Ян Шаохоу: Ұрпақтың шебері және тайчи өнерінің күшті тұлғасы

Yang Shaohou (; 1862 1930) was a Chinese martial arts master who, along with Yang Chengfu (楊澄甫; 1883 1936), represents the third generation of Yang style tai chi. Grandmaster of his generation and known for his compact "small frame" techniques, he was a ferocious fighter and a demanding teacher.

Yang began learning tai chi at age 7, in Beijing under his father Yang Jianhou, his uncle Yang Banhou (who formally adopted him), and his grandfather — the founder of Yang style tai chi — Yang Luchan. His name at birth was Yang Zhaoxiong (楊兆熊, Pinyin: Yáng Zhàoxióng). But as was common in the era, as he reached adulthood he took the courtesy name Yang Mengxiang (楊梦祥, Pinyin: Yáng Mèngxiáng), and after he earned a reputation he changed it to Yang Shaohou. Shaohou can be translated as "young noble", and makes use of the "hou" (侯) character from his father's and uncle's names in a reflection of respect for his lineage and his status as grandmaster of his generation.

Many of his contemporaries called him "Mr. Big" (大先生, Pinyin: dà xiānshēng), which can also be translated as "Mr. Eldest" or "Mr. Great" — a play on words as he was the eldest brother in his family, the senior disciple and grandmaster of his tai chi generation, and a great fighter who loomed large in the fears of many — while others called him "Thousand Hands Guanyin" (千手觀音, Pinyin: Qiānshǒu Guānyīn) or "Holy Hands Guanyin" (聖手觀音, Shèngshǒu Guānyīn), which was in praise of his pushing hands techniques, as unlike that deity he was not known for his compassion. Yang Shaohou had a very forceful nature, and like his uncle Banhou he was a demanding teacher, only interested in students that could stand their tough training regimes. It is said that he enforced low stance training by making students perform postures underneath food preparation tables, he preferred to demonstrate rather than explain, and he was not known for pulling his punches. Often as soon as he crossed hands with a student in push hands, he attacked suddenly with great force, and the student did not know what to do. This approach attracted few, but he in fact preferred to limit and focus his time and attention as a teacher. He taught at the Beiping Sports Research Institute (北平體育研究社, Pinyin: Běipíng Tǐyù Yánjiūshè) as well as an associated institute and club, but preferred to give private lessons to disciples and other serious students in small groups or individual sessions. He briefly travelled to teach in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Nanjing, but preferred Beijing. Everywhere he went, he earned his reputation as an indomitable fighter, but as a teacher only to a select few. Sixth generation Yang style Master Yang Jun reports family tradition describing him like this: "The spirit from his eyes would shoot out in all directions, flashing like lightning. Combined with a sneer, a sinister laugh, and the sounds of "Heng!" and "Ha! ", his imposing manner was quite threatening."

Wu Gongyi and Wu Kung tsao trained with Yang Shaohou, based on a tradition that required they be taught by teachers of the same lineage generation as their grandfather, Wu style cofounder Wu Quanyou, who died while they were infants. Their father Wu Jianquan and Yang Shaohou were both famous for their "small frame" martial expertise, and this training laid a strong foundation for the Wu brothers' mastery of their family style. Wu Gongyi's famous 1954 public match in Macau against a master of Tibetan White Crane, and even more so his son Wu Ta k'uei's reputation as a fierce brawler, might have made Yang Shaohou proud. Dong Yingjie trained with Yang Shaohou in Beijing while preparing to serve as Yang Chengfu's chief assistant instructor, and later incorporated aspects of Yang Shaohou's "small frame" and fa jin techniques into his own Dong family tai chi advanced fast forms. Dong taught that mastery of any size "frame" of Yang style would enable mastery of the others, and though he felt that the Yang Chengfu "large frame" was the best place to start he never criticized other frames, styles, or masters. Dong Huling may be our only source for an example of a Yang Shaohou saber form. As noted above in the Weapons section, although due to his young age when Yang died it is not clear if Dong trained in this directly with Shaohou or Shaohou's student(s), it is important to note that he respectfully credited a Yang Shaohou form as the source for the advanced single and double saber and stick forms he created for the Dong family tai chi curriculum. Yang Zhensheng (楊振聲, Pinyin: Yáng Zhènshēng; 1878 1939) trained to a high level of skill under his father Yang Shaohou and his uncle Yang Chengfu, and went on to teach tai chi in Shanghai and Kunming in the 1930s. During the Japanese occupation he went missing in Hebei and was never found, but three of his sons and their many descendants have continued the Yang family tai chi lineage. Wu Tunan (吴图南, Pinyin: Wú Túnán; 1884 1989) was Yang Shaohou's last living direct disciple. Born into a prominent Mongolian warrior clan in Beijing and originally named Ulabu (烏拉布, Pinyin: Wū Lā Bù), he was not strong as a child and so his father had him trained in martial arts. Beginning at age nine he studied the Wu style under Wu Jianquan for eight years, then Yang style under Yang Shaohou for four years. As explained above, those four years were equivalent to advanced graduate training offered only to those who had already mastered the Yang large frame or the Wu style. An educator and a scholar, Wu wrote extensively on tai chi, founded the lineage described above, and at age 100 was still performing his small frame form for the public. In the 1980s he received awards recognizing his lifelong accomplishments, and he died in 1989 at age 105. Other disciples and close students of Yang Shaohou include the two disciples mentioned above, Gu Luping (顾履平, Gù Lǚpíng) and Zhang Huchen (张虎臣, Zhāng Hǔchén), as well as Tian Zhaolin (田兆麟 Pinyin: Tiān Zhàolín; 1891—1959; adopted by Yang Jianhou, disciple of Jianhou and Chengfu), Dong Runfang (東潤芳, Dōng Rúnfāng), You Zhixue (尤志學, Yóu Zhìxué), Ma Runzhi (馬潤之, Mǎ Rúnzhī), and Li Shou Jian (李壽箋, Lǐ Shòujiān).

Yang Shaohou found himself living in increasingly strained circumstances in Beiping after the government moved south to Nanjing in 1927. In 1928 his younger brother Yang Chengfu led a group of disciples south to establish training classes across the region, and found success. Yang Shaohou eventually accepted an invitation to teach in Nanjing arranged by a patron, the minister of transportation. But after taking up the position in the fall of 1929, he quarreled with a ministry official and left in anger. He returned to Beiping, but by that winter had traveled back to Nanjing after being unable to arrange new work. He died in January 1930, in Nanjing. According to newspaper reports at the time, he took his own life with a pair of scissors while living as a guest at the home of his patron, the transportation minister. He may have become depressed over finding himself an aging widower living in reduced circumstances, with no immediate prospects of earning a living on his own, and had been using opium. He reportedly stated he was committing suicide to protect the Yang family reputation. His patron brought him to a hospital but was unable to save him, then raised funds to assist the family, now led by Yang Chengfu, with the funeral arrangements. Yang Shaohou was initially buried in Nanjing. But after Yang Chengfu died in 1936 due to illness, Chengfu's wife Hou Zhuqing sold all her valuables and raised additional funds from supporters to transport both brothers for burial in their hometown, Yongnian.