The momentum created in the Tai Chi world by Yang Lu Chan throughout his lifetime did not stop with his death in 1872. Yang Lu Chan transmitted all of his knowledge to his two sons, Yu, nicknamed Ban Hou, and Jian, nicknamed Jian Hou, who became the 2nd generation representatives of the Yang Family.

Yang Yu, also named Yang Ban Hou, but referred to as the “2nd Son” by all, was born in 1837 and died in 1892. From an early age he and Jian Hou followed their father studying Tai Chi Chuan. All day long Ban Hou would practice hard, undeterred by winter’s cold or summer’s heat. Yang Ban Hou had a hard and fierce disposition.

He was skilled at sparring, and especially adept in using the staff (made of bai la wood, over three meters long, and used in the same way as the spear). One day in Yongnian City, inside the stalls located at the East Gate, a fire started due to carelessness. Water surrounded all of Yongnian City and it teemed with reeds.

It was late fall, after the harvest, and inside the stall bundles of reeds were piled up into a small mountain. Once one of the stalls caught fire, if it was not put out quickly it would turn into an inferno. At this time, Yang Ban Hou rushed to the scene wielding a spear, lifting and throwing the fiery bundles of reeds.

The burning bundles flew through the air like a string of fish, and almost instantly they were all in the water. With the fire extinguished and conflagration avoided, the word of his deed spread quickly through the city.

by Master Yang Jun, 6th Generation