Yang Chengfu’s first born son, Yang Sauchung was the last member of the Yang family to have inherited the family’s secret teachings, to have undergone their training and to have dedicated himself exclusively to the study of Tai Chi . Since him, no-one in the Yang family has had access to the family’s teachings in their entirety or committed him/herself exclusively to the martial art. This was partly due to Yang Chengfu and Yang Shaohou’s early death, and partly because other family members dedicated themselves mainly to other activities.
Born in 1920, Yang Sauchung (a.k.a.Yang Shouzhong or Yang Zhenming) followed his father Yang Chengfu until his death in 1936. At the age of 14 he was already assisting his father. And from then on he continued to teach professionally until his own death in 1985 in Hong Kong, where he had moved to in 1949 and founded his own school.
Not only was Yang Saughung the last Yang family member to possess the entire body of Yang family’s teachings, but he was also the first to no longer adhere to the traditional view upheld in China (known as iron bowl) in which, in every art form, the teachings were handed down in their entirety only to male sons, and in particular to the first born. Yang Sauchung had three daughters, who were interested in establishing their own careers in Hong Kong. For this reason, Yang Sauchung went on to nominate three external disciples: Ip Taitak (Hong Kong), Chu Ginsoon (Boston) and Chu Kinghung (London).
Yang Sauchung’s Tai Chi differs substantially from the one practiced by other of his father’s students. It includes a broader martial repertoire that is not contained in any of the most common schools of Tai Chi, different postural and structural approaches to the Form (tall, medium and low and wide, medium and narrow respectively), advanced Qigong, strengthening and conditioning techniques and so on. Yang Sauchung and his disciples were not content to simply pass on the tradition, they wanted to enrich and expand it, based on their own experience and understanding. Likewise, with Dragon Taichi, Master Possemato wishes to pass on not only the invaluable traditional teachings, but also something that contains the depth of his own study.
Dragon Taichi 