Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan originated from   Yang  Luchan   (1799-1872). He was born in what is now called Guangfu Town, Yongnian County, Hebei Province and studied with Chen Chanxing, a 14th  generation Chen family martial arts master  from  the  Chen  Village in  Wen County, Henan. Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan began to be spread outside the Yang family when Yang Luchan moved to Beijing and became  the   head   martial   arts coach for China’s highest level military guards in the Forbidden City and also taught many relatives and attendants of the Qing Dynasty’s emperor. He noticed the health benefits that many people experienced and began to modify the foot stomping, jumping, and energy-releasing movements so that  the  form  was better  suited to people of all ages and levels of physical ability.   The movements gradually became slower with the strength  on the inside while still maintaining the martial aspects of attack and defense. He developed what is referred to as the “old frame” form.

Yang Lu Chan’s sons Yang Banhou  and  Yang  Jianhou  and his   grandsons    Yang   Shaohou and Yang Chengfu all worked to develop and  spread Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan.    Yang Banhou developed a small frame form and Yang Jianhou developed a middle frame form.  It was Yang Chengfu (1893-1936), Yang Luchan’s grandson,  who standardized  and popularized the current  large frame  form   and   travelled beyond Beijing to spread it widely. Yang Zhenduo, the 4th  generation lineage inheritor continued to spread the art throughout  China and began travelling outside of China to teach internationally. Today,  the  international   spread of  Yang Family Tai  Chi  Chuan continues  with  the  work  of  the 5th  generation lineage inheritor, Grandmaster  Yang Jun, the  first generation   to   live   outside   of China.

Yang style is the most widely practiced style of Tai Chi Chuan in the world today.   Yang style’s movements are large, extended, graceful, simple, clear, and carefully structured. The movements are gentle, relaxed, flowing, and performed at an even pace while still maintaining martial aspects.