With the current lockdown I've had a bit of time on my hands so have decided to look into the history of the taiji form that I'm learning. My instructor refers to it as either the short Yang form or the Cheng Man Ching form. From looking at the form being performed in video's by CMC and others, while the form is very similar it doesn't match exactly. I gather that this particular form is practiced within the Wutan group of They Soon Tuan, one of my instructors also said that it came from Hong Kong. I've googled both but have found little to nothing with regards this particular form or where it came from, I have just received a copy of a Taji book produced by Wutan so hopefully that will shed a little more light on the matter. So I've come to you good people to see if any of you have practiced this particular form or know its history and lineage? I've scoured youtube for video of the form and have only found 2 videos of the form being performed, one is a display in a town centre which isn't particularly very good and one of a small group performing it which I will post below.
It could just be a stylistic variation. One teacher changes one part, his successor changes another, and so on, and so on...
That could be it, my instructor said than it come from a Hong Kong based student of CMC, I hadn't realised that CMC had much of a following or one at all in Hong Kong. My immediate thoughts were that it was a concoction of the Wutan group as they do seem to teach a load of CMA's, with them all coming from one teacher though I'm probably wrong on that.
I'm pretty sure that CMC was a student of YCF in his Honk Kong years, so that could be the connection.
I've just done a little google fu and can't find a mention of YCF teaching taiji in Hong Kong, I did find a reference to YCF's first son bringing Yang Taiji to Hong Kong? However I did find mention of him moving to Shanghai in 1928, I also found that CMC was residing there from at least 1925.
When, and for how long, CMC studied with YCF isn't clear, though I've heard the numbers 6-10 years thrown about without any evidence. Given how the first chunk of the CMC form is almost identical to the "standard" Yang long form, and the divergence only really comes after that, I wouldn't be suprised if it was towards the shorter end of the time scale.
If I remember rightly, its quite accepted that CMC ghost-wrote "Essence & Application" for YCF in 1934. So, I think to be in a position of trust whereby he was able to write for YCF, CMC must have already been well established with him before 1934 - so your dates of 1928-1935 seem quite plausible. Following Yang's death in 1936, CMC went on to teach in Sichuan, and it was over the next 10 year period that CMC developed his 37-step form. Given he was teaching at a military academy in that time, it's quite possible he met and exchanged with other martial artists, which fed and shaped his own practice.
That's quite informative, I had no idea he had taught at a military academy. Also an interesting idea of his practice being developed through interactions with other martial artists, some more research is the order of the day!
Of course, that's only speculative. But, when martial artists get together, training and sharing often happens!
Yang Chengfu's first son did not bring Yang Taijiquan to Hong Kong, he brought it to Tung Ying Chieh was teaching there before him. Yang Shouzeng taught in Guangzhou util 1949 when he went to Hong Kong
Actually per my Shifu (student of Tung Ying Chieh), CMC rewrote the Essence & Application" after Yang Chengfu's death in 1936
It's Cheng's short sequence but when things are added and things executed in a very different manner I can't consider it a variation.So who knows?Has some things which look old Yang/new Wu also.Some time ago didn't someone ask about a Cheng form starting with that circling arms move before the initial lifting of the hands in the beginning? Not Hong Kong,I don't know if YCf ever visited the place. Yeah,Cheng was an art professor at university there. Around six years,Cheng originally studied w/one of Yang's guys before becoming Yang's disciple. Solo form wise,except for the sequence and dropping some "postures" there really isn't a divergence- except to the external look of it,which must come from Chiang,who was originally a disciple of Cheng-fu's older brother. The short sequence of Yang's seems at least partially due to his teaching cadets and the time constraints of trying to teach those guys a long sequence.That's also where his heels together position before starting the form comes from,something no other TC systems of the day did.A military posture. Not sure how much his interactions with other boxers had impact on his body of teachings from Yang and Chiang,ch'ing-ling(Zhang Qin-ling). Nothing of significance I know of,outside of his point striking which came from outside his TC.And maybe some of his nei gungs-I don't know if anyone knows exactly who he got some of those from.
All I can say is Yang Chengfu was having discussions with Tung Ying Chieh, just prior to YCF's death. But I do not know if YCF was ever in Hong Kong. My thinking it that he did, But it is an question I can ask my Shifu the next time I talk to him to find out for sure. I do know Cheng Manching was in Hong Kong, my shifu did push hands with him there.
From my observations the form follows a similar pattern of moves with some variations and additions too, so technically not 100% CMC but not too different. Maybe a distant relation!
I've just had a look through the Wutan Tai Chi book I've got and in it They Soon Tuan talks a lot about CMC and that his short form is the first one he learnt. He then just talks about the short Yang form. The form that is in the book is called the short Yang form and is the one in the video above. Again using a little google fu, from the various Wutan sites I've looked at the form is just called the short Yang form, or the short 37 Yang form, even on the main Wutan site itself it simply says short Yang Form. The plot thickens!
The sequence is that of Cheng's "37". Other people have used that same sequence but with their form's postures. My 1st teacher (was not of CMC line) did this with us before teaching the long form. Oh,remember when I asked --- It was 2008.Some EmptyHandGuy. In my previous post I meant to say "the short sequence of Cheng's seems at least...",not "of Yang's". Sorry,folks.
