Letter from South America

On November 20th 2011, when Master Yang finished his first seminar in Mendoza, Argentina, he told us, “Tai Chi is like a thread that brings us together”. Beyond time and space, without borders, the experience of sharing our love for this martial art with friends from different countries of this South American continent is unique. At the São Paulo Seminar we had practitioners from Venezuela, Perú, Argentina, Uruguay, Panamá and Bolivia. For the first time ever we had the opportunity to have a seminar taught by Master Fang Hong! She was very welcomed by everyone and received a standing ovation when she finished her classes.

Master Fang Hong and her son Jason Yang

Brazil is a big country and it’s impossible to mention all the states that were present at the seminar: Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Sergipe, Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and many others. In Mendoza there were groups from Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil. Everybody was sharing the joy of being able to be together practicing what for many people is their life. Many lives here are dedicated to maintaining Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan as a living truth, flowing and growing as a great fabric sewn together by all the cultures and countries, connecting everyone by their hearts. The teachings of Master Yang Jun make this connection, and bring us closer together. It is not often that the world looks at these countries that form our South American continent.

One of our friends from Venezuela said one time, “We are orphans from this kind of knowledge”. There are so many obstacles that are put before us on our path: the language, politics, economy, and distance. But what we are finding out down here when we meet among Brazilians, Argentinians, Uruguayans, Peruvians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Bolivians and Panamanians, is that the love and the strength that moves us and that involves us can make us go beyond all territorial borders or any kind of borders that may hinder us, and change this condition completely. If we open our eyes to look around, and open our hearts to feel the care that all of our fellow practitioners share we know that we are all together. We know that Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan brings us together and makes us one great family. To have Master Yang come to Brazil and Argentina offering us seminars is a good example of that. To have center directors like Roque Severino, Angela Soci and Sergio Arione and many others that dedicate so much to bring us this knowledge, is a proof of that. Every one of us is dedicated to take Yang Family Tai Chi Chuan to every corner of this continent so that our conditions change for the better.

Tai Chi is something to share, to be given and not to be put aside. This is why we dedicate ourselves to this art. One of the Push Hands teachings says, “Forget yourself and follow the other”. At these meetings we have the opportunity to experience a little bit of that, and to be able to truly make ourselves brothers and sisters. Beyond political differences, economical, territorial, languages, cultures, habits, we are all one heart. And as Master Yang taught us, Tai Chi is the thread that brings us together. For ten years he has been teaching in Brazil and with this new appearance in Argentina we hope that we can expand even more and make our family a bigger one. We are not orphans anymore; we are not alone!