History

Founding history of the Wu's Tai Chi Chuan Academy, Hong Kong

The founding of the Wu’s Tai Chi Chuan Academy could be traced far back to 1928 when the founder Grand Master Wu Chien Chuan was invited to introduce Wu Style Tai Chi Chuanto Shanghai by the then city government. There he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Shanghai Martial Arts Association. He also supervised the Tai Chi Chuan section of the famous Ching Wu Sports Association. Grand Master Wu’s teaching was well received by the citizens of Shanghai and immediately attracted many committed disciples including some prominent political, military and civic leaders of the time. To provide a proper training venue for the rapidly expanding learner population Grand Master Wu Chien Chuanfounded the first Wu's Tai Chi Chuan Academy (hereafter refers to as the Academy) in Shanghai in 1933. To further cater to the growing number of learners at different locations of the city, an additional training centre, the Chien Chuan Place, was established on the 10/F of the Shanghai YMCA building in 1938. With the growing popularity of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuanthe foundation of the Academy was then well established. The development of the Academy in Shanghai saw the spread of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan from the capital Beijing to the southern provinces of China. Almost at the same period Grand Master Wu Kung Yi (eldest son of Grand Master Wu Chien Chuan) brought Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan to the southern province of China. In 1924 Grand Master Wu Kung Yi was appointed as the Tai Chi Chuan instructor of the then sole military academy of China, the Wham Pao Military Academy, and lecturer in physical education of the Sun Yat Sen University in Canton province.

In 1937, Grand Master Wu Chien Chuan and his eldest son Grand Master Wu Kung Yi brought Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan into Hong Kong and established the Wu’s Tai Chi Chuan Academy, Hong Kong (HK Academy), which was located at Hennessy Road on the Hong Kong Island. Grand Master Wu Kung Yi succeeded as the third generation master in 1942 subsequent to the passing away of his father Grand Master Wu Chien Chuan. In 1943 when the Japanese invader occupied Hong Kong, Grand Master Wu Kung Yi relocated to Shanghai where he continued his profession as the Chairman of the Academy in Shanghai. Grand Master Wu Kung Yi returned to Hong Kong after the war and reactivated the HK Academy in 1948, which was then located at 387 Lockhart Road.

In 1954, in response to the request of the then Macau civic leaders Grand Master Wu Kung Yi accepted the challenge of a famous young Chinese martial artist to perform a charity tournament in Macau. The full contact fight between two different styles of martial arts intrigued thousands of spectators. Spectators were stunned by the high spirit and grave performance of the two competitors. 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 Style Tai Chi Chuan as a formidable style of martial art.The tournament was a success and the fame of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan soon spread throughout the communities.

To meet the rapidly increasing demand for Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan training Grand Master Wu Tai Kwei (first son of Grand Master Wu Kung Yi) established a branch of the HK Academy in Kowloon. Very soon it was found that the two centers were not adequate for accommodating the increasing number of students and a major restructuring of the training venues was called for. Two spacious units at Flats A & B on 14/F of 37 U Jordan Road, Kowloon, were then purchased in May 1956 and served as the headquarters of the HK Academy. The former Lockhart Road center became a branch of the HK Academy and was put under the supervision of Grand Master Wu Kung Yi’s elder daughter Grand Master Wu Yan Hsia and her husband Master Kwok Hsia Jong. In response to the continuous requests from leaders of the Chinese communities in South East Asia, Grand Master Wu Kung Yi sent his second son Grand Master Wu Tai Chi and his nephew Grand Master Wu Tai-sin (second son of Grand Master Wu Kung Cho) to set up overseas branches of the Academy in Singapore and Malaysia.

Grand Master Wu Kung Yi passed away in 1970 and his eldest son Grand Master Wu Tai Kwei succeeded as the fourth generation master and Chairman of the HK Academy in the same year. In the following years Grand Master Wu Tai Chi, Grand Master Wu Yan Hsia and Grand Master Wu Tai Sin chaired the HK Academy consecutively until 2005 when the 5th generation Master Wu Kwong Yu succeeded the chairmanship of the HK Academy.

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. Today there are official overseas branches of the Academy in Toronto, Fredericton, Ann Arbor, New Jersey, Hawaii and London. To further promote the internationalization of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan, Master Wu founded the “International Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Federation” (www.wustyle.com) in Toronto, Canada in 1995. Under the leadership of Master Wu Kwong Yu we shall strive to promote Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan, both regionally and internationally.

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