Cheryl Lynn Yonker ~ Lineage Masters

GRANDMASTER FENG ZHI QIANG (left) with MASTER ZHANG XUE XIN (right).  Master Zhang studied with Grandmaster Feng for 20 years in Beijing, China and was his top senior indoor student.      ** CLICK ON THE PHOTO ABOVE TO CONNECT WITH GRANDMASTER FENG'S WEBSITE.

MASTER ZHANG XUE XIN, with whom I've studied for over 15 years, after placing his official seal on my "Outstanding Instructor" certification at his studio in 2005.  ** CLICK ON PHOTO ABOVE TO VIEW MASTER ZHANG PERFORMING A PORTION OF THE CHEN STYLE YI LU FORM.

CHEN FA KE was the head of the Chen Style lineage in the early part of the 20th century.  Grandmaster Feng Zhi Qiang was his most proficient "indoor" student and has done much to spread Chen Style Taiji to the World outside of the Chen Family.

MASTER HU YAO ZHEN was a famous Taoist Qigong Master and Hsing I teacher with whom Grandmaster Feng Zhi Qiang studied extensively.  In combining aspects of these systems of Qigong and Hsing I with the Chen Family forms and trainings Grandmaster Feng  created the unique power and flavor of his lineage.

GRANDMASTER FENG ZHI QIANG  and me in front of a Buddhist Statue during his 2001 visit to the US from China.  The workshop he led was a very special experience for me. ** CLICK ON THE PHOTO ABOVE TO GO ON TO THE TESTIMONIALS PAGE

LUCAS HOVING was my Modern Dance teacher and mentor.  I was one of his first students when he began teaching in San Francisco in 1981 - and was with him til the end of his days in the year 2000.  I assisted him administratively as well as with his teaching.  Classes included technique, improvisation and composition with company performances two or three times each year.  HIs system of improvisational dance incorporated elements from east and west and directly led to my interest in Tai Chi. ** CLICK ON THE PHOTO ABOVE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LUCAS HOVING

ELSA GINDLER (1865-1961)  originated and developed a system of inner training in Germany that came to be called simply "work on the human being".   I have received her work through two of her students - my "Sensory Awareness" teacher, CHARLOTTE SELVER, and GERTRUDE HELLER with whom my dance teacher, LUCAS HOVING, studied as part of the Jooss Ballet curriculum at Dartington Hall in England just before World War II. ** CLICK ON THE PHOTO ABOVE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CHARLOTTE SELVER AND SENSORY AWARENESS

RUDOLF VON LABAN (1879-1958) had an inquiring, progressive and analytical approach to human movement and associated it with psychology, philosophy, mysticism and cosmology. My dance mentor, LUCAS HOVING, studied Laban's work at the Jooss school and used this work in his teaching.  I had first learned of Laban's work during graduate studies in Dance at Temple Uniiversity and was fortunate to experience it more directly in Lucas' classes.  I later completed professional training for Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis through Integrated Movement Studies in Berkeley, CA (2000-2001.) ** CLICK ON THE PHOTO ABOVE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LABAN MOVEMENT ANALYSIS