Grandmaster Yang Fukui serves as a judge at the US Open Martial Arts Championship

Master Fukui Yang was born in December 1958 to a family of Chinese Martial Arts tradition. His great granduncle Zhai Shuzhen (1876-1949), granduncle Zhai Yongwen (1906-1980), and grandfather Yang Zhaoxiang (1902-1976) were well-known Xinyi Quan, Bagua Zhang, and Taiji Quan grand masters of the Hebei province.  His great granduncle Zhai Shuzhen had high attainment in Long Spear and Three Section Cudgel, and was nicknamed the “Divine Spear Zhai”.

Influenced by his family, Master Yang demonstrated martial arts talent from a very young age. He began to learn martial arts basics from his father, Master Yang Wentao at the age of six. He was admitted to the Tianjin Youth Martial Arts School and learned Shaolin Martial Arts with Master Ren Chongde in 1967. As a competitor, Master Yang was very successful. He won Broad Sward and Shaolin Gui Ding Quan championships at the Tianjin Youth Martial Arts Competitions in 1969. In addition, in 1974, at the China Traditional Martial Arts Championship, Master Yang won first place in Broad Sward and Ditang Quan.

After seven years of external martial arts training, Master Yang began to learn family traditional internal martial arts Xinyi Quan and Bagua Zhang with his granduncle Grand Master Zhai Yongwen.

In 1978, Master Yang was admitted to the Department of Martial Arts of the Tianjin Institute of Physical Education. There, he not only enhanced his martial arts skills, but also systematically studied Martial Arts Theory, Physiology, Anatomy, and Psychology.

During his four years of college and beyond, Master Yang learned Contemporary Wushu and several traditional external martial art styles, such as Chang Quan, Fanzi Quan, Praying Mantis, and Ditang Quan, with Masters Yuan Xi and Su Zhenping. At the same time, he studied internal martial art styles including Taiji Quan, Xingyi Quan, and Bagua Zhang with Grand Masters Liu Wanfu, Sha Guozheng, Deng Hongzao, and He Fusheng. Grand Masters Deng Hongzao and Sha Guozheng also taught him Tongbei Quan, Lanshou Quan, and Doubled-handed Straight Sword. In addition, Master Yang learned Luoxuan Quan, with its creator Grand Master Qiu Zhihe, and Yi Quan as well as Xinghui Zhang with Grand Master Zhao Daoxin.

At the All China Physical Education Colleges Martial Arts Competition in Lanzhou of 1980, Master Yang won championships for Staff, Broad Sward, and Ditang Quan. In 1982, he was the champion of the Taiji Push Hands Competition in Shandong Province.

In 1981, as a representative of the Tianjin Institute of Physical Education, Master Yang visited Osaka, Japan to demonstrate Chinese Martial Arts to Japanese martial artists.

During the eighties, Master Yang learned various martial art forms from many grand masters. He greatly enriched his martial arts vision, and his martial arts skills reached a high degree of perfection.

In 1982, after graduating from college, Master Yang became a coach of the Tianjin Youth Martial Arts Academy and was promoted to chief coach of the Tianjin Martial Arts Team in 1984. In 1986, Master Yang was invited to the Kobe Taijiquan Association in Japan for a lecture engagement.

In 1988 he was invited again to teach Chinese Martial Arts, and served as a judge at the All Japan Wushu Competition in August of that year. During that year, Master Yang also visited the Shaolin Temple and studied Chan Mi Gong with Grand Master De Chan. In 1989, Master Yang visited Wudang Mountain and studied Wudang Tai Yi Wu Xing Quan with Grand Master Gu Dao.

Like many Chinese martial arts families, Master Yang’s family has a deep Chinese medicinal tradition, which can be traced back to the same roots as Chinese Martial Arts. He learned Chinese Medicine Meridian Theory from his family and took courses in schools. It deepened Master Yang’s understanding of Chinese Martial Arts, and at the same time it empowered him to cure sports injuries and illnesses using physical therapy, bone setting, Acupuncture, and Qi Gong methods.

In 1996, Master Yang moved to USA and founded the Heart Mind Martial Arts School to teach Chinese Martial Arts to American students, many of them having won medals at various competitions. He served as a judge and delivered seminars at many Chinese Martial Arts competitions in the US. Master Yang currently teaches Chinese Medicine at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine as well as Taiji Quan and Qi Gong at the Confucius Institute at SUNY College of Optometry.

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