Tung Ying-chieh

Tung Ying-chieh (董英傑, Pinyin: Dǒng Yīngjié) (1897 - 1961) was a leading master of t'ai chi ch'uan, and a top disciple of Yang Chengfu. Born in Ren County, Hebei, China, his given name was Wen-k'e (文科, Pinyin: Wénkē).[1] Famous in his time for defeating foreign boxers in a public challenge match, he dedicated his life to the martial arts, training intensively in multiple styles, serving as chief assistant instructor for Yang Chengfu, and going on to found his own thriving t'ai chi legacy.

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Dong.
董英傑
Tung Ying-chieh
Tung Ying-chieh performing "Commencement of Taijiquan" from his book, The Meaning and Significance of T'ai Chi Ch'uan Practice
Born董文科
1897 (1897)
Ren County, Hebei, China
Died1961 (aged 63–64)
NationalityChinese
StyleYang-style taijiquan, Wu (Hao)-style taijiquan, Dong-style Taijiquan
Notable studentsTung Hu Ling
Tung Ying-chieh
Traditional Chinese董英傑
Simplified Chinese董英杰

Early Life

He was born to a prosperous family, and received a classical education. Avidly interested in martial arts even as a child, at age 12 he convinced his father to send him away to learn from security professional and martial arts master Liu Ying-chou (劉瀛洲, Pinyin: Liú Yíngzhōu). There he trained in San Huang Pao Chui and other Shaolin styles.[2]

After five years he returned home to marry and join the family business, but soon sought out Liu Laoying again to resume training. Liu recommended deeper study of t'ai chi ch'uan, referring him to Yang Laozhen the eldest grandson of Yang Luchan, and Yang Laozhen in turn introduced him to Li Tseng-kwei (李增魁, Pinyin: Lǐ Zēngkuí) for Yang style t'ai chi ch'uan instruction. [3]

Liu then introduced him to Li Baoyu (李宝玉) (born Li Hsiang-yüan, 李香远, Pinyin: Lǐ Xiāngyuán), who had mastered Wu (Hao)-style t'ai chi ch'uan under Hao Weizhen. Tung lived with Li and trained intensively in Wu (Hao) style for three years before returning home again. From that time on Li became a lifelong coach, mentor, and friend. [4]

Career

Mastery

In his early twenties, Tung moved to Beijing seeking instruction from Grandmaster Yang Chengfu in Yang style t'ai-chi ch'uan. He trained with the Yang school for over 17 years, mastering the art, and serving as chief assistant instructor for the last 10 years of Yang's life. [5]

While in Beijing he also trained under Yang's uncle Yang Banhou and older brother Yang Shaohou, and practiced push hands with Chen style master Chen Fake. [6] In Yang Shao-hou's classes he also trained alongside and exchanged ideas with future Wu-style masters Wu Gongyi and Wu Gongzao.

He later resumed training with Li Baoyu to master the Wu (Hao) style as well, [7] and so the Tung family trace their t'ai chi ch'uan lineage through both Yang and Wu (Hao). [8]

Jianghu Journeys

In 1928 Tung moved south from Beijing with a group led by Yang Chengfu to establish t'ai chi ch'uan schools in other cities. He was the principal contributor to Yang's 1931 book Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing (太極拳使用法), [9] and helped establish Yang t'ai chi schools in Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou which he ran by himself, and Guangzhou which he took over when Yang returned to Shanghai in 1935.[10]

Ying-chieh

He earned the name Ying-chieh, which can be translated as "heroic figure", in his early thirties by defeating three British boxing champions in a brutal public challenge match in Nanjing, and with his victory defending the honor of t'ai chi ch'uan and Chinese martial arts, and bolstering Chinese national pride. Both Yang Chengfu and Li Baoyu coached Tung for that competition and were there to witness his victory, which was celebrated in newspaper articles in China, Hong Kong, and Macau that called him "Hero of China" (中華英傑, Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Yīngjié).[11]

Ying-kit

In 1936 after Yang Chengfu passed away, Tung Ying-chieh was invited to teach in Hong Kong, where he founded the Tung Ying Kit Tai Chi Chuan Gymnasium[12] — "Kit" (Jyutping: git6) is the Cantonese pronunciation of chieh (傑, Pinyin: jié) — and promoted Yang style t'ai chi ch'uan while continuing to develop and refine his skills and innovations. From 1941 to 1945 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, he relocated to the neutral territory of Macau, establishing another successful school. [13]

He then returned to Hong Kong, enlisting his three sons in growing his t'ai chi schools, and in 1948 with the help of son Tung Hu Ling (董虎岭) he published 太極拳釋義 (The Meaning and Significance of T'ai Chi Ch'uan Practice) which illustrated and explained the Yang style curriculum and introduced his Ying Jie Fast Form (英傑快拳, Pinyin: Yīngjié Kuàiquán).[14] Also known as the "Red Book" due to the cover of the Hong Kong edition, it has been reprinted many times (see Bibliography). The section on his fast form opens with what may have been the first published reference to "Tung Style T'ai Chi Ch'uan", though at the time "Tung Style" was written "董派" (Pinyin: Dǒngpài), rather than the "董式" (Pinyin: Dǒngshì) often used today. "派" can be taken to mean a school within a style's larger lineage tradition, while "式" indicates a separate style.[15]

His network of schools and students expanded to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia with the help of Tung Hu Ling and Hu Ling's son Tung Kai Ying. [16] His visibility was no doubt boosted by his appearance at a wildly popular public match between his longtime colleague, Wu style t'ai chi master Wu Gongyi, and a White Crane master in 1954. Before the match, Tung played around with an Eagle Claw master for the cameras and judges, and then was filmed performing his Ying Jie Fast Form for the full audience.[17]

Legacy

Family

After Tung Ying-chieh's death in 1961, his daughter Jasmine Mood-lay Tung continued teaching at the Tung Ying Kit Tai Chi Chuan Gymnasium in Hong Kong. His son Tung Hu Ling taught there and also traveled to teach and promote the art in other countries, then in the late Sixties moved to Honolulu, Hawaii to establish a new school and home base in the USA. [18]

Another son, Dong Junling, had by then returned home to Ren County in Hebei, where he taught for many years, though he had also traveled back to Hong Kong to help Tung Hu Ling to produce his own book also titled 太極拳使用法 (Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing).[19]

Tung Hu Ling's son Tung Kai Ying joined him in Hawaii in 1969, then founded a Los Angeles school in 1971. Tung Hu Ling's other son Dong Zeng Chen moved from Hebei to take over the Hawaii school after Tung Hu Ling's retirement in 1983, accompanied by his son Da De "Alex" Dong. [20]

In 2003 Alex Dong, Tung Zeng Chen's son and great grandson of Tung Ying-chieh, established a school in New York City, while Tung Kai Ying's son Tung Chen-Wei David — another great grandson of Tung Ying-chieh — is of course also a master instructor, based at the Los Angeles school. All regularly travel to teach classes and workshops as well, resulting in many additional Dong style schools and practice groups around the world. [21]

Dong Style T'ai Chi Ch'uan

Much of Tung Ying-chieh's approach was based on Yang Chengfu’s final style of t'ai chi ch'uan as Yang taught it in the latter half of his career.[22] And as noted above, Tung Ying-chieh also trained with Li Baoyu to master the Wu (Hao) style. Tung style t'ai chi grew out of these traditions as well as Tung Ying-chieh's own independent research and experience.

Tung Style T'ai Chi (Dong Style Taijiquan)[23] training offers a strong foundation in the Yang Chengfu style as received and refined by Tung Ying-chieh and his family. Many students remain focused on that, but advanced students are offered the opportunity to learn fast forms that blend the Yang and Wu (Hao) styles, including the Yingjie Fast Form (英傑快拳, Pinyin: Yīngjié Kuàiquán), as well as a Wu (Hao) style slow form, push hands, and applications, plus Yang style and Tung style weapons forms.[24]

A Lasting Legacy

Tung Ying-chieh is perhaps not as well-known in the West as some other masters, yet experts seeking to learn t'ai chi for health or as a component of effective martial arts training have long found their way to him and his successors. For he was a champion, he was a master of multiple styles with his own unique synthesis, and he established a lasting legacy that has continued to thrive, with many affiliated schools in North America, Europe, and Asia.

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References
  1. Dong, Zeng Chen, p. 50
  2. Baidu, 董文科 retrieved July 29, 2020; Dong, Alex, chapter 1-2; Dong, Zeng Cheng, ibid
  3. Dong, Alex, chapter 3; Dong, Zeng Cheng, ibid; Baidu, ibid
  4. Baidu, ibid; Baidu, 李宝玉 retrieved August 17, 2020; Dong, Alex, chapt. 3-4, chapt. 8-13; Dong, Zeng Cheng, ibid; Tung, Kai Ying, p. 51
  5. Dong, Zeng Cheng, ibid
  6. Dong, Alex, p. 63
  7. Dong, Alex, chapt. 8
  8. Tung Kai Ying, p. 49
  9. Dong, Zeng Chen, p. 50; Wu, Ta-yeh, paragraph 4; Yang, Chengfu (1934), Translators Introduction, paragraphs 6-11
  10. Suzhou: Dong, Alex, chapters 6-8; other locations: Dong, Zeng Chen, p. 50
  11. Dong, Alex, Introduction paragraph 8, and chapters 9-13; Baidu, 董文科 retrieved July 29, 2020
  12. Dong, Kai Ying, p. 52
  13. Dong, Zeng Chen, p. 51
  14. ibid
  15. Tung, Yingjie (1948), p. 129
  16. ibid
  17. Video: Wu vs. Chan 1954 (Tai Chi vs. White Crane), retrieved July 29, 2020
  18. Dong, Zeng Chen, p. 51; DeLeonardis, p. 19 (establishes the year of Tung Hu Ling's North American tour as 1967); Shirota, p. 16-18 (establishes the date of Tung Hu Ling's move to Hawaii, which happened after that tour, as falling between that early 1967 interview and sometime in 1969 when Tung Kai Ying joined him in Hawaii).
  19. Dong, Zeng Chen, p. 56; for the book, see Bibliography for Tung, Hu Ling (1956)
  20. Dong, Zeng Chen, p. 51-61; Dong, Kai Ying p. 53-54; Shirota, p. 18
  21. ibid
  22. Wu Ta-yeh, paragraph 6
  23. "董派太極拳" (Pinyin: Dǒngpài Tàijíquán) in Tung, Yingjie (1948); "董式太極拳" (Pinyin: Dǒngshì Tàijíquán) in Dong, Zeng Chen (2016)
  24. Tung Kai Ying curriculum, retrieved January 28, 2020; Alex Dong Tai Chi Online, retrieved January 28, 2020

Bibliography

DeLeonardis, Anthony, "The 'Grand Ultimate Fist' of Tai Chi Chuan", Black Belt Magazine, July 1967

Dong, Alex & Saltman, David (2017), Grand Master, Hudson River, ISBN 978-0-9985329-0-5.

Dong, Zeng Chen (2016), Dong Style Tai Ji Quan, ISBN 978-1535460774.

Shirota, Jon, "Tai Chi Chuan -- Art of Passive Resistance", Black Belt Magazine, August 1972

Tung, Hu Ling (1956), 太極拳使用法 (Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing), available in Chinese with English translation free at Brennan Translation, posted January 27, 2017, retrieved July 27, 2020.

Tung, Kai Ying (2012), Learning Tai Chi Chuan, ISBN 978-0-9849582-0-7.

Tung, Ying-chieh (1948), 太極拳釋義 (The Meaning and Significance of T'ai Chi Ch'uan Practice), C & C Joint Printing Co., (H.K.) Ltd., no ISBN, distributed worldwide by Alex Dong Tai Chi in Chinese and partial English translation editions; Taiwan edition published by Dah Jaan Publishing in Chinese, ISBN 978-986-346-242-2; mainland edition published by Beijing Science and Technology Publishing Co. Ltd. in Simplified Chinese (董英杰太极拳释义), ISBN 9787530486351

Wu, Ta-yeh, "The T'ai Chi Ch'uan Of Tung Huling", T'ai Chi Magazine, February 1992.

Yang, Chengfu (1931), 太極拳使用法 (Methods of Applying Taiji Boxing), available in Chinese with English translation free at Brennan Translation, posted November 24, 2011, retrieved July 26, 2020.

Yang, Chengfu (1934); Swaim, Louis, translator (2004), The Essence and Applications of Taijiquan (太極拳體用全書), Blue Snake Books, ISBN 978-1556435454.

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