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TAIJI SPEAR METHODS ACCORDING TO CHEN YANLIN

Posted on June 30, 2013by Paul Brennan

TAIJI THRUSTING POLE

from

Taiji Compiled: The Boxing, Saber, Sword, Pole, and Sparring

by Chen Yanlin
[published June, 1943]
[translation by Paul Brennan, June, 2013]

TAIJI THRUSTING POLE

[While in Yang Chengfus 1931 manual such exercises are explicitly termed as

spear () techniques, the word chosen in this book () instead represents the
unbladed spear-shaft, and as it is also a different character from the usual word
for staff (), hence pole.]
Taiji Boxings Thrusting Pole is also known as Stick & Adhere Pole, or
Thirteen Dynamics Pole, the thirteen being spreading, covering, flicking,
chopping, tapping, thrusting, deflecting, raising, coiling, leading, sliding, and
severing [although there are only twelve in this list]. As one of the major
practices in Taiji Boxing, its energies of sticking, adhering, neutralizing, seizing,
drawing in, and issuing are the same as with the bare-handed postures, it is
likewise extremely subtle, and the practice method also divides into solo
practice and partner practice.
Once your skill is deep, the pole is just like a hand, and the power of your
whole body can reach straight to the tip, just as though mercury is being sent
through a tube. When issuing, it reaches the tip, and when withdrawing, it
reaches the tail.
These thrusting pole exercises, in practice and application, contain the
methods of both the halberd and long spear. Those who nowadays treat it as
though it is entirely based on the long spear are actually incorrect, indicating a
lack of understanding as to the effectiveness of Taiji Boxings thrusting pole. The
Yang familys thrusting pole is very famous, Yang Luchan having even used it to
help put out a fire, which is a truly remarkable thing to hear of. (See the chapter
Brief Yang Family Biographies [included below in its entirety*].)
When you and an opponent face off with poles, whether seizing him or
sending him away, it is all the same as using hands. Once an opponent connects
with your pole, he immediately loses his initiative and has been hit just as if you
were issuing with your hand, and he will typically not understand how it
happened.
Alas, this depth of skill is already lost these days, but to consider the practice
methods, there are several, which divide into the Solo Thrusting Pole Method,
Two-Person Level-Circle Stick & Adhere Thrusting Pole Method, Two-Person
Vertical-Circle Stick & Adhere Thrusting Pole Method, and the Two-Person
Moving-Step Four Stabs to the Solar Plexus, Leg, Shoulder, and Throat. These
are each described below so that connoisseurs of martial arts will be able to
preserve them, preventing them from being lost all over again.
It is recommended that you use poles made of waxwood, related to rattan,
which are produced in Henan or Shandong. They have a flexible hardness as
well as a hardness of substance and are not easy to break.
They were long ago used as the handles for spears and halberds. They were of
two types, a greenish black and a white. The best was the white variety and with
its outer skin left on. The highest quality came from choosing from stalks more

than thirteen feet high, rooted as a pair, in which the lower three feet was
without sections [of slight coloration], and upward from that point were
sections evenly spaced. To cut a pole from such a stalk was considered a readymade pole, and if such a pole was used regularly and stored properly, then after
many years, it would redden in color. Adorers of such things often treat them as
antiques, for unfortunately these kinds of poles are rarely seen nowadays.

SOLO THRUSTING POLE METHOD

1
Taiji Boxings solo thrusting pole exercise is very simple. There are only three
parts to it: spreading aside (or deflecting), covering (or urging away), and
issuing (or thrusting / stabbing). When practicing with your left foot
forward, your right hand holds the tail end of the pole and your left hand holds
the middle. Your feet are spread apart, making a posture between a bow stance
and a horse-riding stance. Your whole body is relaxed and your headtop is
pressing up forcelessly. This is the starting posture.
Spreading:
Your right hand sinks down as your left hand shifts up, the pole tip going to
the upper left. The weight of your body is shifted to your right leg. Your eyes are
looking toward the pole tip. See drawing 1:

2
Its application is to deflect aside an opponents weapon as it approaches your
body.
Covering:
Both hands, dependent on your waist and thighs, cover downward. This
action contains a small circle due to the turning upward of the back of your left
hand and your right palm, the reverse of the spreading posture [in which the
back of your left hand and your right palm turn downward]. The weight is
evenly spread over both legs. Your eyes are looking toward the pole tip. See
drawing 2:

3
Its application is to urge away an opponents weapon as it approaches your
body.
Issuing:
Continuing from the covering posture, your right hand, going along with your
waist and thighs, shoots the pole forward. The tigers mouth of your right hand
is now upward. Your left hand makes no action, the pole sliding out within the
palm. In other words, as your right hand issues the pole, your left hand is used
only to prop the pole up. Most of the weight is shifted to your left leg, but not all
of it, for fear that it will not be easy to switch to withdrawing, and also that you

may overcommit forward. Your eyes are looking toward the pole tip. See
drawing 3:

Its application is to stab to an opponents solar plexus, throat, or shoulder.

When issuing, your headtop must be suspended and your body must be
upright, your chest must be contained and your back must be plucked up, your
shoulders must sink and your elbows must hang, your waist must lower and
your hips must loosen, your tailbone must be centered, and energy must sink to
your elixir field.
It is entirely a matter using the power of your waist and thighs rather than
your hands. (If you only use your hands, the pole will not be able to exhibit any
shaking.) Make sure to use the power of your whole body, from foot, to leg, to
waist, to spine, to shoulder, to hand, all the way to the pole tip. When issuing
power, it starts from the tail end of the pole and shakes straight to the tip, as
though there is quicksilver coursing through it.
After issuing, withdraw to again be spreading, thereby returning to your
original condition, then after spreading, again cover. These three postures can

therefore be practiced in a cycle.

This type of solo thrusting pole exercise is the easiest way to develop internal
power. While it is nothing like the endless flourishing postures of Shaolin, it is
nevertheless not an easy task to become skillful at it, and so you must be sure
not to look upon it lightly.
When your right foot is forward, use your left hand to thrust the pole, just as
when your left foot is forward it is your right hand that does the issuing. It is
good for your hands to be alternated with each other. Both sides must be
practiced, otherwise your left hand will have no power and you will be unable to
have a rounded fullness.
You must understand that within the art it is the bare-handed practice that
will develop the musculature while it is the weapons training that will
strengthen the sinews and bones. Therefore in the practice of Taiji Boxing, once
you have reached a competent level in the bare-handed training, the weapons
training (such as the saber, sword, pole, etc.) then has to be learned.
Note: Due to the space on the page, the pole in the drawings is shorter than it
would actually be.

TWO-PERSON LEVEL-CIRCLE STICK & ADHERE THRUSTING POLE

METHOD

1
This exercise trains sticking and adhering, as well as the fundamental skill of
thrusting, and contains the three energies of spreading, covering, and issuing.
Its practical functions are vast, and it can assist the development of power in the
lower back, having the same effects as in the level-circle stick & adhere pushing
hands exercise. The techniques divide into four postures: stabbing to the
shoulder, to the throat, to the solar plexus, and to the leg.
The shoulder-stabbing posture:
Two people stand facing each other (A, dressed in grey, and B, dressed in
white),
each holding a pole, each stepping out with his left foot, each using his right
hand to send out the pole.
A uses his pole to stab to Bs left shoulder. B goes along with the incoming

momentum, sends his pole upward to deflect until As power has been spent,
then changes to covering. See drawing 1:

2
After covering, he returns a stab to As left shoulder. A, now being stabbed,
changes to spreading outward (i.e. deflecting), then changes to covering, then
changes again to issuing (i.e. stabbing).
Both people spread, cover, and issue, alternating back and forth, recycling the
exercise indefinitely. It is the same if the right foot is forward and the left hand
is sending out the pole, except the stab will then be to the right shoulder.
The throat-stabbing posture or plexus-stabbing posture can also be done like
this, except the hands will have to deal with the whole square, and so it is
slightly different. [To clarify, when dealing with a stab to a shoulder, it needs
only be deflected to the upper left or upper right, but in the case of the throat or
solar plexus, being more central targets and of slightly differing heights, more
attention must be given to all quadrants: upper left, upper right, lower left,
lower right.]
As for the leg-stabbing posture, it can be separated into fixed-step and
moving-step.
The fixed-step method:
Both people stand facing each other, each stepping out with his left foot. A
uses his pole to stab to Bs left knee. B goes along with the incoming momentum
and sends his pole to the lower left to deflect. At the same time, he lifts his left

foot at an angle [i.e. to the upper right] to evade As stabbing tip. Once As power
has been spent, B returns a stab to As left knee. See drawing 2:

A, now being stabbed, sends his pole to the lower left to deflect. At the same
time, he lifts his left foot at an angle to evade Bs stabbing tip. Both people
practice deflecting and stabbing to each other, stabbing and deflecting.
The moving-step method accords with the above. When B, being stabbed,
deflects with his pole and lifts his left foot at an angle, he then takes a half step
across to the right side. At the same time, he advances a half step with his right
foot and stabs to As knee.
Then A, now being stabbed, deflects with his pole, also lifting his left foot at
an angle, and then takes a half step across to the right side. At the same time, he
advances a half step with his right foot and stabs to Bs knee.
Both people are rotating in a circle. They turn and deflect, deflect and stab,
recycling indefinitely. It is the same with the left foot forward and the left hand
sending out the stab.
While the poles are winding in a circle around each other, so too are both
people spinning around each other on opposite sides of a circle. When these
exercises of stabbing to the shoulder or to the leg are able to be done with
increasing depth of training, then the circling [of the poles] can shrink and the
poles can touch without making a sound. Otherwise the skill will become

shallower, their circle will become larger and start to develop corners, resulting
in the poles constantly smacking into each other noisily.

TWO-PERSON VERTICAL-CIRCLE STICK & ADHERE THRUSTING POLE

METHOD

1
This exercise compensates for the insufficiencies of the level-circle method,
which can only make a horizontal circle and not a vertical one, and is thus
sometimes not adequately applicable and may be easy for an opponent to take
advantage of.
Practice method:
Both people stand facing each other, each stepping out with his left foot. A
uses his spear to stab, right-handed, to Bs left knee. B goes along with the
incoming momentum, lifting his left foot and sending his pole to the lower left
to deflect. See drawing 1:

2
B waits for As power to be spent, then sends his pole coiling upward [and over]
to make the covering posture. See drawing 2:

Upon being covered, A takes advantage of the momentum and withdraws his
pole,
coils a circle, then stabs again to Bs knee. B, again being stabbed, lifts his left
foot, again deflecting to the left and coiling upward, and again covers
downward.
To sum up both roles, A focuses on stabbing or issuing, while B focuses on
neutralizing and covering. If A wants to neutralize and cover, he can take
advantage of the finishing of Bs covering energy by sending his pole upward
and coiling it around to cover Bs pole. B, now being covered, accordingly uses
his pole to stab to As left knee. Now A is in the role of neutralizing and covering,
while B is in the role of issuing with the stab.
If the right foot is forward, the left hand will stab in the same manner, except
the stab will be to the right knee, and both people will do the coiling in the
reverse direction.
One who has reached a high level in this thrusting pole exercise can, in the
moment of coiling and covering, cause the opponent to be guided rearward by
his connection to his own pole, leaving the ground and soaring away. It is the
same trick as issuing with severing energy in the pushing hands.
-


TWO-PERSON MOVING-STEP FOUR STABS TO THE SOLAR PLEXUS, LEG,
SHOULDER, AND THROAT

1
These four pole techniques share the same aim as the moving-step pushing
hands, that your upper body and lower, while neutralizing or issuing, are to
move as a single unit. Since the hand methods, body methods, and stepping
methods are all crucial, to train to the point of skillfulness is not an easy task.
Yet if you do wish for depth of skill in the thrusting pole techniques, it cannot be
attained without deeply studying this four-part exercise.
Practice method:
Both people stand facing each other, each stepping out with his left foot. A
sends his left foot out another half step, his right foot following forward, as he
uses his pole to stab to Bs solar plexus.
B at the same time retreats his right foot a half step, his left foot also
withdrawing a half step, as he uses his pole to cover and urge away As pole. See
drawing 1:

2
A, now being covered, steps his right foot forward to the right side, his left foot
then stepping forward, making a side-angled posture (i.e. A inclined toward Bs

left side), while withdrawing his pole, coiling it around, and stabbing to Bs [left]
leg.
B at the same time retreats his right foot, withdrawing his left foot, as he
sends his pole to the lower right to lift away As pole. See drawing 2:

3
A, now being lifted, steps his left foot forward, his right foot following, to be
directly facing B, while sending his pole coiling to the upper left and stabbing to
Bs [left] shoulder.
When B is about to be stabbed, he retreats his right foot, his left foot
withdrawing, while sending his pole coiling upward to cover and urge away As
pole. See drawing 3:


4
A, now being covered, again steps his left foot forward, his right foot following,
while coiling his pole to the right rear to neutralize and spread away Bs pole,
then stabs to his throat.
When B is about to be stabbed, he retreats his right foot, his left foot
withdrawing, while coiling his pole to cover and urge away As pole. See drawing
4:

When A completes his four stabs, he then switches to retreating and B switches
to advancing. After B has neutralized As stab to the throat, he steps his left foot
forward, his right foot following, while coiling his pole upward and stabbing to
As solar plexus.
A at the same time retreats his right foot, his left foot withdrawing, while
sending his pole coiling upward to cover and urge away Bs pole. The rest of the
postures are the same as above, except A is to be read as B, and B to be read as
A. Once B has completed his four stabs, he then switches to again be
neutralizing and retreating, and A switches to again be advancing and stabbing.
Both people do their four actions, advancing and retreating, recycling the

exercise over and over.

It must be drilled until waist and thigh, hand and foot, advance and retreat,
and attack and neutralize are unified. And when both poles are making contact
without the slightest sound or pause, that is best. When practicing, you must
pay attention that your internal power does not get interrupted, your spirit
expresses with potency, your movement is nimble, and your posture is without
any awkward sluggishness. Your body is to be balanced and upright, your chest
contained and back plucked up, and your headtop pressing up forcelessly.
Energy ascends and descends, one moment sticking to your spine, one moment
sinking to your elixir field. These are the crucial factors.
This is the beginning method of practicing these four techniques. When skill
has deepened, then you no longer need to be particular about the sequence.
Whether to the solar plexus, leg, shoulder, or throat, the stab can be issued to
wherever you please, and the one who is neutralizing can do so according to the
stab. Ultimately, whether attacking or neutralizing, advancing or retreating, all
can be done without a set pattern.

*BRIEF YANG FAMILY BIOGRAPHIES

[YANG LUCHAN]

Yang Fukui, called Luchan (with two variations of the characters for this
pronunciation, meaning in one case Revealed Zen and meaning in the other
case Luck Entwined),
was from Hebei (which was called Zhili in his time).
When he was young, he went to the Chen family village in Henan to learn the
Taiji boxing art from Chen Changxing. Chens body stood centered and upright,
not leaning in any direction. He was as expressionless as a rooster made of
wood, and so people called him Mr. Board.
While he was learning the boxing from Chen, everyone else there was a native
of the Chen family line. The only two people with a surname that was not Chen
were Yang and his hometown companion Li Bokui, and so there was a bias
toward those surnamed Chen. Because of this, Yang dwelled for several years in
the Chen village without gaining anything.
One night he awoke to hear sounds of heng! and ha! coming from the
courtyard. He climbed up to look over the wall and saw between several of the
buildings where the sounds were coming from. He then [came down and]
peeked through a crack in the wall (the historic site of which still exists),
glimpsing Chen giving his students corrections in the skill of seizing and issuing,
an amazing sight.
From that point on, he had to observe every night. By meticulously working
with Li on the material he observed, great progress was made. Later when Chen
called upon Yang to be tested against his students, they were all defeated. Chen
began to be surprised by Yangs talent and thereupon taught him all his secrets.
When Yang returned home, he taught it to his fellow villagers, and a great
many students learned from him. At that time Yangs boxing was known as
Neutralization Boxing and was also called Silken Boxing, for his movements
were continuous and adaptable.
He then went to Beiping (called Beijing in his time). [Beijing was briefly

renamed Beiping from fifteen years before Chens book was published until six
years after, since throughout that time the Chinese capital or jing was actually
Nanjing.] Quite a few of his students were Qing Dynasty nobles and so he was
soon appointed as the martial arts instructor to the Manchu barracks.
Being of an indomitable temperament, he was happy to compete with anyone
regardless of style. He took a trip around the northern provinces, hoboing
around shouldering a short spear and a small wrapped bundle. Wherever he
ended up, he heard about the local highly skilled and paid them visits to try
them out. Some acknowledged they were not his equal, while others insisted on
struggling against him, and yet he never injured any of them. Because his
martial skill was the highest, he met no match. Therefore his generation dubbed
him Yang the Invincible.
Yang was born in the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Jiaqing [1799] and
died in the eleventh year of the reign of Emperor Tongzhi [1872]. He had three
sons, the eldest named Qi, who died young, the second named Yu [Banhou], and
the third named Jian [Jianhou]. The two surviving sons were both capable in
passing on their fathers teachings.
There are a great many anecdotes about Yangs experiences during his life.
Here are but a select few:
When Yang was in Guangping, he had a bout with a man atop a wall. But the
man was no match for him, backing up right onto the walls edge where there
was no stability to his footing, his body leaning back, and he was about to fall. At
this moment of precariousness, Yang had ended up some twenty or thirty feet
away from him [because of the speed of the mans retreat], yet suddenly he had
leapt forward and seized the mans foot to keep him from falling to his death.
Yang was an expert at using the spear. To show his dexterity with it, he would
immerse the shaft in liquid, and could then lift it out without it being at all wet.
To fight a fire, he used the head of the shaft to brush down a wall and prevent
the fire from spreading. He also had the ability while on horseback to send an
arrow without using a bow, just his fingers, and hit the target every time, so
superb were his skills.
One rainy day, Yang was sitting in the main hall [of his house] and he saw his
daughter carrying in a bronze basin [full of water]. She had gotten up the main
steps, but the curtain at the entranceway had not yet been drawn aside and
there was some slippery moss, upon which her foot slid out from under her and
she fell. Yang came out in a single bound, drawing open the curtain with one
hand while with the other he supported her arm. Neither did she fall nor had a
single drop of water fallen from the basin. His skill was magical, magnifying
ordinary events such as these into extraordinary ones.
Another day, Yang was fishing beside a river. Two famous teachers of

external styles happened to be passing along behind Yang. Due to his

intimidating prestige, they would never dare to compete against him face to
face. But now they saw Yang was occupied with dangling his fishing hook and
took this as an opportunity. They planned to creep up behind him and push him
into the river, thereby ruining his reputation. They agreed to tiptoe along, one
on the left and one on the right, and then rush him in unison with a surprise
attack. From Yangs peripheral vision, he already knew there were people
plotting against him, and so when the two mens hands forcefully arrived, he
suddenly hollowed his chest and plucked up his back, as in the posture of
Rising Up and Reaching Out to the Horse. They only saw his back bulge and
his head bow forward, and then both men had been thrown together into the
river. Then Yang told them: Today is your lucky day. If you guys were on the
ground with me, I would want to give you a beating. The two men heard his
words, then hurriedly swam away until they were gone from sight.
[YANG BANHOU]

Yang Yu, called Banhou, known by all as Second Teacher, was born in the
seventeenth year of the reign of Emperor Daoguang [1837].
When he was young, he practiced the Taiji boxing art in accordance with his
father. He trained very hard all day long, without any pause even during days of
winter or summer, for his father would not allow him to take any break. He
endured several beatings with a stick, until finally he tried to run away from
home.
He had an unyielding personality and was an expert at sparring. He enjoyed
throwing people and they were frequently bloodied when he sent out his hands
at them. Those who had been hit by him often fell more than thirty feet away.
His skill was of such a degree that he attained the highest level. Unfortunately
he was not willing to teach many people, with the result that very few
comprehended what he was doing, and ultimately we can only sigh at his
achievement.
He died in the sixteenth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu [1890],
leaving one son, named Zhaopeng.
[YANG JIANHOU]

Yang Jian, called Jianhou, as well as Jinghu, was called by people Third
Teacher, and called by the succeeding generation during his later years Old
Teacher. He was born in the twenty-second year of the reign of Emperor
Daoguang [1842]
While training in the art during his youth, his father was very strict, keeping
an eye on him all day long and never allowing him the slightest slackness, until
finally he was exhausted in body and mind and could bear it no longer. He tried
to hang himself several times, but fortunately was discovered before succeeding
at it. From this can be gleaned the arduous training mentality of those days,
from which he was ultimately able to achieve great fame.
He had a more gentle temperament than his brother and so his services were
engaged by a great many. He was able to teach all three sizes of the solo set
large frame, medium frame, small frame and was skillful at both hardness and
softness equally, such was the grand level of his attainment.
Other areas of his expertise at that time included saber, sword, and sparring.
He once used only a horsetail duster to defeat a [saber-wielding] opponent.
[During hand-to-hand sparring,] with every touch of his hand, an opponent was
usually seized and made to back away, unable to get near his body.
He was also an expert at using the spear. However strong an opponent was,
he could always fling the mans spear tip up so he would encounter his own
spear and invariably be caused to fall down with it. He could shoot opponents
away with any part of his body, and whenever he issued power upon them he
would then giggle for a brief moment.
He was also an expert with a pellet bow, with which he always hit the target.
With three or four pellets in his hand, he often could shoot them all at the same

time and hit just as many birds at once.

Most marvelous of all, he could put a finch on his palm and it was unable to
fly away. This is because when a bird is about to take flight, its feet must first
sink downward to then gain the power to be able to raise its body up and fly. But
Yang could listen to the sinking energy of its feet and go along with it downward
to neutralize it. Since the bird could not borrow power from anywhere, it was
thus unable to raise its body and fly away. From this can be known the keen
sensitivity of his listening and neutralizing, and why other people were unable to
catch up to his level.
He continued to practice his skills in his later years. He would often sleep
without changing into bedclothes, then suddenly awake fully alert [so he could
instantly practice again without having to change his clothes]. In the middle of
the night, servants would often hear the peculiar noise of his bed trembling
when he awoke.
He died in the sixth year of the Republic [1917], passing away without illness.
Several hours before he died, he had a portentous dream and knew he was about
to die. He called for his family members and students to be there, and one by
one he gave them encouragements. At the appointed time, he bathed and put on
fresh clothes, then smiled and passed away. He had three sons, the eldest
named Zhaoxiong [Shaohou], the second named Zhaoyuan, who died young,
and the third named Zhaoqing [Chengfu].
[YANG SHAOHOU]

Yang Zhaoxiong, called Mengxiang, later called Shaohou, and called Great
Teacher by the succeeding generation, was born in the first year of the reign of
Emperor Tongzhi [1862].
Once he was seven years old, he trained in the Taiji boxing art. He had an
unyielding personality, enjoyed throwing people, and was an expert at sparring.
Having been taught by his uncle [Yang Banhou], his skill was also at the highest
level.
His boxing set was small and hard, the movements fast and heavy, and he
always strived for compactness. He was also thus when teaching people, and
because he so enjoyed attacking, his students often could not endure it, and
therefore he taught very few.

He had a truly deep skill in regard to the energies of borrowing, stiffening,

severing, and traversing emptiness, but unfortunately he was not willing to
teach many people, and so those who comprehend what he was doing are rare.
He died in the eighteenth year of the Republic [1929]. He had one son,
named Zhensheng.
[YANG CHENGFU]

Yang Zhaoqing, called Chengfu, and called Third Teacher by the succeeding
generation, was born in the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu [1883].
He had a mild disposition. When he was young, he was not very interested in
boxing arts. He came to adulthood as a weakling, and so he started learning
from his father. While his father was alive, he had not yet deeply studied the
arts subtleties, but after his father had passed away, he suddenly awakened to it
and practiced diligently day and night, ultimately enjoying a flourishing fame in
all of its skills.
Seeing as he obtained it through self study, he truly was gifted with a
remarkable intelligence. Yet if he could have carefully learned from his father
from when he was young, then his achievement would have been accelerated
and would not have turned out inferior to his grandfathers.
His stature was big and tall. Outwardly he was soft as cotton, but inside he
was hard as iron. Whether drawing opponents in or launching opponents away,
in both he had attained the highest level.
The boxing set he taught people was usually the large frame, seeking for the
postures to be greatly opened up and spread out, completely the opposite of his
brother. Because his personality was so amiable, his services were engaged by a
great many, and he was praised everywhere from north to south.
He died in the twenty-fourth year of the Republic [1935]. He had four sons,
the eldest named Zhenming, the second named Zhenji, the third named
Zhenduo, and the fourth named Zhenguo.


Generally when people nowadays discuss Taiji Boxing, they all highly praise the
Yang family. In the brief bios of the three generations of the Yang family which I
have supplied here, there is a sense of a rise and fall through the generations. In
all arts, it is often the case that one generation is inferior to another, and this is
also the case with boxing arts.
Regarding the Yang family, Yang Luchan can be considered to have climbed
to the highest peak, incomparable. Although it was passed down to his sons,
they were in comparison inferior, and then it was passed down to his grandsons,
who were more inferior still. Presently it is the sons of Shaohou and Chengfu
who have also inherited the transmission. I hope these descendants prove able
to continue their ancestors achievements, and if they exert themselves that
much more, then the Yang familys reputation can be preserved.