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Grand Master Tian Ying
Jia 1931 - 2008
It is my sad honour and
duty to inform all practitioners of Yang
Family style Taiji that GRAND MASTER
TIAN YING JIA, born in 1931, unfortunate
passed away on the 12th of
June at midnight losing his fight
against cancer. He will be greatly
missed by family, his son Master Tian
Bing Yuan and daughter Master Tian Yun,
his Tudi, students and friends and it is
a huge loss to the Taiji world in
general.
The
second son of great master Tian Zhaolin
passed away in the hospital in the early
morning on June 13th, 2008 because of
his severe disease. He was 77 this year.
The
funeral was held in Shanghai on June
15th, 2008. Many people attended the
memorial meeting. They were:
Wang
Zhiwu the son of Wang Chengjie, the last
disciple of great master Tian Zhaolin,
with Wu Zhimao one of Wang Chengjie's
disciples; Chu Yucheng the grandson of
great master Chu Guiting, with Zhang
Qingbao and Jin Yaosheng the disciples
of Chu Guiting; Pro.Shi Yueming and Zhu
Yuanhua the students of great master Fu
Zhongwen on behalf of the Sorority of
the Fifth Generation of Yang Styl
Taijiquan; Shou Guanshun the chairman of
the Shanghai branch of the Development
Center of Sun Lutang Wushu Association,
and Wan Yongnan the vice-chairman; Chen
Antian the instructor of Wang Zhuangfei
Ba Gua Zhang; Wang Zhengdao the disciple
of Teacher Mo Rudong; Mr. Tian Yingjia's
disciples: Yao Guoqin,
Yuan Yongrong (James),
Yang Qinghua, Weng Jichun, Wang
Chengxi, Zhu Qiufang and her husband, Xu
Jiangang, Huang Xiaowei, Yao Guoping,
and two of Weng Jichun's students.
There
were some letters of condolences from
home and abroad:
Fu
Shengyuan and his son Fu Qingquan
Pro. Lu Dimin the disciple of great
master Zhao Bin
Xu
Yongrui
the chairman of Shenlin Society and Dong
Yinjie Taijichuan Association of Europe
Doc. Sun Key a Chinese-American;
Doc. LeRoy Clark (USA)
Daniel ? (UK)
Richard
Dunn (UK)
Spencer Christy (UK)
Mat Stannage (UK)
Sandy Corcoran (UK)
and last but not least his last official
and only Western Tudi
Mark.E.Corcoran (UK)
You may never have heard his name before
so please read on as I explain
something’s about his life.
Hi my name is Mark Corcoran (member of
the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain), in
the field of Yang Family style Taiji I
have been lucky enough for the universe
to bump me into one of the truly greats,
a Grand Master by the name of TIAN YING
JIA, there are a handful of people in
the U.K who know this name, fewer still
who have trained directly under him and
fewer again who can say they are one of
his Tudi (disciples), I am proud to say
I am one of them.
It was a strange meeting 5 years ago, an
e-mail from a man (I did not know)
telling me of a visit from a Chinese
Grand Master (that I had never heard of)
in Yang Family style Taiji. He was
travelling outside of China for the
first time to promote his fathers name
not his own. I
am extremely fortunate and honoured to
personally know the last remaining son
of Grand Master Tian Zhao Lin, 77 year
old Tian Ying Jia, who is a 5th
generation inheritor of Yang family
Taiji Chuan and it is from him that I
now know his fathers story.
Grand Master Tian Zhao Lin (1891 – 1959)
Tian Zhao Lin is an important figure in Yang Taiji family history.
Tian Zhao Lin
was born in
Beijing
and adopted into the Yang family by Yang
Jian Hou, the son of Yang Lu Chan the
founder of the Yang Family style, at the
age of 13.
Tian Zhao Lin became the adopted brother
of Yang Shou Hou (aka Yang Meng Xiang)
and Yang Cheng Fu and became one of the
Yang family’s top students.
Tian Zhao Lin was taken in and
trained specifically to become a fighter
and to promote the name of Yang Taiji
and legend has it that in a challenge he
was never beaten.
Tian Ying Jia’s journey through Taiji
began when his father started him
training in Taiji at the age of 6 years
in Hang Zhou city, Zhi Jiang province;
it’s about 300km west and south of
Shanghai. In Hang Zhou the names of Tian
Zhao Lin and Tian Ying Jia are very
famous and there is even a statue by the
west lake in honour of Tian Zhao Lin.
Even though
Tian Zhao Lin and Tian Ying Jia
have not lived in the area for some time
the local Wu Shu / Tai Chi community
still revere their names and are proud
to say ‘they came from Hang Zhou’.
The Tian family stayed in Hang Zhou
until the Japanese invaded China when
they moved to Shanghai to help with
fighting off of the invaders. During the
Cultural Revolution when they were moved
to a farm just outside Shanghai they
were put through the mill, they have had
to endure the deaths of close family
members and friends. Starvation was
common, work was very hard and disease
was prevalent. Even through deprivation
and adversity he still practiced and
taught his fathers Taiji to fellow farm
workers and to his family enabling them
to become stronger and healthier through
the spirit and discipline of their
training.
Tian Ying Jia himself has never taken
challenges or fights as his father had
said to him at an early age ‘do not take
up the way of fighting find another path
in life’. He has stuck to that advice
ever since and indeed would still give
it out himself. In fact it is not
unknown for him to close a class down
even if he has as many as 40 students in
the class because they have not heeded
this sound advice and continued to look
for fights to test their skills on the
streets of Shanghai rather than in
training.
Grand Master Tian himself was very
reserved and was not known to show off
his skills, he loves his Taiji and
believes that Taiji is a national
treasure that should be protected and
passed on for the generations that
follow.
In March 2007 Tian Ying Jia was
honoured by the Hong Kong International
School of Wu Shu, in their yearly
competition, for the fist time they had
a section for Tian Zhao Lin’s Yang Style
Taiji.
Even
today’s Taiji seniors such as Yang Zheng
Ji (Yang Cheng Fu’s son) and Yang Mo Li
(Mary Yang) in Hong Kong still respect
Tian Ying Jia, he and son Bing Yuan have
been invited over the last few years by
the Yang family to attend very special
Taiji meetings in Hong Kong and Hang
Zhou hosted by the Yang family and he
was asked to demonstrate some of the
Middle and Small frame Taiji he had
learned from his father, at the end of
the demonstration they were
understandably impressed.
Tian Ying Jia has 43 Tudi (disciples)
of which about 9 are still practicing,
some 49 close students and has taught
over 500 students to various levels. It
is now left to his son Master Tian Bing
Yuan and daughter Master Tian Yun, who
know all of the family system, to carry
on the work of their Grandfather and
father of promoting the old authentic
Yang Family Taiji.
It is heart warming to know that one of
the most, senior, talented, skilful,
important sources of valuable
information in Yang style Taiji is
starting to become known outside of
China and will be able to take his place
in Yang Family Taiji’s history and its
future.
I am proud to call Grand Master TIAN
YING JIA my SIFU!
For more info on Tian Zhao Lin and Tain
Ying Jia visit:
www.taijitian.com
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