The Yeung Ma Lee Student Association
By Steve Rowe

I’d trained in Yang style Tai Chi since the 70’s and thought I’d seen everything until about seven and a half years ago when I met Jim Uglow. I knew him by reputation, many people over the years from all over Europe had told me that his Kung Fu was good, so took the bit between the teeth and went to see him. At this time Jim had just met and began training with Yeung Ma Lee, (known as Mary Yang) the acknowledged head of the Bloodline Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan, daughter of the legendary Yang Sau Chung and Granddaughter of the great Yang Chen Fu. I got on with Jim very well and I was the first person that he kindly took to Hong Kong in 1999 to introduce me to the private training of Mary Yang and I have made the journey four more times since.

I found Mary Yang to be pleasant and polite, but her eyes would show the Yang Family “needle hidden within soft cotton” as she put me through agony of “eating bitter”, the only way to learn the true bloodline system as she eased her burden of knowledge by passing it on the traditional way. All the famous interpretations of the Yang family sayings were systematically shot to pieces, given depth and when put together, made perfect sense. Supported by one to one lessons with Jim on a weekly basis my Tai Chi has been transformed.

Yang Family Tai Chi is taught in layers and each layer has its own individual layers with each one systematically preparing you for the next. It is the most methodical way of teaching the deepest Martial Art that I have ever encountered in my 35 years of Martial Arts training.

On one of my first trips to Hong Kong I met John Conroy and Joe Balthazar from the USA, John is the most senior Caucasian Yang Family member practitioner and the Disciple to Chu Gin Soon (the second disciple of Mary’s father Yang Sau Chung). On the retirement of Chu Gin Soon John was able to access instruction from Mary Yang. Joe is a long standing student of John and gained access to Mary Yang through John. Both John and Joe are the most polite, genial and knowledgeable Tai Chi Instructors you could meet, epitomizing the old fashion values you would expect from senior Martial Artist.

The relationship between Kung Fu practitioners can be complex and often cause endless arguments with extravagant claims of lineage and who’s senior to whom, particularly in Yang Family Tai Chi, and yet here we have senior Yang Family bloodline practitioners sharing their knowledge and working together, supported by the head of the family, to produce the most comprehensive reservoir of knowledge for the good of the art.

The foundation of the Yeung Ma Lee Students Association really is an event. It is the coming together of all the direct students of Mary Yang in a positive, productive, and sharing way, bearing in mind that these people represent instruction form all the disciples of Yang Sau Chung the bloodline layers of teaching from the Family Head.

The Inauguration was a powerful event at Jim Uglow's Woodford Green Kwoon with Lion Dances, Kung Fu demonstrations and Feng Shui from Sifu Yap Leong (Shaolin Fist Kung Fu and owner of Shaolin Way Martial Arts supplier, in London’s Chinatown).

I took the opportunity to talk to Jim, John and Joe about themselves and the formation of the Association.

SR John, can you give me some background on yourself?

JC I started Martial Arts training back in 1959, in 1968 I began learning from my teacher Chu Gin Soon, the second disciple of Yang Sau Chung, and I have been with him ever since. In 1983 and in 1999 Gin Soon took me to Hong Kong to meet with the Yang Family and in 1999 also gave me further permission to learn from Mary Yang (Yeung Ma Lee) and receive “corrections”.

SR Joe, what’s your background?

JB I started in 1967 and in 1979 I began my Tai Chi training with John. In the year 2000 he took me to Hong Kong and introduced me to Mary Yang and I have continued training with her for the past 3 years.

SR Jim, we are far more familiar with you here in the U.K. but if you could give the readers your background to remind them?

JU I started Martial Arts in 1971 and began training under Chu King Hung. Yang Sau Chung’s 3rd disciple, in 1978. I met John in 1994, we became good friends and he bullied me into going to see Mary (laughter) and that’s how it’s been from thereon.

SR How would you describe the differences in training with Mary Yang?

JU Totally relaxed, to use the Chinese expression: “she has given me the complete freedom of my body”.

JB Agreed. I would say that up until I met Mary my Tai Chi had been external and she has given me the Internal System.

JC Chu Gin Soon’s English was minimal and I appreciate his efforts to make me understand. Mary’s English is very good and she helped me to understand the deeper concepts in a much better way.

SR So why form the Yeung Ma Lee Student Association?

JB There was a natural affinity between us as people and that, coupled with the kind of deep training that we are doing, has created a powerful bond between us. The information that we were getting was so overwhelming that we had a need to share the experiences with each other and give mutual support.

SR The thing that strikes me most is that people often pay lip service to the idea of a “Kung Fu Family” but I have to say that watching you three, you really are like a proper family!

JC Yes I think we all feel that.

SR What will you be teaching?

JC Mary has introduced many valuable exercises that I would really like everyone to understand. I would like to give her the credit for releasing and teaching them as they are most valuable for anyone studying Yang style Tai Chi.

SR How do you see the future?

JB One of the purposes of the YMLSA is to make the concepts of Yang Tai Chi clear. Over the years many people have simplified the system and made it different or less. Whatever level people want to practice is fine, but we want to make the Family principles as taught by the Head of the Family, absolutely clear. If you are doing Yang Family Tai Chi we want you to understand what the fundamental principles are that make it “Yang Family” and not something different. These principles up to now have not been available.

SR It seems to me that Tai Chi is taught in layers. Until now the majority have no more than the first couple of layers.

JC Exactly! We were told that the Yang Family only ever taught basic technique other than to their disciples, Ip Tai Tak, Gin Chu Soon and Chu King Hung who were each given a percentage of the “layers”. Anyone who follows them are students of their system. I am NOT a Yang Family student but a student of Chu Gin Soon. I am a second generation of his family and NOT a sixth generation of the Yang Family. This is true of all people that study under any of these disciples. To be a Yang Family student you MUST have direct instruction from the Yang Family.

SR Why are we all gathered here this evening?

JB One reason is to announce the Association. We are making the statement that we’re coming together to promote this idea. The teachings are not “secret”, people just haven’t had access to this instruction, so we’re taking what we’ve been given and sharing it.

JC We’re very fortunate in that here we have students of all three of Yang Sau Chung’s disciples. They started this and are now reaching retirement age, we have spent many years studying under the disciples and are now also taking instruction from Mary Yang, the Head of the Family.

SR This is a very powerful background that each of you have come from. The fact that you are able to bind yourselves together in this way really is an historic feat!

JC This is the unusual feature of the Association – we are able to continue the journey that Ip Tai Tak, Chu Gin Soon and Chu King Hung have already started, if it wasn’t for those Disciples, none of us would be here today. I would also like to thank Mary Yang for allowing us to take this instruction further and for giving us the pure idea that is Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan.

SR Would you like to add to that Jim?

JU The idea is that Yang Sifu wants this information to come out to all people practicing her Family Art. Our job is to do the best we can, continue to be corrected by her, get to the standard she wants and then be able to teach each layer. In my opinion, when we reach the stage of what the Chinese call “hide what you know” we will be able to teach that area. Sometimes when we are learning I feel out of my league, and am obviously not ready to teach what I am learning as it’s “too young” in my body. Mary has this incredible ability to make it older in “real time” so that we are able to hide it then teach it.

JB The “softening exercises” that Mary teaches are a method of accessing the form, they are a powerful tool towards understanding the movements. We have spent a lot of time working on and understanding these exercises and are now able to provide people with them to enable them to understand some Yang Family principles. We are lucky to be at a time in our lives that we are able to travel and teach and be available to help others.

JC I would like to express my gratitude to Yang Sau Chung, Ip Tai Tak, Chu Gin Soon, Chu King Hung and of course Mary Yang for making this information available to us.

SR Thank you gentleman.