Dong Yingjie

In 1926, Dong moved to Beijing seeking instruction from Grandmaster Yang Chengfu in Yang-style tai chi. He 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.[7]

While in Beijing he also trained under Yang's older brother Yang Shaohou in "small frame" Yang-style tai chi, and practiced push hands with Chen style master Chen Fake.[8] Also training with Yang Shaohou were Dong's future lifelong colleagues, the Wu-style masters Wu Gongyi and Wu Kung-tsao.[9]

A few years later he resumed training with Li Baoyu to master the Wu (Hao) style as well,[10] and so the Dong family trace their tai chi lineage through both Yang and Wu (Hao).[11]

In 1928 Dong moved south with a group led by Yang Chengfu to establish tai chi schools in other cities.[12] Later that year he established his prowess and the reputations of his teachers by defeating nine push hands challengers at the Hangzhou National Martial Arts Arena Competition (杭州國術擂台賽, Pinyin: Hángzhōu Guóshù Lèitáisài).[13]

He was the principal contributor to Yang's 1931 book Methods of Applying Tai Chi (太極拳使用法), [14] and helped establish Yang-style tai chi schools and classes in Hangzhou, Nanjing, and other cities, including Suzhou where he led classes by himself, Shanghai, and Guangzhou where he assisted and then took over when Yang returned to Shanghai in 1935.[15]

He earned the name Yingjie, which can be translated as "heroic figure", in his early thirties by defeating a British strongman in a brutal public boxing match in Nanjing. Dong 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.[16]

Li Baoyu coached Dong for that competition, after planning to take the challenger on himself but then dropping out because, as the story goes, a local gangster hired by the British deputy consul threw lime powder in Li's eyes which temporarily blinded him. After the fight, Dong threw his winner's jackpot of silver coins into the crowd, asking the audience to cover transportation home for other Chinese martial artists who had competed.[16][17]

Nationalism had been stoked on both sides in no small part because his opponent was sponsored by the British deputy consul. As word of Dong's win and generosity spread across the country, he was hailed as a hero of the Chinese people. And so from that time on, Dong Wenke was known only as Dong Yingjie.[16][17]

In 1936 after Yang Chengfu passed away, Dong Yingjie was invited to teach in Hong Kong, where he founded the Tung Ying Kit Tai Chi Chuan Gymnasium — "Kit" (Jyutping: git6) is the Cantonese pronunciation of chieh (傑, Pinyin: jié) — and became the first to teach Yang-style tai chi in the colony. In 1939 he was also invited to teach in Macau, where he established another successful school. From 1941 to 1945 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, he relocated to Macau which as a Portuguese colony was neutral territory.[18]

He then returned to Hong Kong, enlisting his children in growing both tai chi schools, and in 1948 with the help of eldest son Dong Huling he published The Meaning and Significance of Tai Chi Practice(太極拳釋義) which illustrated and explained the Yang-style curriculum and introduced his Yingjie Fast Form (英傑快拳 — see the section on the Dong family forms below). Also known as the "Red Book" due to the cover of the Hong Kong edition, it has been reprinted many times.[19][note 3]

In the 1950s his network of schools and students expanded to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia under the management of his son Dong Huling, their success in Southeast Asia ensured after a few Muay Thai boxers famously challenged and failed to defeat their tai chi.[20] Dong Yingjie also led efforts to coordinate with leading Yang and Wu (吳, Pinyin: Wú) 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.[21]

After Dong Yingjie's death in 1961, his daughter and youngest child Jasmine Mood-lay Tung (董茉莉, Pinyin: Dǒng Mòlì, Jyutping: dung2 mut6 lei6, 1940-2009) continued teaching at the Tung Ying Kit Tai Chi Chuan Gymnasium in Hong Kong, taking over as head of the school in 1966. She also 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. She 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. She also 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.[23]

Dong Yingjie's son Dong Junling (董俊嶺, born Dong Junbiao 董俊彪, 1923-1983) worked closely with the family in Hong Kong for several years, where among other things he posed with his brother Dong Huling for photographs of tai chi applications to be used in Dong Huling's book, Methods of Applying Tai Chi (太極拳使用法). But in the early 1950s he returned home to Ren County in Hebei for good, where he continued to teach tai chi to a select group of students for many years, including his nephew, Dong Huling's son Dong Zengchen.[24]

Dong Yingjie's eldest son Dong Huling, who had played a prominent role in opening and growing Dong family schools in Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia, continued to lead classes there for about five years after his father's death. But in 1966 he was invited to promote tai chi on a tour of North America which he completed in 1967, after which he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii to establish a new school and home base in the USA.[25]

Dong Huling's son Tung Kai Ying (董繼英; Pinyin: Dǒng Jìyīng; Jyutping: dung2 gai3 ying1; 1941-) also led classes at the Southeast Asia locations, taking over in 1962 before joining him in Hawaii in 1969, and then founding a Los Angeles school in 1971. Dong Huling's other son Dong Zengchen (董增辰, Pinyin: Dǒng Zēngchén, 1947-) taught in mainland China for many years before moving from Hebei to take over the Hawaii school after Dong Huling's retirement in 1983, accompanied by his son Da De "Alex" Dong.[26]

In 2003 Alex Dong (董大德, Pinyin: Dǒng Dàdé, 1971-), Dong Zeng Chen's son and great grandson of Dong Yingjie, established a school in New York City, while Tung Kai Ying's son Tung Chen-Wei David (董振威 Pinyin, Dǒng Zhènwēi, 1977-) — another great grandson of Dong Yingjie — is also a master instructor, based in Los Angeles. All regularly travel to teach classes and workshops as well, resulting in many additional schools and practice groups around the world. Dong Zeng Chen retired in 2021.[27]

Dong Yingjie's granddaughter-in-law Cheng Hsiao-fen (鄭小芬, Jyutping: zeng6 siu2 fan1; Pinyin: Zhèng Xiǎofēn, 1955-) in Hong Kong and a long list of disciples worldwide also continue the Dong family tai chi tradition.[28]

Dong family tai chi training offers a strong foundation in Yang-style tai chi, and advanced training in Wu (Hao) and Dong styles. This Yang style is the classic traditional Yang Chengfu form as he taught it in the latter half of his career, and as Yang Chengfu, Dong Yingjie, and Tian Zhaolin (田兆林, 1891-1960) demonstrated in photos for the 1931 and 1934 books published under Yang's name,[29] with small refinements by subsequent Dong family generations.[30]

Each posture is taught with great attention to detail, and with an explanation of potential applications. Many students remain focused on the Yang slow form along with related drills, and some schools also teach shortened variations of that form to make practice convenient. But intermediate and advanced students may progress to the classic Yang-style straight sword (劍, Pinyin: jiàn) and saber (刀, Pinyin: dāo, also translated as "falchion" or "broadsword"), and Yang-style push hands (stationary, stepping, and four corners). When sufficient training space is available, advanced students may also learn the Yang-style spear (槍 Pinyin: qiāng, or often simply 桿, gǎn, "pole", because the Yang "spear" is actually a very long sturdy pole with one tapered end but no spear point; based on the shape Tung Kai Ying calls it a "lance").[31]

Advanced students may also learn two Dong-style fast forms, a Wu (Hao)-style form, advanced saber and double saber forms, and stick forms.

Dong Yingjie collaborated with Yang Chengfu on development of what is now called the Dong-style Fa Jin Fast Form (發勁快拳, Pinyin: Fājìn Kuàiquán), completing it after Yang passed away. The majority of this form is similar to the Yang Chengfu form as it was performed in the early twentieth century, before most tai chi forms were slowed and smoothed out to make them more accessible to the general public, in a swift-slow tempo and optionally with fa jin and the double jump kick from the old version of the form. It also includes some postures Dong developed from his training with Wu (Hao)-style master Li Baoyu.[31][32]

Dong then developed his Yingjie Fast Form (英傑快拳, Pinyin: Yīngjié Kuàiquán), and introduced it to the world in his 1948 book. It is based on advanced Yang small frame and Wu (Hao) middle frame techniques that Dong developed from his training with Yang Shaohou and Li Baoyu. Like the other "fast form" this is performed in the old slow-swift tempo, and both may also be considered "application frame" (用架, Pinyin: yòngjià) forms.[32][33]

The Wu (Hao) form is the old "Kaihe" (開合) form of Hao Weizhen as taught by Dong Yingjie's teacher Li Baoyu. It is most visibly distinct from other Wu (Hao) forms in its many slightly forward-inclined postures and in the internal strength projected through the hands, and it has been refined in other small but significant ways by the Dong family. Because of their emphasis in this form on "neijin" — internal strength and structure — the Dong family also call it the "Hard Form" to contrast it with the Yang Chengfu "soft" form. It is generally performed more slowly than in most purely Wu (Hao) lineages, so that advanced students can focus on the unique Wu (Hao)-style internal training it contains, because this is the Dong family's only Wu (Hao) form. In other Wu (Hao) lineages this is an advanced fast (slow-swift tempo) form, but in Dong family schools that next step is offered through the Dong family fast forms described above.[34]

Dong Huling contributed all the saber and stick forms in the curriculum, including the standard Yang-style saber form and also advanced saber forms he created based on the teachings of Yang Chengfu's older brother, Yang Shaohou, one for single saber and one for double sabers, vigorous routines that include long leaps, jump kicks, reverse spins, and challenging circles. Dong Huling for a time taught those forms using sticks rather than swords, as sticks were easier to carry and practice with under the laws of British Hong Kong. He and his family further developed the stick forms into separate routines after moving abroad. He also created unique two-person push hands sets in Thailand, because many students there have a very martial orientation.[35]

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 (Hao) have a deep relationship, and that the Yang Chengfu "large frame" is simply the best place for beginners to start. And so Dong Yingjie and Dong Huling were modest about their contributions to the art, and were never known to criticize other styles or masters.[36]

The Dong family now has tai chi students in over 20 countries and territories around the world, while maintaining warm connections to China including their ancestral home Renxian.[37] Although Dong Yingjie is perhaps not as well-known in the West as some other masters, many seeking to learn tai chi for health or martial arts training have long found their way to him and his successors.[note 4] 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.[38]