➞Yeung Family Style
History and Lineage
Tai Chi Chuan is an exercise practiced for health, and in its more advanced forms, for self-defense. Its principles of effortless strength were developed several hundred years ago in China by a monk named Chang San-Feng. The system passed into the Chen family, and from the last member of the Chen family, Chen Chang-Hsing, to Yeung Lo Sim, the first member of the Yeung family to learn the art. Tai Chi Chuan has remained in the Yeung family for the past five generations.
In the late 1940’s, Grandmaster Yeung Sau-Chung arrived in Hong Kong from China. During the course of his life, he taught thousands of people. However, over the years, he accepted only three disciples or “family students.” According to the Chinese family tradition, the criteria for choosing a family student apprentice (disciple) are exceedingly strict and include many years of study. The first family student to be accepted was Ip Tai Tak, who was chosen in the late 1950’s; the second, Chu Gin Soon, (www.gstaichi.org) was accepted in the late 1970’s; and the third, Chu King-Hung, was accepted in the early 1980’s. Chu Gin Soon accepted John Conroy, as a apprentice/disciple in 1988.