Taiwan — a disciple of a disciple of Jian-hou, Shao-hou and Chen-fu.
The Yang style that Wang practiced is one of the few in Taiwan to have more of the open and expanded style as seen by other Chen-fu disciples, like Li Ya-xuan. Most of the Yang stylists in Taiwan practiced in the more collapsed manner of Zheng Man-qing.
Wang’s style has extensive basic training, the long form, push hands, straight sword, saber, and spear training. While coming from Chen-fu, the style still has a bit of “old Yang” flavor to it IMO, particularly in its practice of fajing movements. This style is famous here for fajing.
Here’s a clip of them in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vTsNgv9QXo
Notice the fajing movements in white crane and wardoff– not something that you see everyday. I like their clear and expanded movement. They are much more precise than a lot of Yang styles here. The basic training in the clip is taken very seriously, as well. Finally, the spear movements and applications have been preserved. Spear is necessary to build martial power.
Tomorrow I’ll post video of Wang, himself, doing his taiji.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Thomas // Aug 15, 2007 at 9:35 am
Very nice, Dave. A refreshing look at serious Yang style training. I’m looking forward to seeing the footage of Wang.
2 taijiquestion // Aug 15, 2007 at 11:47 am
I agree. Cool stuff! You can almost feel the good vibe, serious yet joyous, from this group of people.
I’m noticing a lot of low-stance Yang demos on the internet and most of the time it turns me off. But this way looks like good Yang to me. And no one seems too worried about kneecap going past toe.
Wang Zi-he is a fine-looking man, and it’s always a treat to see a martial artist actually smiling. Bravo, and awaiting more!
3 chessman71 // Aug 15, 2007 at 11:54 am
Great! I look forward to reporting more about these guys.
Wang always looks happy in his photos. And I love the sideburns! The little “twirl” at the bottom always makes him easily recognizable.
The footage of him doing his form is pretty good. i think you guys will enjoy it.
BTW, Wang’s group does have a very positive vibe about them. Glad you guys picked that up.
4 Hermann // Aug 18, 2007 at 8:48 am
Yeah, this school is a real treat, very strong in basic training and demanding in the form. (I did not reach weapon or push hands training yet!) It is so different in body structure to many other Yang styles that it costs me a lot of effort to grasp only basic concepts in their true meaning.
Still, I really like to work with on of Wang Zihe’s students, even he only spent some short years with the late master. And I like to listen to some of the old stories about Wang and his days.
5 Pause to consider yet again « Taiji.quest.ion // Aug 20, 2007 at 4:08 am
[...] under Yang forms study Formosa Neijia had a post the other day about Yang Taiji training: http://formosaneijia.com/2007/wang-zi-hes-yang-style-taiji/. I was happy to see the good-looking Yang style of Master Wang Zi-he. To me, there are pretty [...]
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