author: @sleepyfox
title: Yang vs. Yang
date: 30-Sep-2025
I was recently asked why I practice violent, aggressive Tai Chi!
I was only slightly confused, because I was taught Taijiquan as a martial art, and my instructor was quite clear that the martial, the healing and the self-development aspects of the art are inter-dependent and reinforcing - learning only one aspect leads to a watered-down art, at best.
It turned out however that the distinction between Taiji as a martial art and Taiji as a health exercise wasn't the source of the person's question, and we'll come back to this in a moment.
Taijiquan is based upon the philosophy of Taoism. The supreme tenet of Taoism is that the universe is formed from the interplay of mutually opposing forces, Yin and Yang, which represent the two opposite poles. The concept of opposites is everywhere: Bright and Dark, Male and Female, Motion and Stillness, Aggression and Calm, Hot and Cold, Up and Down, Full and Empty etc.
There are five major styles of Taiji, the original Chen style, the Yang style - named after its originator Yang Lu Chan, and the Wu, Hao and Sun styles, all of which derive from the Yang style. Chinese names have the family name first, so Yang Lu Chan was from the Yang family.
Now Yang (the family name, 杨 meaning 'poplar, aspen or willow') is not the same as Yang, 陽 the opposite in Yin-and-Yang. They are homophones, words that sound the same but are written differently - like the old joke of being asked "How are you today?" and answering "I'm a little hoarse(horse)", to which the first answers "Nay(Neigh)!".
So you see it was the inquirer that had confused Yang, the family name, with Yang, the 'hot' side of Yin-and-Yang. They had thought that Yang-style Taiji was Taiji that had all of the Yang attributes, it was Hot, Male, Aggressive, Bright etc. rather than Cold, Female, Still, Dark etc.
Of course, Taijiquan is both, as the Taiji is both Yin-and-Yang, and forever moving from one to the other.
Now after all that talking I need a beer, as I'm a little hoarse.