Yoshi, your first question is a red herring to me, in that Yang, like the other 3 styles Wu, Wu Hao, and Sun, all emanated from Chen so of course comparing stance work to me is a little problematic. I will say, in my opinion, just from observation, that Chen seems more dynamic and the transitional stancework is different from Yang. One of the questions that I have about Chen v. other tai chi deriviatives, is the expression of fa jing seems much more readily apparent than the others in expression during the forms? Xue, and others, do you find this true as well? Yang's fa jing comes through to me at least more subtly and as explosive, but less apparent in observation. As an example of another difference, my Ying Jow sifu, Leung Shum, is also a Wu style tai chi master, and Grandmaster Kwong Ming Lee (Johnny, who is also a master of mizhong and ba gua) is one as well. With one from Hong Kong, and the other from Shanghai, their Wu stances are a little different....to wit, Sigung Lee's Wu leans a little more forward in a couple of instances than Sigung Shum's. But the essentials are the same. Similarly, I have seen many variations of the same Chen forms performed by different masters. AS far as who Dr. Yang learned from, I would not be surprised if Shouyu Liang taught him, as he holds him in great esteem, and both my tai chi/white crane sifu Jeff Bolt and Dr. Yang speak very highly of Master Shouyu and his daughter Helen.
