In response to a Kick-punch attack, Yang retreats using palm blocks (1-2). Given a hand (3), he grips and steps inside to execute a throw (4-5), followed by an immobilization technique.

Standard grip (right) requires continuous pressure for effectiveness. Crossed thumb grip gives sharper pain without continuous pressure.

 Speaking of the essence of the martial arts, Yang comes out in favor of speed and control. Without speed there is no victory. The tiger, he says, rules the forest because of its great speed. Physically it’s nothing special, just a big pussy cat without big knuckles or anything like that. But it doesn’t hesitate in its attack. Martial artists study animal movements to learn how to use this principle. Unhesitating speed is more important than fancy technique.
Coupled with speed is control. Control, to Yang, is essential to proper development. Without control you can’t prove yourself to be a true martial artist, and without control you can’t improve your technique. His classes are taught without safety equipment; first to teach control, and second because he doesn’t believe his students, who are often poor, should have to pay for all that gear before they can begin to learn.
As he holds the focus glove for his students to kick, his concern for control comes out in a more humorous way. When one of them comes too close to his arm, he calls out “What’s the first rule?”
In unison the class responds, “Don’t kick the boss!” in any collision between a foot and his arm, however, it’s the foot that’s in peril, as several limping students testify.
Yang considers all of his three martial arts have their points of strength, but sometimes circumstances can restrict their utility. A policeman, for example, confronted with a belligerent drunk, may not simply kick and punch him into submission. Judo’s powerful throws may also be too damaging for some situations. Hapkido has sophisticated locking techniques designed to stop the action without further damage to either party. Judo also has locks and hold downs but they are not judo’s primary techniques, and Yang feels that the hapkido locks, derived from aikido, are more effective. He has worked at developing these locks to a higher degree, incorporating pressure points into the techniques.
Chang-Man Yang has recently opened his own dojang in Halifax, the Maritime Martial Arts School, where he will teach primarily hapkido, although his sign lists also judo, kendo and “super karate.” “People here know about karate,” he explains. “They don’t know about hapkido…..yet.”

-John Panter