By Harvey Kurland, © 1998. The Tai Chi San Shou form is a two-person set. It is choreographed, and each person knows what the other is to do. This is a traditional training method in Kung Fu and is common in most styles. By practicing this form, T’ai Chi Ch’uan comes to life. It helps the student discover the martial applications of the form. It is also a fun set to practice and provides more exercise than the slow form.
”The form is the alphabet; pushing hands and [Tai Chi] San Shou are learning to read and write. The ability to read and write is what makes the alphabet useful.“ – Grandmaster Tchoung Ta-tchen
Tai Chi San Shou is first learned as a solo form, then practiced with a partner. At first, it should be done slowly so that the subtleties can be practiced. Later, it is performed at full speed. After learning this form, students will understand T’ai Chi Ch’uan at a deeper level and how the techniques are truly used.
Tchoung’s form is based on the premise that “the form is the alphabet; pushing hands and San Shou are learning to read and write. The ability to read and write is what makes the alphabet useful.” To understand the basic T’ai Chi Ch’uan form, one needs to study pushing hands and San Shou. He believed that understanding T’ai Chi Ch’uan applications is essential to teaching it correctly. Learning the Tai Chi San Shou form is a way to study the art at a deeper level.
Tai Chi San Shou Form Lineage
Our system is primarily based on the “Older Form” of the Yang family style, and what we call our Sections 7 & 8, the Tai Chi San Shou form, is traced to Great-Grandmaster Hsiung Yang-Ho (Xióng Yánghé). Grandmaster Tchoung Ta-tchen studied with Hsiung Yang-Ho (1886-1984) in Taiwan. Hsiung was a disciple of Yang Shao-Hou (1862-1930), the son of Yang Chien-Hou (1839-1917). Yang Chien-Hou was the son of the founder of the Yang style, Yang Lu-Chan (1799-1872). Yang Shao-Hou was also the older brother of Yang Cheng-Fu (1883-1936) and trained with his uncle, Yang Pan-Hou. Hsiung was a very famous martial artist in Taiwan.
What is now called “Orthodox Yang Style” is the later form of Yang Shao-Hou’s younger brother, the famous Yang Cheng-Fu. Yang Cheng-Fu modified the form so it was easier to practice and popularized it for the intelligentsia as an exercise. This was one of the more important steps that took T’ai Chi Ch’uan out of the realm of just martial artists and tough guys and into the modern era of health promotion and seniors exercising in the park. According to some historians, Yang Cheng-Fu removed fast kicks as well as the more complicated waist turns to make the exercise art easier to learn. There is considerable debate over that issue.
The Yang Brothers
Yang Cheng-Fu’s older brother, Yang Shao-Hou, taught what is often called “Old Yang Style,” or the versions before the 1930s modifications. What is considered Orthodox Yang Style comes from Yang Cheng-Fu. Some experts consider it a simplified method. The senior students of Yang Shao-Hou, who did not become disciples of Cheng-Fu, were written out of the Yang family lineage after Shao-Hou’s death and, for that reason, are not as well known. Hsiung was one of those who did not affiliate himself with Yang Cheng-Fu and is not well known for that reason. Some say Hsiung studied with Yang Chien-Hou as well.
Some historians and writers claim that Yang Cheng-Fu did not have the martial skill of some of his father’s and older brother’s students. Some experts believe that what is called the Orthodox Yang Form is a watered-down version. There is no way to know for certain, as much of the history of T’ai Chi Ch’uan is speculation, fairy tales, and an alleged “official” history that is revised liberally depending on who is telling the stories. What is known is that Hsiung was a well-known T’ai Chi Ch’uan martial artist in Taiwan, teaching the San Shou and spear methods.
Our system comes from the older brother, Yang Shao-Hou, through two masters: Hsiung Yang-Ho and Tian Zhao-Lin. Tian Zhao-Lin was a very famous T’ai Chi master and is claimed to be a student of Yang Shao-Hou. There is some dispute, as some of his disciples claim that Yang Chien-Hou, Shao-Hou’s father, was Tian’s main teacher and that Tian became a student of Yang Shao-Hou after his father’s death. Others claim Tian Zhao-Lin studied with Yang Pan-Hou, but I have not found evidence for that. He has also been written into the Yang Cheng-Fu lineage.
Our long “slow” form comes primarily from the Tian Zhao-Lin lineage, and our Tai Chi San Shou form comes from Hsiung Yang-Ho.
San Shou Comes to North America
Hsiung taught the Tai Chi San Shou form, what we call “Sections 7 & 8,” to a few students, including Tchoung Ta-Tchen and Liang Tung-Tsai. They, in turn, taught it to other students in Taiwan and North America. Many people practicing this form in North America can trace their lineage back to them and their small group. Hsiung was particular about whom he taught, and many masters were not allowed into his class. Several versions of the form exist today, as some masters who studied with him or his students made their own changes to the form.
Tchoung taught the form to his senior students and thousands of students in Taiwan, Africa, Canada, and the United States, including Sifu Harvey Kurland, who taught it to students at UCR Riverside. Kurland learned several versions of the form but only teaches Grandmaster Tchoung’s version.