Master Yang life-story and interview

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Master Yang life-story and interview

Postby Dvivid » Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:18 pm

Excerpt from interview in Journal of Asian Martial Arts, in case have not yet read. It gives some perspective on his motivation toward building the Retreat Center.

MASTER YANG, WHAT EXACTLY GOT YOU INTERESTED IN THE ARTS? PLEASE PROVIDE SOME DETAILS ABOUT YOUR VERY FIRST TEACHER. DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST MEETING?

Master Yang
: "Since I was small, I had always been attracted by the street martial arts performances by those martial artists from mainland China . In addition, martial arts movies had given me a strong youth dream of becoming a superman. Not only that, due to my poor family background , whenever someone would laugh at my clothes, I would fight them. I did not have shoes until high school. I always wore clothes which had been used by my older brother – patches and holes everywhere. However, the most influential power for my learning martial arts was to prove to myself that I need not be afraid or be a coward.

This situation was not different from American teens during the l960's. The Vietnam war was on and everyone was afraid of being drafted. This situation was worse in Taiwan during the 1960's. Due to the Vietnam war , the hope of counterattacking Mainland China by Jiang Kaishek was again raised. All teenagers were afraid to get into the war and, at the same time, they could not show that they were cowards. Under this kind of unbalanced psychological condition, learning martial arts can make one feel strong and more confident.

However, the problem was not only political, it was not easy to find a martial arts teacher to accept you as a student. Almost none of the martial artists taught students for income. There was no money relationship between a teacher and a student. A teacher would teach because he liked to teach and a student would like to study because he wanted to learn. For example, I learned from three masters without paying a penny. It was also because of this reason, a teacher would not accept a student easily. Teachers would only choose a committed and sincere student. If they didn't like you, they simply kicked you out without any question. Masters had the absolute authority to do so.

It is not the same today. Anyone can find a teacher as long as he or she is willing to pay. The training is for fun and it is a business. The relationship between a teacher and a student is very shallow. The martial moralities are not seriously emphasized. Students choose a teacher and a teacher begs a student to stay and practice. To me, this is very strange. The world has turned up side down. Because of this, the quality of teaching is down significantly. The heart for teaching and learning are not there. A student will learn just what they have paid for. Since it is a business, there are many unqualified teachers existing who have studied ten different styles in just three years. I can only laugh about this. I was so dumb that it took me more than 41 years to understand only three styles, and still I felt shallow.

I was introduced to my White Crane master by my junior high school classmate, Mr. Chen Nianxiong . I did not know he had practiced gongfu with this master for a couple of years. Since I liked to fight, one day he asked me if I would like to learn how to fight properly and study from a martial art master. Naturally, I was very happy and excited about this news.

That afternoon right after school he took me to Guqifeng , the mountain peak located next to my high school. When we arrived, my master was working in the rice field. We approached him carefully on the narrow path in the rice field. My heart was jumping fast. I was excited and worried. I worried that I would not be accepted. Mr. Chen introduced me, telling him of my request to be one of his students. He looked at me and smiled. He then told Chen: “Bring him to practice tonight.” — That was the happiest day of my life.

That evening I discovered I was number 19 of this group. Master Cheng had taught a couple groups before. I was the youngest one in this generation. Therefore, during practice sessions I had to serve the master and all my classmates towels and water. In the first six months all I learned was a few basic White Crane stances and drills. Occasionally one of the older classmates would come to make corrections, kicking you here and there. Junior students were so happy and appreciative that someone had paid attention to them.

Almost a year later, when I was practicing one night, my ulcer pain started to flair up. I had had this problem since I was nine-years-old. I sat down in the corner with my pale face. My master approached me, asked me questions, and then used his fingers to touch my wrist area. He told me I had a problem in the internal organs. I asked him how I could solve this old problem of mine. He said: “I heard practicing Taijiquan can help you relax the internal organs and heal this problem.” That meant he was suggesting that I look for a Taijiquan master and learn about it. That also meant he was giving me permission to study from another teacher. Students learning today should understand that, traditionally if you study from another master without your original master's consent, it is considered a betrayal.

My White Crane master, Mr. Cheng Gingsao was born November 15, 1911 and passed away on May 5, 1976 . He was the second male born in a family surnamed Chen. According to an agreement between his father and his grandmother, he was adopted into Cheng's family to carry the name of Cheng after he was born. Therefore, even though his father was an expert in Taizuquan and some other styles which were unknown to me, he never had a chance to learn from his father. You should know that in order to protect the secrecy of the style, usually a master would not pass the secret of the art to people other than his own family. Even though later he learned some of the Taizuquan from his brother, the depth was shallow, he said.

When Grandmaster Cheng was 15 years old, he found Grandmaster Jin Shaofeng living as a hermit in a deep mountain place. He was accepted as the ninth student at that time. Grandmaster Jin was from Mainland China . His major expertise was Southern White Crane. He also knew Five Ancestor Fist ( Wuzuquan ) which includes the styles of White Crane ( Baihequan ), Taizuquan , Dazunquan , Luohanquan , and Monkey Boxing ( Houquan ).

Song Taizu was the first emperor of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), who was credited as the creator of Taizuquan . Dazunquan and Luohanquan belong to the Buddhist martial arts originating from the Shaolin Temple , and Monkey Boxing was passed down and became popular in Fujian province. The creators of Dazunquan , Luohanquan , and Monkey Boxing are unknown. It is known today that Dazunquan and Luohanquan were passed down from Buddhist monasteries during the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618-907) while Monkey Boxing was created a long time ago. Many suspected that it was derived from medical qigong “Five Animal Sports.”

My master's high levels of expertise were Butterfly Palm ( Hudiezhang ) and 18 Luohan Hands ( Shibaluohanshou ). These two internal/external styles of martial arts were the high level of training in Dazunquan and Luohanquan .

Master Cheng practiced with Master Jin Shaofeng for 23 years. After his master passed away, he and three other classmates stayed around the tomb and protected it and kept it clean for three years, then separated. When I started my training with Master Cheng, he was already fifty years old (1950). I was one of the students in the third group he taught. Master Cheng was a hermit and was illiterate. However, his understanding of the meaning of life came from one of the brightest minds I have ever seen.

There are some stories about Master Cheng and myself. One after noon , I went to visit him and asked him why the same movement was applied differently by two of my classmates. He looked at me and asked: “Little Yang! How much is one plus one?” Without hesitation, I said: “Two.” He smiled and shook his head, and said: “No! Little Yang, it is not two.”

I was confused and thought he was joking. He continued: “Your father and your mother together are two. After their marriage, they have five children. Now, it is not two but seven. You can see one plus one is not two but seven. The arts are alive and creative. If you treat them as dead, it is two. But if you make them alive, they can be many. This is the philosophy of developing Chinese martial arts. Now, I am fifty; when you reach fifty, if your understanding about the martial arts is the same as mine today, then I will have failed you, and also you will have failed me.”

From this story you can see that the mentality of the arts is creative. If after he learned all the techniques from his teacher he never learned to create, the great musician Beethoven would not have become so great. It is the same with the great painter Picasso. If he did not know how to be creative, then after he learned all the painting techniques from his teacher, he would never have become such a noted genius. Therefore you can see that arts are alive and not dead. However, if you do not learn enough techniques and have not reached a deep level of understanding, then when you start to create, you will have lost the correct path and the arts will be flawed. It is said in Chinese martial arts society: “The teacher leads you into the door; cultivation depends on oneself.”

Furthermore, when you learn any art you should understand that the mentality of learning is to feel and to gain the essence of the art. Only if your heart can reach the essence of the arts, will you have gained the root. With this root, you will be able to grow and become creative.

One day I went to see Master Cheng after school. I saw him sitting in front of his house and played his huqin (a type of Chinese guitar), his favorite musical instrument. I approached him and asked him a question. I told him that I felt frustrated because my learning was so slow and my understanding was so shallow compared with my classmates. He looked at me with a kind face and said: “Why do you look around? If you like to plow it is because you want to plow. You don't care if other people look at you or not. You also don't care if you are faster than others or slower. It is the same for your learning martial arts. Simply bow your head and keep digging. Don't look around. If you look and see you are ahead, then you are proud of yourself and are satisfied. If you are behind, you are depressed. So simply bow and keep digging. One day when you are tired and take a break, you will see that you have dumped all others behind you so far away that you cannot even see them,” I did not completely understand and feel what he said until years later when I came to the USA .

From these few stories you can see what kind a person grandmaster Cheng was. Now, let us return to my learning history. A week after Master Cheng told me to learn Taijiquan , I found out there was an English/ Taiji teacher in the Provincial High School which was near my high school. I decided to go to see him and beg him to accept me as a student. One morning I woke up early and went to the meeting hall of his high school. I saw him teaching five students Taijiquan . I stood far away and watched for a while. When I saw there was a chance I approached Mr. Gao , bowing humbly. I told him that I had a problem with my internal organs and wished to learn Taijiquan to heal it.

Mr. Gao Tao was 29 years old at that time. He had learned Taijiquan from his father since the time he was six years old. He had come to Taiwan with Jiang Kaishek . I did not know and did not ask about the origin of the style. I only knew that we were learning was a Yang style. I did not have any idea of the lineage. As matter of fact I did not even care since the main goal of my learning was to regain my health. And at that time, it was rude to ask a teacher about his background. All the teachers were very strict. This was especially true of Mr. Gao .

After he had looked at me for a while, he said: “You really want to learn Taijiquan ?“

“Yes, master,” I replied.

“You have to be here every morning at half past six . Can't miss any day, otherwise, you are out.”

“Yes, master.” I answered.

He then asked me to stand still. He placed both of his palms on my chest and suddenly bounced me out about 15 feet away. He asked me approach to him again. He said: “You now know Taiji's power. Now, you obey.”

I began tough daily workouts with him. That I did not get too much from my White Crane master. Surprisingly, six months later my ulcer began to ease and in no time it was gone. The simple breathing techniques and spine movements solved the problem which had bothered me for nearly seven years.

I continued to practice with him until I was almost 19, when I had to move to Taipei for college. I studied with him for a total of two and half years. It was not until I came to the USA in 1974 that I started to realize that the reason I have a good martial arts foundation and profound understanding was because of training with Mr. Gao . What greatly surprised me was when I went to Taipei and compared Master Gao with other Taijiquan instructors, Master Gao emphasized a great deal of body movement and the martial applications, while others ignored all of these vital aspects even though these have often been discussed in the ancient Taijiquan classics."

" I continue my learning from studying ancient documents and also from teaching. Honestly, students are often my best teachers. From teaching I have learned much."
"Avoid Prejudice, Be Objective in Your Judgement, Be Scientific, Be Logical and Make Sense, Do Not Ignore Prior Experience." - Dr. Yang

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