What is our Tai Chi style?
We practice traditional Yang Style, one of the five major styles of Tai Chi Ch’uan that also includes Chen, Wu, Sun, and Hao. Each of these styles exists in both traditional versions and contemporary, simplified forms.
We teach the Dual Symmetrical Yang Style Tai Chi system that was adapted by Grandmaster Tchoung Ta-Tchen (鍾大振). This traditional Yang style (楊氏太極拳) preserves the original martial intent of Tai Chi, offering students not just graceful movement, but the opportunity to understand how each technique functions as self-defense. Unlike the simplified forms, this system maintains both depth and practicality.
Grandmaster Tchoung developed the Dual Symmetrical system by dividing the Old Form of Yang Style into six sections and adapting it so that every movement is practiced on both the left and right sides of the body. This balanced training method strengthens coordination, flexibility, and internal awareness, while helping students understand the martial intent behind each technique.
We are part of the Northwest Tai Chi Ch’uan Association and offer instruction in Southern California, with classes taught at UC Riverside by Sifu Harvey Kurland and at Santa Ana College by Stephen Bay.
Small Frame, Old Yang Style
Grandmaster Tchoung Ta Tchen began learning “Nature Boxing” (Ziranquan) with Abbot Hui Kong at Emei Mountain Monastery in 1942, where he also learned Qigong and Tai Chi.
He studied the “Old Yang Style” form with Shi Diaomei in 1959. This old style form, from the Yang Jianhou and Yang Shouhou lineage, emphasizes faster kicks and waist movements, distinct from the standard Yang Chengfu form. (Yang Chengfu was the son of Yang Jianhou and the younger brother of Yang Shouhou. Yang Chengfu is renowned for refining the vigorous training he inherited into a “large frame” style with expansive, smooth, and evenly paced movements, which has shaped the public perception of Tai Chi overall. Many of his students, including Chen Weiming, Fu Zhongwen, and Cheng Man Ching, went on to become notable masters themselves.)
Influenced by Cheng Man Ching, Grandmaster Tchoung’s Dual Symmetrical Tai Chi Ch’uan system integrates Baguazhang and Xingyiquan, the other two of three “internal martial arts” along with Tai Chi Ch’uan. “Internal” refers to the three martial arts that originated inside China, unlike other styles of kung fu, which originated in India.