User:Panicpgh/Yang Jun



Yang Jun (simplified 杨军) (1968-) was born in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China into the famous Yang family of martial artists. A son of Yang Dao Fang, a grandson of Yang Zhen Duo, a great-grandson of Yang Cheng Fu and a great-great-great-grandson of Yang Lu Chan (creator of the the Yang style of Tai Chi Chuan), Yang Jun is a sixth-generation descendant of the Yang Family of Tai Chi Chuan.

Biography
Yang Jun began studying and training in the soft style martial art of Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan) at age 5 with his grandfather Yang Zhen Duo, who raised him. Grandmaster Yang Zhen Duo has prepared him to continue and advance the martial arts tradition of the Yang family. He is proficient in Hand Form, Sword, Saber, Push Hands, and other forms of the art of the Yang style of Tai Chi Chuan.

Since 1986 he has traveled to teach with his Grandfather, first inside China and then internationally (to the USA) in 1990. After many years and dozens of seminars around the world, Yang Jun has now become an accomplished martial artist and a teacher in his own right. His skill is unquestioned. His forms seamlessly combine softness with hardness, finesse with flair, and restraint with expression. In 1989 he graduated with a degree in physical education from Shanxi University, China.

Between 1995 and 1997, Yang Jun served as the Vice President of Operations, Techniques and Training, and since 1997, as First President of the Shanxi Province Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Association. This Association has over 30,000 members in the province of Shanxi alone. In October 1998 Yang Jun and his grandfather Yang Zhen Duo founded the International Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan Association in Seattle, Washington, USA, and has served as its President since. In August of 1999 Yang Jun moved to Seattle, Washington, USA with his wife Fang Hong (simplified 方虹. ) to establish the International Association there, and in September 1999, he started the Yang Cheng Fu Tai Chi Chuan Center in Seattle's International District (Chinatown). Yang Jun is the first member of the Yang Family to reside outside of Mainland China.

In 1995 the Chinese WuShu Academy recognized Yang Jun as a famous Wushu master in Shanxi Province. In 1996 he was certified as the highest level national judge and served as the head judge at the 1998 National Tai Chi Chuan Competition in China.

Master Yang Jun has been interviewed by several martial arts magazines due to his lifetime expertise in Taijiquan. As the assistant to his grandfather, he has also appeared with him in several educational videos, such as "Yang Style Taijiquan" by Yang Zhen Duo and "Taijiquan, Sword and Saber" (1996), produced by China Sports Publishers. Master Yang Jun has published several educational videos of his own, including "Yang Style Taijiquan Form 49" (2001) and "Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan Traditional Form" (2005).

Yang Jun has a daughter, Yang Ya Ning (simplified 杨雅宁), born in 1992, and a son, Yang (Jason) Yajie (simplified 杨雅杰), born in 2002.