Yang Traditional Long Form

Quick Facts

About the kata

The traditional long form is the basic empty-hand form of Yang-style taijiquan in the shape fixed by Yang Chengfu (1883–1936), grandson of the style's founder Yang Luchan. According to the English Wikipedia, he removed the explosive release of fajin, jumps and stamping, keeping them only in the weapons forms. What remained were slow, steady, soft movements, manageable even for ordinary practitioners. The content is essentially the same across lineages; what differs is the counting. The Yang Family Tai Chi Association lists 103 movements, other schools count 85, 88, 108, 113 or 150 – Yang Jwing-Ming 113, T. T. Liang's lineage 150. In the Association's list the form has three parts (movements 1–16, 17–54 and 55–103), each ending in the crossing of hands shi zi shou. Performed at the prescribed speed it takes, according to Wikipedia, roughly 25 to 30 minutes. Typical is the return of the same passages: the single whip dan bian appears nine times in the list, waving hands like clouds yun shou in three series. Shortened forms derive from this one – Zheng Manqing shortened and simplified it, and the 24-movement form of 1956 took over many of its movements without the hardest points and without the repetitions.

The kata in different styles

Creator and history

In 1931 Yang Chengfu published, with Dong Yingjie, the book Taijiquan shiyongfa, and in 1934, with Zheng Manqing, Taijiquan tiyong quanshu, known in English as The Essence and Applications of Taijiquan. As early as 1925, Chen Weiming had written Taijiquan shu based on his teaching, which the Chinese Wikipedia calls the oldest textbook of the Yang style. The Chinese portal Sohu states that the 1934 book had 81 movements and that students such as Fu Zhongwen later divided the form into 85; we have not been able to confirm this claim in another source. In his book Yang shi taijiquan, Fu Zhongwen breaks the form down into individual movements.

Differences between styles

The Chinese Wikipedia describes that the Yang family still teaches the big, middle and small frames and changquan, yet these are four ways to perform one form, not four separate ones. Publicly Yang Chengfu taught only the big frame dajia; to Chen Weiming he also passed on taiji changquan, similar but with a few extra movements. The English Wikipedia describes Yang Jianhou's middle frame as more combative and closer to the Chen style. According to it, present-day teachers of the Yang family do not recognise Zheng Manqing's short forms or the state forms as Yang family tai chi.

Rhythm and dynamics

The Ten Principles, written down by Chen Weiming according to Yang Chengfu's teaching, call for practising the form smoothly, start to finish, without interruption. The reasoning: in external styles a weak point appears when old force is spent and new force has not yet arisen. For tempo, the rule is "the slower, the better" – slow practice deepens the breath and lets qi sink into the dantian.

Techniques in the kata

Related katas

• Gave rise to: 24-Form Simplified Tai Chi