Dear Taiji friends and family, I offer my deepest condolences to family Yang for the passing of Grandmaster Yang Zhenduo, 4th generation descendent of Yang Family Taijiquan on Friday 7th November 2020 aged 95. I was honoured and lucky to meet and study sword play with Grandmaster Yang in Taiyuan in 2000. He laughed joyfully and painted his name on my sword with beautiful blessings for Norsk Taij Senter and Norway. His Grandson Yang Jun gracefully received me and picked me up from the bus station and drove me past their home to share closeness of being together in this moment of opening to the west with an International Conference on Taijiquan in Taiyuan, China. The Yang Family is the root lineage of our form which was developed further by Grandmaster Chen Man Ching into what is known to us today as Chen Man Ching Short Form and became the most popular form of Taijiquan in the west by Grandmaster Chen. Norsk Taiji Senter visited the Yang village with 28 delegates in 2008 where we offered our respects in the family home. We are eternally grateful to Grandmaster Yang for the generosity of his teaching and forthright determination to uphold the practice of Taijiquan as a system to bring peace to the peoples of the world and inspire joy and harmony in our lives.

May you Rest in Peace.

With everlasting Qi, Pamela Hiley

Director Norsk Taiji Senter, Oslo Norway - Sunday, 8th November, 2020