A brief introduction of current head of Wu Family
Grand Master Wu Kwong Yu is the eldest son of Grand Master Wu Tai Kwei, and great grandson of Grand Master Wu Chien Chuan. Starting to learn Wu family Tai Chi Chuan from grandfather Grand Master Wu Kung Yi and his father when only six year old, he is the only Wu descent family member learning directly from Grand Master Wu Kung Yi in his generation. Grand Master Wu Kwong Yu studied Aircraft Engineering in Britain's Air University in 1967, attained aircraft engineering qualification and worked as Deputy Chief Engineer.
Grand Master Wu Kwong Yu endeavored to promote WU Tai Chi Chuan. Since 1976, he started the first Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Academy in Toronto, Canada with his uncle Grand Master Wu Tai Chi. Since then, Grand Master Wu Kwong Yu has fostered the development of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan and frequently appears in newspapers , and television teaching Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan to young and alike. Grand MAster Eddie Wu has introduced and promoted Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan throughout Asia, North America and England with official Academies in Toronto, Fredericton, Detroit, Ann Harbor, New Jersey, Hawaii, London (England), Paris (France), Athens (Greece), Singapore and Malaysia. In 1995, Grand Master Wu Kwong Yu established the International Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Federation, to promote the internationalization of Tai Chi Chuan.
In 2005, Grand Master Wu Kwong Yu became the Fifth Generation Chief of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan, and the Head of Hong Kong Wu's Tai Chi Chuan Academy Headquarter, to lead the global academies. Grand Master Wu Kwong Yu travels in many parts of China, Asia, Europe and the North America to conduct Workshops and seminars. He collaborates with hospitals, medical, business and sporting professionals to bring the benefits of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan to other fields. He also established Wu Style Wheelchair Tai Chi Chuan for the diabled.
Grand Master Wu Kwong Yu is a highly respected international martial artist who has been vigorously promoting Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan to North American and Europe since 1972. His efforts were well recongized and earned him many major roles and posts in Martial Arts and Sports sector, namely, Traditional Wushu Advisor of Hong Kong Wushu Union, President of Canadian Organization of Traditional Taiji Quan Association, Intenrational Affair Chairman of Wushu Ontario and Conferation of Canadian Wushu Organizations, and Member of the Canadian Olympic Comittee, National Wushu Team Canada.
Grand Master Wu Kowng Yu was awarded with "全國師範級十段”，”武術界貢獻獎”，及”武術家終身成就獎” by 加拿大武術團體聯合總會.
A brief history of past and current head of Wu Family
Grand 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, Grand 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. Grand 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.
In 1924, Grand 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.
Grand 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.
Grand 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, Grand 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. Grand Master 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. Grand Master Wu Kung Yi had clearly demonstrated Wu's Tai Chi Chuan as a formidable style of martial art.
Grand Master Wu Kung Yi's younger brother Grand Master Wu Kung Cho and younger sister Grand Master Wu Ying Hua also influenced the development of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan. Grand 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. Grand 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 Kwong Yu's father, Grand Master Wu Tai Kwei was the eldest son of the fourth generation. He was a highly respected martial artist who continued the work of Grand 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.
Since 1975, the Wu Family has introduced and promoted Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan throughout North America.