by chh » Thu Feb 07, 2013 7:00 pm
I can think of some differences I've noticed- sorry if these aren't the kinds of things you were wondering about.
It seems to me that in Yang Family Style people tend to shift their weight back before pivoting on the front foot before a forward step. The support I've heard for this is that pivoting on a foot that has your weight over it can put stress on the knee. In YMAA people keep their weight forward when pivoting on the front foot for a forward step. The explanation for this is that it keeps from interrupting the forward energy of a sequence of moves (and maybe that it takes less time?).
I think the idea of An (按) in YMAA is really emphasized as a downward, draining, depressing energy rather than an outward pushing energy. It's probable that I just don't understand enough about the Yang Family system (or YMAA...), but based on the way the form and applications look in what I've seen and experienced with other students, the move An in the Yang Family Style form looks like it's meant to be a push straight out or kind of up. This is one of the feelings that the application could have in the YMAA system too, but I think YMAA is different in that it really strongly associates a downward feeling to An both in the move that's called An, and in moves that are said to manifest that energy.
In addition to what I said about pivoting, I think there are other differences about stances, weight shifting, and stepping between the two systems, but I don't know enough to try and describe them.
It looks like the curriculums of the two systems have a lot in common, like you might expect, as do the structures of the forms.
I'd like to know what other people think about this, too!