Grand Master Eddie Wu Kwong Yu

Grand Master Eddie Wu Kwong Yu is the fifth-generation Gate Keeper of the Wu family. He is the eldest son of Grand Master Wu Ta K'uei and the great-grandson of Grand Master Wu Chien Chuan. Since 2005 he has led Wu's Tai Chi Chuan Academy, Hong Kong, and he presides over the family's schools worldwide.

Eddie Wu Kwong Yu began learning the family art at the age of six under his grandfather, Grand Master Wu Kung Yi, and his father, Grand Master Wu Ta K'uei. He is one of the few disciples taught personally by Grand Master Wu Kung Yi. He studied aeronautical engineering in Scotland and qualified as a registered aircraft engineer before devoting himself to teaching Tai Chi full time.

In 1976 he took over the Toronto academy founded by his father, and he went on to establish Wu Style academies across North America, Europe, and Asia, including Toronto, Edmonton, Detroit, Ann Arbor, New Jersey, Honolulu, London, Athens, and Paris. In 1995 he founded the International Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Federation in Toronto to connect the family's schools worldwide.

In 2005 he succeeded his uncle, Grand Master Wu Ta Hsin, as fifth-generation Gate Keeper and Head of Wu's Tai Chi Chuan Academy, Hong Kong. Since then he has expanded the family's public teaching. The Chinese Wushu Association filmed his forms for the "Chinese Wushu Library" DVD series in 2007. In 2008 the Wushu Research Institute of the State Sports General Administration of China appointed him executive editor of the Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan textbook for the Chinese Wushu Duan System, published in 2009 and adopted nationwide as a grading standard.

He also developed Wu Style wheelchair Tai Chi Chuan for young people with disabilities, and he has cooperated with North American hospitals on research into Tai Chi therapy. In Canada he has served as director of the Ontario Wushu Association, vice-president of the Canadian Wushu Federation, and president of the Canadian Traditional Tai Chi Federation, which awarded him its National Tenth-Duan and lifetime achievement honors.

Visitors to Hong Kong can meet the Grand Master at the Academy. Directions and contact details are listed on our location and contact page, and his regular teaching hours appear on the class schedule.

The Five Generations of the Wu Family

First, Grand Master Wu Chuan Yau (1834-1902) founded the family art after training under Grand Masters Yang Lu Chan and Yang Ban Hou. His Tai Chi was famous for its soft neutralization.

Second, Grand Master Wu Chien Chuan (1870-1942) revised the form into the compact "small frame" and opened Tai Chi Chuan to public education. He co-founded the Beijing Physical Education Research Institute in 1916 and the first Chien Chuan Tai Chi Chuan Association in Shanghai in 1935.

Third, Grand Master Wu Kung Yi (1900-1970) brought the art to Hong Kong in 1937 and defended the practical value of Tai Chi Chuan in the 1954 Macau charity contest. His brother Grand Master Wu Kung Cho (1903-1983) wrote the classic manual Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan, and his sister Grand Master Wu Ying Hua (1907-1997) rebuilt the Shanghai association.

Fourth, Grand Master Wu Ta K'uei (1923-1972), eldest son of the third generation, established branches across Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia, and opened the first North American academy in Toronto. His brother Grand Master Wu Ta Hsin developed the Singapore and Malaysian branches and led the Hong Kong headquarters until 2005.

Fifth, Grand Master Eddie Wu Kwong Yu today unites these lines. The historical background of the art he teaches is summarized on the Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan page, and the Hong Kong Academy he heads is described in our Academy history.