The Home of Ip Family Tai Chi Chuan

When Master Ip adopted me as his Disciple, he told me to forget the tai chi that I had learned (seventeen years of dedicated practice).

He then taught me the Snake Style of Yang family tai chi chuan. The difference was as an apple is to an orange.

Master Ip told me that Yang Chen Fu taught this system only to his son, Yang Sau Chung, and that Yang Sau Chung taught this system only to his First Disciple, Ip Tai Tak.

I believe that Yang Chen Fu (third generation) modified the snake style to create a system that he was willing to teach openly to the public. This public style became known as either the crane style or the tiger style.

Most Yang tai chi practitioners today do one of the two public styles. Some Disciples and family members do the tiger style with varying degrees of internal applications.

Many tai chi teachers will dispute this information. To them I say, -- “teach what you know -- openly and without prejudice -- and let the students decide.”

In the end, the tai chi should speak for itself.

Bob Boyd (Bao Tak Fai)