Grandmaster Yang Yang, PhD, is a tai chi and qigong master, educator, and researcher dedicated to advancing evidence-based approaches for chronic low back pain and whole-person health. He is the founder and director of the Center for Taiji and Qigong Studies (CTQS) in New York City and has studied the clinical applications of tai chi and qigong since 1998.

After training under legendary grandmasters in China and becoming a martial arts champion, he came to the United States to pursue academic study. He later earned his doctorate in kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he began integrating traditional tai chi and qigong training with scientific research.

In December 2024, his team’s 350-participant randomized controlled trial on a virtual tai chi and qigong program for chronic low back pain was published in the North American Spine Society Journal. The study demonstrated significant improvements in pain intensity, disability, sleep quality, and health-related quality of life.

His work has been utilized at leading medical institutions including the National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Weill Cornell Medicine. His team’s research on chronic low back pain is featured at Harvard Medical School’s 2026 conference, The Science of Tai Chi and Qigong as Whole Person Health. He is the author of Taijiquan: The Art of Nurturing, The Science of Power.