Yang Shao-hou


Yang Shao-hou or Yang Shaohou was a Chinese teacher of martial arts who, along with Yang Chengfu, represents the third generation of Yang family taijiquan.
His name at birth, "Yang Zhaoxiong", was later changed to Mengxiang, then Shaohou. He was commonly known as "Mr. Big".
Yang Shaohou studied with his father Yang Jianhou and also with his uncle Yang Banhou.
Yang Shaohou was also known to have had a very forceful nature, and both of these masters are considered to have been very demanding teachers; only interested in teaching those that could stand their tough training regimes.
In the early years he taught the 'middle frame' that was developed by his father, but later began developing his own signature style which was likely developed from the techniques taught to him by his uncle. This form or style was referred to as 'small circle'. This was characterized by high and low postures with small movements done in a sometimes slow and sometimes sudden manner. His fajin was hard and crisp, accompanied by sudden sounds. Master Yang Jun described him thus: "The spirit from his eyes would shoot out in all directions, flashing like lightning. Combined with a sneer, a sinister laugh, and the sounds of "Heng!" and "Ha!", his imposing manner was quite threatening." During practice with his students, Yang Shaohou was not known for pulling his punches.

T'ai chi ch'uan lineage tree with Yang-style focus

Modern forms

The Cheng Man-ch'ing and Chinese Sports Commission short forms are derived from Yang family forms, but neither is recognized as Yang family t'ai chi ch'uan by standard-bearing Yang family teachers. The Chen, Yang, and Wu families are now promoting their own shortened demonstration forms for competitive purposes.