23 Facts About Dong Yingjie

Dong Yingjie was a leading master of tai chi, and a top disciple of Yang Chengfu.

Dong Yingjie was born to a prosperous farming family, and as a child was very studious but frail.

Liu recommended deeper study of tai chi, and through Liu's relationship with Yang Zhaolin, the eldest grandson of Yang Luchan, Dong studied Yang-style tai chi under Li Zengkui.

Dong Yingjie achieved a high level of skill in tai chi after Liu introduced him to Li Baoyu, who was known by the courtesy name Li Xiangyuan.

For three years, Dong Yingjie lived with Li, worked for him in his business, and trained intensively in Wu style and Li's advanced techniques.

In 1926, Dong Yingjie moved to Beijing seeking instruction from Grandmaster Yang Chengfu in Yang-style tai chi.

Dong Yingjie quickly mastered Yang Chengfu's "large frame" techniques, and served as chief assistant instructor for much of the last 10 years of Yang's life.

In 1928 Dong Yingjie moved south with a group led by Yang Chengfu to establish tai chi schools in other cities.

Dong Yingjie demonstrated Yang-style forms at major Guoshu events for audiences that included martial arts celebrities and government officials, for example in Shanghai in 1928 and at the West Lake Expo Auditorium in 1929.

Dong Yingjie's participation was valuable not only for his fighting skills.

Dong Yingjie was an inspiration, having by that point risen to national fame after becoming known as "Yingjie", following his fight against another type of foreign aggression.

Dong Yingjie earned the name Yingjie, which can be translated as "heroic figure", in his early thirties by defeating a British fighter in a brutal public match in Nanjing.

Dong Yingjie defended the honor of tai chi and all Chinese martial arts, and bolstered Chinese national pride after the foreigner had issued insulting racial taunts and had already defeated several other Chinese martial artists.

Dong Yingjie led efforts to coordinate with leading Yang and Wu stylists for the promotion of tai chi, organizing a large gathering of practitioners in Hong Kong, and serving as a judge for a wildly popular public match in Macau between his longtime colleague, Wu-style tai chi master Wu Gongyi, and a master of Tibetan White Crane.

At that 1954 fight, Dong was filmed demonstrating techniques with an Eagle Claw master, and performing his Yingjie Fast Form.

Dong Yingjie continued his teaching and practice as long as he was able, as well as the calligraphy and painting he had mastered in Macau during World War II, and in his last days took the time to tell stories of his past to his family, especially his youngest child Jasmine, who was then 21.

Dong Yingjie taught in the UK, founded a school in Australia, and served as instructor and advisor to the Taiji Society of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Dong Yingjie was the first Hong Kong martial artist to become an International Wu Shu Federation referee, serving as referee and referee director for events in Hong Kong, mainland China, and Japan, including the 11th Asian Games in Beijing.

Dong Yingjie served as president of the Hong Kong Wushu Federation and the Hong Kong Jingwu Athletic Association, and played a prominent role in promoting tai chi in Hong Kong and abroad.

Dong Yingjie collaborated with Yang Chengfu on development of what is called the Dong-style Fa Jin Fast Form, completing it after Yang passed away.

Therefore the Dong Yingjie family call this their "Hard Form" to contrast it with the Yang Chengfu "soft" form.

Dong Yingjie created unique two-person push hands sets in Thailand, because many students there have a very martial orientation.

Dong Yingjie taught that there are in fact not three separate large, medium, and small "frames" of Yang style, that mastery of one will allow a student to understand the others and move freely between them, that all tai chi lineages including Wu have a deep relationship, and that the Yang Chengfu "large frame" is simply the best place for beginners to start.