by Grand Master Wu Kwong Yu
A Brief History of My Family

Master Wu Chuan Yau
My great great grandfather Master Wu Chuan Yau (1834-1902) was the founder of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan. He was a Manchurian member of the Imperial Guard in Beijing. He learned Tai Chi Chuan from the founder of Yang Style, Master Yang Lu-Chan.
His area of specialization was neutralization. His eldest son, Master Wu Chien Chuan (1870-1942) was the second master of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan. His influence on the development of the Wu Style was very significant. Master Wu Chien Chuan modified the forms taught to him by his father. He utilized a narrower circle and created many new ways to apply the form in a practical manner.
Master Wu Chien Chuan
In 1924, Master Wu Chien Chuan, along with colleagues, Xi-Yiu Seng, Yang Shoa Hoa (Yang Shou Hou) and Yang Cheng Fu founded a famous martial arts school. This had an important effect in the practice of Tai Chi Chuan as it became available to the general public for the first time.
Master Wu Chien Chuan moved south to Shanghai in 1928. There he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Shanghai Martial Arts Association. Subsequently, he became the supervisor of the Tai Chi Chuan section of the famous Ching Wu Sports Association. In 1935, my great grandfather established the first Wu’s Tai Chi Chuan Academy in Shanghai.
Master Wu Kung Yi
Master Wu Kung Yi was the eldest son of the third generation. He was instrumental in establishing Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan throughout the Orient.
In 1954, Master Wu Kung Yi responded to the controversy started by the newspaper in Hong Kong regarding the validity of Tai Chi Chuan as a martial art by agreeing to accept a challenge to fight another style of martial art. He put only one restriction on the match – that the proceeds of it be donated to charity.
The contest of the two different styles of martial arts intrigued thousands who came to view it. Wu Kung Yi was fifty-three at that time, twenty years older than his opponent. It soon became apparent to the committee overseeing the fight that the opponents were not mismatched and that the contest was a serious one indeed.
At the completion of the second round, they ended the fight by voting it to be a draw. Master Wu Kung Yi had clearly demonstrated Wu’s Tai Chi Chuan as a formidable style of martial art.
Master Wu Kung Cho - Master Wu Ying Hua
Master Wu Kung Yi’s younger brother Master Wu Kung Cho and younger sister Master Wu Ying Hua also influenced the development of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan. Master Wu Ying Hua assisted in the operation of the academy in Shanghai.
It was under her direction that the academy re-opened in the late nineteen seventies. Master Wu Kung Cho was an expert in many facets of Tai Chi Chuan. He was the author of the first book on Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan, which was initially published in 1935. This classic was published again in 1980.
Master Wu Tai Kwei
My father, Master Wu Tai Kwei was the eldest son of the fourth generation. He was a highly respected martial artist who continued the work of Master Wu Kung Yi in establishing Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan throughout the Orient.
There were academies in Hong Kong, Kowloon, Macau, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. The Japanese invited him in the nineteen fifties to introduce the style into Japan. He also brought Tai Chi Chuan to the mass media by often appearing on television in Hong Kong and Singapore.
One of my father’s aspirations was to expand Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan into North America. However, he did not live to see that become a reality.
Master Wu Kung Cho - Master Wu Ying Hua
Master Wu Kung Yi’s younger brother Master Wu Kung Cho and younger sister Master Wu Ying Hua also influenced the development of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan. Master Wu Ying Hua assisted in the operation of the academy in Shanghai. It was under her direction that the academy re-opened in the late nineteen seventies.
Master Wu Kung Cho was an expert in many facets of Tai Chi Chuan. He was the author of the first book on Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan, which was initially published in 1935. This classic was published again in 1980.
Master Wu Tai Kwei
My father, Master Wu Tai Kwei was the eldest son of the fourth generation. He was a highly respected martial artist who continued the work of Master Wu Kung Yi in establishing Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan throughout the Orient.
There were academies in Hong Kong, Kowloon, Macau, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. The Japanese invited him in the nineteen fifties to introduce the style into Japan. He also brought Tai Chi Chuan to the mass media by often appearing on television in Hong Kong and Singapore.
One of my father’s aspirations was to expand Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan into North America. However, he did not live to see that become a reality.
Note
The Toronto Academy was started in 1975 by Master Wu Tai Chi. Later, Master Wu Kwong Yu (Eddie) was brought from Hong Kong to be the present Chief Instructor of the Academy. Master Eddie Wu has introduced and promoted Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan throughout North America.
Today there are thousands of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan practitioners in North America & Europe, with official Academies in Toronto, Fredericton, Vancouver, Detroit, Ann Arbor, New Jersey, Washington DC, London, Hawaii, Athens and Vienna.
Distinctive Features of Wu Tai Chi Chuan
Wu Tai Chi is very characteristic, because of its distinctive features:
The Wu form is a small frame form. Its movements are small, short and centered to the central line of the body. Thus, the techniques of the form are more realistic to the parameters of a real encounter.
The students learn to move protecting their vital organs and move with a power that springs from their center – and this is very important. Also, these short movements help the mind not be distracted from the external, muscular aspect of a movement (which is the main focus of the External / Hard styles), and to concentrate on the finer, internal movements and techniques. In this way, the student explores and expresses the power of the tendons and the joints, which are the main focus of the Soft / Internal Styles like Tai Chi Chuan.
This is done in the form of the Wu style and in Pushing Hands. Thus, the thighs are strengthened, the practitioner gains perfect balance and the pelvis is free and rotates easily (the pelvis plays a very important role in Wu Tai Chi Chuan). Then, the practitioner learns to move properly under the most challenging circumstances. If somebody gains the ability to move easily while all his weight rests on one leg, then he can move perfectly under any circumstances.
As in the previous case, this is done for practice. If a practitioner can move easily and in a balanced way with parallel feet (this is considered quite difficult), then he will be able to hold any stance easily.
In the front stances of the Wu forms, as well as in Pushing Hands, the trunk leans on the leg to which the body weight falls (probably this is the most distinctive feature of the Wu style).
When the practitioner achieves this (it is quite difficult), then the spine is fully aligned. This alignment is of paramount importance not only for any serious Tai Chi practitioner, but also for students who practice Tai Chi for health reasons. In any case, the Classic texts of Tai Chi Chuan give great emphasis to this complete alignment of the spine – it is considered a trademark of quality.
Also, with this way the practitioner manages to throw all his weight on one leg, something that cannot be achieved in any other way. Finally, the frontal bent of the spine is an intelligent way of exercise under difficult circumstances. Thus, when the student gains proficiency in this, he will be able to hold easily any stance.
The tucking of the coccyx during all exercises (Form, Pushing Hands, fighting applications, Chi Kung etc.) is not a distinctive feature of Wu Tai Chi Chuan, as it exists in all serious styles.
However, in Wu style great emphasis is placed continually in this suspension. The reason for this is that thanks to this suspension, the whole spine and the body are aligned. Thus, the student gains the ability to produce very strong power.
Concluding, it should be mentioned that Wu style stresses the detailed analysis of movement, the deep internal work, the Pushing Hands exercises and the explanation, analysis and application of the movements of the forms in engagement.
The Wu form is a small frame form. Its movements are small, short and centered to the central line of the body. Thus, the techniques of the form are more realistic to the parameters of a real encounter.
The students learn to move protecting their vital organs and move with a power that springs from their center – and this is very important. Also, these short movements help the mind not be distracted from the external, muscular aspect of a movement (which is the main focus of the External / Hard styles), and to concentrate on the finer, internal movements and techniques.
In this way, the student explores and expresses the power of the tendons and the joints, which are the main focus of the Soft / Internal Styles like Tai Chi Chuan.
This is done in the form of the Wu style and in Pushing Hands. Thus, the thighs are strengthened, the practitioner gains perfect balance and the pelvis is free and rotates easily (the pelvis plays a very important role in Wu Tai Chi Chuan). Then, the practitioner learns to move properly under the most challenging circumstances. If somebody gains the ability to move easily while all his weight rests on one leg, then he can move perfectly under any circumstances.
As in the previous case, this is done for practice. If a practitioner can move easily and in a balanced way with parallel feet (this is considered quite difficult), then he will be able to hold any stance easily.
In the front stances of the Wu forms, as well as in Pushing Hands, the trunk leans on the leg to which the body weight falls (probably this is the most distinctive feature of the Wu style).
When the practitioner achieves this (it is quite difficult), then the spine is fully aligned. This alignment is of paramount importance not only for any serious Tai Chi practitioner, but also for students who practice Tai Chi for health reasons.
In any case, the Classic texts of Tai Chi Chuan give great emphasis to this complete alignment of the spine – it is considered a trademark of quality. Also, with this way the practitioner manages to throw all his weight on one leg, something that cannot be achieved in any other way.
Finally, the frontal bent of the spine is an intelligent way of exercise under difficult circumstances. Thus, when the student gains proficiency in this, he will be able to hold easily any stance.
The tucking of the coccyx during all exercises (Form, Pushing Hands, fighting applications, Chi Kung etc.) is not a distinctive feature of Wu Tai Chi Chuan, as it exists in all serious styles.
However, in Wu style great emphasis is placed continually in this suspension. The reason for this is that thanks to this suspension, the whole spine and the body are aligned. Thus, the student gains the ability to produce very strong power.
Concluding, it should be mentioned that Wu style stresses the detailed analysis of movement, the deep internal work, the Pushing Hands exercises and the explanation, analysis and application of the movements of the forms in engagement.