September 28, 2022
Dr. Yang, Jwìng-Mǐng (楊俊敏博士) chats from his new home in upstate California with YMAA staff writer Gene Ching about the YMAA 40-year anniversary.
April 18, 2022
This is Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming's official YMAA External Arts Curriculum, which outlines his recommended order of study for Kung Fu students.
February 21, 2022
The Chinese word Qi (氣)is defined as energy, as in all energy in the universe, and Gong means hard work or study. Therefore, Qigong (氣功) means "the study of natural energy." Western science has identified a bioelectric potential in the body which could be one of the primary aspects of Qi energy. This "bioelectricity" is recognized by YMAA as an important area of Qigong study and research.
July 26, 2021
In this collection of fables, Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming shares the stories that have influenced him most as a martial artist and lifelong student of the Dao. They bring the Dao to life for readers of all generations.
April 22, 2019
At YMAA, students learn qigong (energy cultivation) as part of their taiji or kung fu classes. In ancient times, Shaolin monks trained the cultivation of qi (energy), and realized muscular power could be enhanced to a tremendous level, making martial techniques more powerful and effective. This was the beginning of internal cultivation in Chinese martial arts, starting around 550 AD /CE. In internal styles, YMAA focuses mainly on traditional Yang-style taijiquan which originated from Yang, Ban-Hou (楊班候).
A long time ago, there was a family that owned a small farm. The father worked very hard to make the farm successful so that he would be able to leave it to his two sons when he died. The elder son, who was married, was named Der-Shin, while the younger son, who was not married, was named Der-Yi.
When I was a boy, my grandmother and my martial arts teachers told me many stories. This was very common in China, especially in the old days before television and radio, and especially in previous centuries when the vast majority of the population could not read. While these stories were a main source of entertainment, they also played an important role in the moral and cultural education of the children.
On September 11, 2001, I was employed in New York City at a job that I would soon vacate in favor of teaching martial arts professionally. On that tragic but stunningly brilliant morning, I stood on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Nineteenth Street watching the destruction of the World Trade Center unfold before my very eyes.
A Chin Na expert must also know how to escape from an opponent's Chin Na control, and be able to counterattack and reverse the situation. To escape from an opponent's control, you must master several techniques in addition to those explained in the previous section.
Chin Na literally means "seize control." Chin Na covers a wide scale of defensive and offensive techniques, from very fundamental hand grappling to the very advanced Dim Mak. The fundamental techniques can be learned by any martial artist or even by someone without any martial arts experience.
The YMAA Taijiquan lineage of Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming's first teacher, Grandmaster Kao, Tao can be traced back to Dong, Yingjie and Yue, Huanzhi, who were indoor disciples of Yang, Chengfu training the martial side of Taijiquan. Below is the complete lineage in detail.
Taijiquan was originally developed for combat in ancient times. Its fighting theory is to use the soft against the hard, and to use the round to neutralize the straight or square.
We can see from the available documents that Baguazhang covers a very wide field of training. It includes not only barehand techniques, but also many weapons.
The martial arts history which has been passed down to us is fairly vague. In fact, it was not until this century that an effort was made to trace back this lost history.
Though it is very hard to catch the Chin Na techniques with 100% accuracy from a book and a video, many techniques can still be learned as long as you ponder, practice, and humbly ask.
A long, long time ago, there was a kind old man who lived on the plains outside the Great Wall of China. The gentle old man had only two passions in his life: collecting rare breeds of horses, and his son, whom he loved more than anything else.