In 1975 members of the Chinese community of Toronto, Canada invited 3rd Generation Wu Family Master Wu Tai Chi to establish a Canadian Wu’s Tai Chi Chuan branch. Master Wu Tai Chi returned to Hong Kong Headquarters in 1976, and management of the Toronto chapter was transferred to 4th Generation Wu Family Master Wu Tai Kwei’s eldest son 5th Generation Wu Family Master Eddie Wu Kwong Yu. The Toronto Academy continues and in 2025 will be celebrating our 50th Anniversary.

Our lineage and heritage:
Founding Master Wu Chuan Yau studied under Master Yang Lu Chan, then under his son Master Yang Ban Hau. Master Wu’s disciples included Hsia Kong Pu, Wang Mao Chi, Kuo Song Ting, Chang Yuan Ting among others.

The second generation Master Wu Chien Chuan was originally employed by the Ching court in the palace battalion of the Imperial Guards. After the emperor Puyi abdicated the throne, Chief of General Staff Yin Chang recommended Master Wu Chien Chuan to President Li Yuan Hong. Subsequently he was appointed teacher to the Eleventh Corps of the Presidential Body Guards. Among his students were Chiefs of Staff Chang I Ke, Tuan Chih Kui, Lu Mian and others.

In 1916 Master Wu Chien Chuan, along with other famous Wushu experts of the time Yang Shao Hou, Yang Cheng Fu, Hsu Sheng Chi Tzu Hsiu, Sun Lu T’ang, Liu En Shou, Liu Tsai Chen, Chang Chung Yuan, Tong Lian Chi, Chiang Teng Tsui, Hsing Shih Ju and others established the Beijing Institute of Physical Education. The Institute recruited more than sixty students from the teaching ranks of high schools and universities throughout Beijing.

Third generation brothers Masters Wu Kung Yi and Wu Kung Cho were among the first graduates. Because of the excellent results achieved by students there, the institute won the praise of the Beijing University Dean Tsai Yuan Pei who recommended to the Ministry of Education that the Institute be moved to a new location and expanded. The new institute was named the Beijing School of Physical Education. Students were selected from the provinces to go to the capital and train at the school for a two year period. After returning to their respective provinces they became Wushu teachers. This aided the spread of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan throughout China.

The first Wu’s Tai Chi Chuan Academy was established in Shanghai in 1935. It was directed by Master Wu Chien Chuan himself, with his daughter Master Wu Ying Hua and his son-in-law Master Ma Yueh Liang.

In 1937 Master Wu Kung Cho moved south to Hong Kong and set up a Wu’s Tai Chi Chuan Academy. Master Wu Kung Yi and his eldest son Master Wu Tai Kwei also set up academies in Hong Kong and Macau. After the Japanese army invaded Hong Kong the Wu family moved inland until the war ended. The Hong Kong Wu’s Tai Chi Chuan Academy was headed up by Master Wu Kung Yi and the Macau Academy by Master Wu Tai Kwei. These two centres developed large followings.

In January 1954 Macau’s New Flower Garden Hotel sponsored a charity fight: “Wu versus Chen”. In the opening seconds the opponent was struck on the nose causing profuse bleeding. After exceeding the allotted rest-time, the fight continued, but a kick to the knee violated the regulations and the fight was called off. Following this spectacle Wu Tai Chi Chuan became even more popular. Various Chinese communities throughout Southeast Asia requested that branch Academies be set up for them.

Master Wu Kung Yi ordered his eldest son Master Wu Tai Kwei to set up a branch club on Nathan Road in Kowloon, while sending his second son Master Wu Tai Chi as well as Master Wu Kung Cho’s second son Master Wu Tai Sin to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Manila to set up branch Academies. At the same time the Academies in Hong Kong and Kowloon were becoming too small to accommodate the growing number of enthusiasts, so the top floor of the Haldwin Mansion on Kowloon’s Jordan Road was purchased and made into the central Academy. The original central Academy on Hong Kong’s Lockhart Road was made into a branch Academy headed up by Master Wu Kung Yi’s daughter and Master Wu Yan Hsia and son-in-law Master Kwok Hsia Jong.

On October 14 and 15, 1995, the Toronto Academy was host to the First International Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Convention held at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto. More than one hundred and seventy Wu stylists from all over the world, including ten delegates from Hawaii, participated in this momentous event which featured six generations of the Wu Family. An international Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Federation was formed to facilitate the sharing and exchange of information and expertise, including future books and videos of the Wu Family.

For more information:
Toronto Academy website: https://toronto.wustyle.com/about-us/
Federation website: https://www.wustyle.com/