Yang Traditional Long Form
楊氏太極拳傳統套路
The core long form of Yang-style tai chi in the shape settled by Yang Chengfu. It is counted as 85, 103 or 108 movements depending on how sections are divided.
Quick Facts
💡 Key Tip
Do not learn it all at once — the three parts are traditionally added in turn and each has its own internal logic.
About this Form
The different numbers given for the same form confuse beginners more than anything else, and the explanation is simple: the content is identical, only the counting differs. Some schools count a repeated passage each time it occurs, others only once; hence 85, 103 and 108. The number 108 also carries symbolic weight and recurs often in Chinese tradition. The shape the world knows today was settled by Yang Chengfu (1883–1936), grandson of the style's founder. He softened the deep stances, removed the stamps and explosive elements the family version had contained, and turned the form into a curriculum an adult beginner can manage. It is practised slowly and without a break, at one tempo from start to finish; a full run takes twenty to thirty minutes depending on the school. It is traditionally divided into three parts that can also be practised separately. Several passages — Grasp the Sparrow's Tail, Single Whip, Cloud Hands — return through the form, and mastering those is regarded as the real test of it. The 24-form of 1956 is a direct abridgement of this very form.