Steal My Art ─ The Life and Times of T'Ai Chi Master, T.T. Liang

Having the incredible good fortune of being born, as he says, in "interesting times," T.T. Liang has lived through a century that included two world wars and the decline of the Ching dynasty through the post-Mao era. His life bridges the industrial and technological revolutions. Born in China in 1900 amid abject poverty, he later attained great wealth, position, and power. Liang studied T'ai Chi Ch'uan in Taiwan with Professor Cheng Man Ch'ing for more than twenty years, becoming his Ta Shih Hsiung (Chief and First Disciple). Stories of his years with Professor Cheng describe a great and close relationship, as well as a rocky and difficult one. In the 196Os, Liang retired from his job in China as the second highest ranking officer in British customs and came to the United States to teach T'ai Chi - an occupation that then lacked respect in most Westerner's eyes. With little money and no position of authority, he experienced a radical change. Not only has Mr. Liang lived more than one hundred years in great health, but his life has been amazingly rich and varied in experience.
More than a biography of Liang's life, Steal My Art also explains both the history and development of his teachings. These include his 150-Posture T'ai Chi Dance and 78-Posture Two-Person Dance - the mainstays of his skills and expression of his true genius. Also presented are his Ten Guiding Principles, which he considers the core of studying and practicing T'ai Chi, as well as a guide for living.

"It is said that you never forget your first lover. I don't know about that. But I will never forget my first taiji teacher in Taiwan. Liang T'ungstai (Liang Tongcai) was his name and T.T. Liang was the sobriquet he answered to...We visited Professor Zheng Manqing's (Cheng Man-ch'ing) home on Sunday mornings in 1959-62, a class for Zheng's seniors at which Liang occasionally translated. He also was an enabler par excellence, introducing me to several great boxers and, as translator, accompanying me to practice with them...A good man, sometimes quiet and reserved, Liang had a ready wit and his English was impeccable. We spent many hours together and got on famously. In fact, I knew him, his history and personality, better than I knew my own father."
—Journal of Asian Martial Arts