Wu Ta-k'uei or Wu Dakui (1923–1972) was a Chinese Wu-style tai chi teacher of

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

ancestry.

Biography

The oldest son of Wu Gongyi, he was born in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, raised in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

(where he was first taught tai chi by his grandfather,

Wu Jianquan Wu Jianquan ( zh, c=吴鉴泉, w=Wu Chien-ch‘üan, p=Wú Jiànquán; 1870–1942) was a famous teacher and founder of the ''neijia'' martial art of Wu-style tai chi in late Imperial and early Republican China. Biography Wu Jianquan was ta ...

) and spent most of his adult life teaching in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. Wu Ta-k'uei was active in the resistance to the Japanese invasion of China, yet he later taught martial arts in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

after the war. Wu Ta-k'uei was reputed to be a fierce fighter, and known as always ready to accept a challenge match. He is reported to have never been defeated, and to have been famous for badly injuring and taunting his opponents in those matches. An attested story circulated about Wu Ta-k'uei was about a fight that started in a Hong Kong dockside bar between an unarmed Wu Ta-k'uei and "over 30" stevedores armed with clubs and boathooks. The dockworkers eventually fled to a local police station for protection from the enraged Wu. Interviews with dockworkers and the police records of this fight led to sensational newspaper headlines in Kowloon and Hong Kong. Wu Ta-k'uei assisted his father and his uncle Wu Kung-tsao to set up academies in Hong Kong,

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. He also sat on the Advisory Board of the Martial Art Association in Hong Kong and taught martial arts in the

Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...

Police Force. His oldest son, Eddie Wu Kuang-yu, is the current "gate-keeper" of the Wu family.

Generational senior instructors of the Wu family

''1st Generation'' * Wu Quanyou (1834–1902), who learned from

Yang Luchan Yang Luchan ( zh, c=杨露禅, w=Yang Lu-ch'an, p=Yáng Lùchán), also known as Yang Fukui (1799–1872), was an influential Chinese practitioner and teacher of the internal style tai chi martial art. He is known as the founder of Yang-styl ...

and Yang Banhou, was senior instructor of the family from 1870-1902. ''2nd generation'' *His oldest son,

(1870–1942), was the senior instructor from 1902-1942. ''3rd Generation'' *His oldest son, Wu Gongyi (1900–1970) was senior from 1942-1970. *Wu Gongyi's younger brother, Wu Kung-tsao (1903–1983), was senior from 1970-1983. *Wu Gongyi's younger sister, Wu Yinghua (1907–1997), was senior from 1983-1997. ''4th Generation'' *Wu Gongyi's daughter,

Wu Yanxia Wu Yanxia or Wu Yen-hsia (1930–2001) was a Chinese tai chi teacher of Manchu ancestry. Biography She was the daughter of Wu Gongyi (1900-1970) from whom she learned tai chi. She also helped teach her father's students. Wu Yanxia was the ...

(1930–2001) was senior from 1997-2001. *Wu Kung-tsao's son, Wu Daxin (1933–2005), was senior from 2001-2005. ''5th Generation'' *The current senior instructor of the Wu family is Wu Ta-k'uei's son Wu Kuang-yu (born 1946).

Tai chi lineage tree with Wu-style focus

External links

Wu Ta-k’uei demonstrating tai chi sword form, throws and freestyle applications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu Ta-k'uei 1923 births 1972 deaths Manchu martial artists Tai chi practitioners from Shanghai Chinese emigrants to British Hong Kong

Biography

Generational senior instructors of the Wu family

Tai chi lineage tree with Wu-style focus

See also

External links

References