About Quiet Tiger | Our Tai Chi Lineage
Taiji comes from infinity; from it spring yin and yang. In movement the two act independently; in stillness they fuse into one. There should be no excess and no insufficiency.
-Wang Zongyue
OUR TAI CHI CHUAN LINEAGE
Zhang Sanfeng (c1100) is a mythical or semi-mythical personality commonly credited with developing the original thirteen postures of tai chi chuan. The form he developed corresponded with the eight trigrams of the I Ching (Book of Changes) and the five elements. According to various theories, he either never existed or was a combination of several people.
Wang Zongyue (c1500) is reputed to have authored The Tai Chi Treatise. This treatise records many tai chi proverbs; among them: “four ounces deflect one thousand pounds” and “a feather cannot be added; nor can a fly alight”. The Tai Chi Treatise is among a body of literature collectively referred to as the Tai chi classics by many tai chi chuan schools.
Chen Wangting (1580-1660) was a military officer during the Ming Dynasty, and is widely considered founder of Chen style tai chi chuan. Chen is also credited with the invention of the first push hands exercises.
Chen Changxing (1771-1853) consolidated seven routines into two, creating the “old frame” or “large frame” (108 Moves). He is most famously known as the teacher of the great tai chi chuan master Yang Luchan, but there is much disagreement over which style of martial art Chen Changxing actually taught to the family outsider. Specifically, was it handed down from Chen Wangting or from Jiang Fa? Records indicate Jiang Fa’s teacher may have been Wang Zongyue who was really old at the time and used his only daughter to transmit the tai chi chuan to Jiang Fa.
Yang Luchan (1799-1872) is known as the founder of Yang-style tai chi chuan. Yang became famous for never losing a match and never seriously injuring his opponents. Having refined his martial skill to an extremely high level, Yang Lu-ch’an came to be known as Yang Wu Di (Yang the Invincible).
Yang Jianhou (1839-1917) was the son of Yang Luchan and father of Yang Chengfu. His Tai Chi Chuan skills were a harmonious blend of hard and soft. He was especially talented at issuing internal energy and the practice of broadsword, straightsword, and spear. His character was very warm-hearted. He too was never defeated.
Yang Chengfu (1883-1936) became the best known teacher of tai chi chuan in the world and was among the first to teach tai chi chuan publicly, first at the Beijing Physical Culture Institute, and later in Shanghai.
Chu Fongchu was born around 1890. In 1935, Chu Fongchu was enrolled in Yang Chenfu’s last master class in Shanghai along with Tung Ying-Chieh, Cheng Man-Ching and Chen Weiming. He taught Tai Chi in Chinatown in San Francisco. All the Yang Style Tai Chi forms taught at Quiet Tiger were transmitted from Chu Fongchu, including the Yang 108 Long Form, Push Hands, Da Lu and San Shou.
Paul Pitchford studied with Chu Fongchu in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the early 1970’s. He is best known for his book “Healing with Whole Foods”.
Randy Steele began learning the form from Paul Pitchford in Moscow, Idaho in 1978.
Dave Pankey began learning the form from Randy Steele in Lewiston, Idaho in 1996.