Although we fully understand that History is Myth and that no one really knows the true history of Tai Chi Chuan…here’s a little background info to spark your imagination and appreciation of this valuable cultural transmission. As you ponder story below, please remember the mysteries of the past pale in significance to the immediacy of our own reality in the Now:

My teacher’s husband and Sifu–Kuo Lien Ying–was one of only 3 students to receive the transmission of the Wu Dang Mountain practice known as Taijiquan from Sifu Wang Chiao-Yu.

This unique 64 movement set combined Taoist longevity and enlightenment practices–such as the twisting/twining practice of Pa Kua Chang with various nervous system/energy exercises, Chinese medical theory, Buddhist derived Shaolin Chuan, Hsing-I Chuan and the essential Nei Gung practice known as…

Upon the partial re-opening of Bamboo Curtain in the early 80’s Sifu Kuo Lien Ying was one of the first US based Chinese to be invited by the PRC to visit his homeland. Though a bitter rival to Chairman Mao, Sifu was renowned for his patriotism to China, as a national hero during both the Sino-Japanese conflicts and WW2, & for his attainment of the highest level of expertise in Taijiquan.

Upon returning to the land of his birth, Sifu searched long and hard for his 2 Kung Fu brothers taught together by Sifu Wang…but to no avail.

All that remained, and in a very pervasive way were the various Family named schools of Tai Chi Chuan created post 1850 at the dawn of the widespread commercialization of Tai Chi Chuan. This teaching of the general public occurred after Yang Lu Chan and his son Pan Hou left their imperial service upon the rise to power of the Empress Dowager Cixi and her subsequent cleansing of the imperial household.

This popularization of the art form was driven by gratuitously marketing the fame of Yang Lu Chan–known as Yang the Unbeatable.

This status as folk hero’s attributed to both Lu Chan and Pan Hou, was gained during their utterly forced tenure as instructor to the Ching Emperors personal guard–the royal Knights of the Empire. It’s worth pointing out that the Ching Dynasty was the result of foreign conquering of China by their Northern Manchurian neighbors in 1636. And the pattern was to oppress the native Han people. Sometimes that oppression manifested as compulsory service. Which is the case with the Yang Lu Chan. Once his martial prowess had been revealed to the Emperor the coveting of this skill arose>>>leading to the forced servitude at the pain of death if resisted. It is in this pot of oppression that Yang and his son unforturnately found themselves within.

Heading back to Sifu being only 1 of 3 students of Sifu Wong, and the reason why only 3 students were taught. As both Yang & his son–due to their forced labor– secretly taught only a watered-down version of the art to the Imperial household. Out of fear of violent reprisal from the Ching, Sifu Wong dared not teach what he had been taught privately by the Yangs until after the fall of the Ching dynasty in 1916. Of particular note is that by the time the Ching had finally been vanquished Sifu Wong was 94 years old & had kept his art and practice in total secrecy. It is at this point in time that Sifu Kuo met Wong. According to Kuo, his spirit was extremely strong & bright as he walked with a stride “as if he was flying”. After achieving the chin-2-toe posture, Kuo became a disciple and trained with Wong until his passing.

And importantly, Kuo vowed to his teacher to not alter the shape or movements of the form and to pass this treasure of China unadulterated and intact only to students of a virtuous nature.

And by the 1980’s at Kuo’s homecoming to China, the commercialized versions of Tai Chi had become the most popular form of exercise in the country with 10’s if not 100’s of million avid adherents.

To clarify, the Taijiquan taught here pre-dates and is not borne from the popularized teachings. Rather, our practice has continued to be handed down personally, 1-on-1, in an exacting approach to relatively few from each generation.

The video clip below was filmed at a demonstration at SF State University over 10 years ago, In this short clip Simu mentions the training of both your instructor–she calls me Bill– and his close brother in training Sifu Chris Reed. Most importantly, Simu clarifies the practice of our old school Tai Chi Chuan lineage has been lost in China since the exodus to Taiwan after the rise of Chairman Mao and the PRC.

Please excuse the poor audio quality, we’ll try to scrub out the background in the future.