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Kuo Lien-ying (1895 in
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...
, China – 1984) was one of the most distinguished and revered martial artists of the twentieth century. He brought the Guang Ping Yang tai chi to the United States.


History

Kuo Lien-ying's father was a silk merchant, and the family was independently wealthy. As a youngster, Kuo reportedly had no interest in an academic education, wanting only to learn the fighting arts. In 1907, at the age of 12, Kuo started training in Northern Style
Shaolin kung fu Shaolin kung fu (), also called Shaolin Wushu (), or Shaolin quan (), is the largest and most famous style of Chinese martial arts, kung fu. It combines Chan Buddhism, Chan philosophy and martial arts. It was developed in the Shaolin Temple in ...
, studying for five years with Master Li Lin, who was especially skilled in
changquan Changquan () () refers to a family of external (as opposed to internal) martial arts (kung fu) styles from northern China. The forms of the Long Fist style emphasize fully extended kicks and striking techniques, and by appearance would be consi ...
. Kuo became proficient at this
martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...
system, which was originally developed by
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
monks in China. His pushing hands training partner in Taiwan was Tchoung Ta-tchen. At 23, Kuo became one of only four inner-door disciples of Wang Jiao-yu, himself one of only two inner-door students of
Yang Banhou Yang Banhou (Yang Pan-hou; 1837–1890) was an influential teacher of tai chi in Qing dynasty China, known for his bellicose temperament. Biography He was the eldest son of Yang Luchan to survive to adulthood. Like his father, he was retaine ...
. Yang Banhou was the son of the originator of what has become known as Guang Ping Yang tai chi:
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 ...
(born Guangping) and known as the founder of
Yang-style tai chi Yang-style tai chi ( zh, s=楊氏太极拳, p=Yángshì tàijíquán) is one of the five primary families of tai chi. Including its variations, it is the most popular and widely practised style of tai chi in the world today. It is second in term ...
. After completing "Chin to Toe" in 100 days Kuo was taught the Guang Ping Yang tai chi by the 100-year-old master Wang Jiao-yu. Kuo, at age 28, studied
xingyiquan 形意拳, Xingyiquan , or Xingyi, is a style of internal Chinese martial arts. The word approximately translates to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". The style is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements, and expl ...
for two years with Master Huang Ginyin, a highly skilled student of
Guo Yunshen Guo Yunshen () (1829 - 1898) was a famous xingyiquan master. He represented the xingyiquan martial philosophy of preferring to become highly proficient with only a few techniques rather than to be less proficient with many techniques. His skil ...
, himself the teacher of
Wang Xiangzhai Wang Xiangzhai (; November 26, 1885 - July 12, 1963), also known as Nibao, Zhenghe and Yuseng, was a Chinese xingyiquan master, responsible for founding the martial art of Yiquan. Biography Wang Xiangzhai was born in Hebei province, China. A ...
, who was reputed to be the best xingyiquan fighter of his time. Kuo also studied
Baguazhang ''Baguazhang'' () is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the '' Wudang'' school, the other two being tai chi and '' xingyiquan''. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or ''neijia''). ''Baguazhang'' literally means "eigh ...
with Chang Hsin-zhai and
Cheng Tinghua Cheng Tinghua (also known as Cheng Yingfang) () (1848–1900) was a renowned master of Chinese ''neijia'' (internal) martial art ''baguazhang'' (''bagua''). Biography Born in the Cheng family village, Shen County, Hebei (now in Shandong), he w ...
.


Early career

Kuo Lien-ying reportedly was a bodyguard for a while accompanying the gold caravans through China, protecting the caravans on horseback with his unrivaled rope-dart techniques. He allegedly became the governor of a province in China, and later a general in the army of Chiang Kai-shek. In 1947, during the
Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution was a social revolution, social and political revolution in China that began in 1927 and culminated with the proclamation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The revolution was led by the Chinese C ...
, he fled to
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, where he became a congressman and opened a martial arts school. Although he left his four wives and eight children in China, Kuo wooed and married the 21-year-old sister of one of his students, Ein Simmone Kuo. Kuo was so confident of his fighting skills that in 1951 he issued a challenge to world boxing champion
Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed "the Brown Bomber", Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He r ...
, to meet him for a fight. In 1972 Kuo claimed to the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'', "I could have thrown him."


Kuo Lien-ying in America

In 1965, he immigrated to the United States and settled in
San Francisco's Chinatown The Chinatown (), centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, is the oldest Chinatown in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside Asia. It is also the oldest and largest of the four notabl ...
, leaving his young wife behind in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. At the request of his first U.S. student, David Chin, Kuo began teaching a few students on the roof of a local hotel. After less than a year, Kuo returned to Taiwan to bring Simmone Kuo to San Francisco. While he was in Taiwan, his students in San Francisco located an empty storefront at 11 Brenham Place, an alley which faced Portsmouth Square Park, which was unfortunately adjacent to a funeral parlor. The empty storefront was available due to the superstitions of the local residents who did not want to inhabit a place next to a mortuary. But according to one of his later students, Henry Look, Kuo often told him, "Don’t worry about dead people, worry about live ones." The students converted the storefront into a martial arts studio, with living quarters in the rear. Kuo named his new school, "Lien-Ying Tai-Chi Chuan Martial Arts Academy". In 1967, Kuo and Simmone had a son, Kuo Chung-mei. Chung-mei was trained in the
Shaolin kung fu Shaolin kung fu (), also called Shaolin Wushu (), or Shaolin quan (), is the largest and most famous style of Chinese martial arts, kung fu. It combines Chan Buddhism, Chan philosophy and martial arts. It was developed in the Shaolin Temple in ...
and
tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...
styles at an early age, achieving Chin-to-Toe at 18 months. Kuo was one of the major theorists of the Chin school, which offers the closest blend of the hard and soft styles. Chin stylists claim there is a 50-50 blend of the two because while you are yielding, you are most conscious of unyielding and that is the only way you can take advantage of all things.


Tai chi lineage tree with Yang-style focus


Portsmouth Square, Chinatown

Reportedly, one of the stories that Kuo told his students was about the time he was walking in a Chinatown alley late one evening and was set upon by a group of robbers. Kuo reached down and picked up a piece of metal lying on the ground and with his bare hands pounded the spike into the brick wall of the nearest building, and then hung his jacket on the spike. The would-be robbers fled. With an uncanny sixth sense, Kuo knew when his students would sleep in, missing the 5 a.m. practice session, and he would call them up, shouting in Chinese into the telephone, "''Lela, lela, tai chi, tai chi!''" ("Practice, practice, tai chi, tai chi!") Kuo Lien-ying was among the first Chinese martial arts masters in America to teach Asian fighting arts to American students, and was often admonished by other Chinese teachers to not teach to Westerners. In 1975
Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic '' The Wild Bunch'' received two Academy Award nominations and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Instit ...
filmed part of ''
The Killer Elite ''The Killer Elite'' is a 1975 American action film, action thriller film directed by Sam Peckinpah and written by Marc Norman and Stirling Silliphant, adapted from the Robert Syd Hopkins novel ''Monkey in the Middle.'' It stars James Caan and ...
'' in
Portsmouth Square Portsmouth Square (), formerly known as Portsmouth Plaza, and originally known as Plaza de Yerba Buena, or simply La Plaza, is a one-block plaza () in Chinatown, San Francisco, California. Portsmouth Square is the first park in San Francisco, pre ...
, and hired Kuo Lien-ying and many of his students for the scenes of a martial arts school in San Francisco. Kuo and his students gave many demonstrations of tai chi and Shaolin kung fu at many locations, including schools and banks. In 1983, Kuo returned to
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
, and died in 1984.


Followers

Simmone Kuo, Kuo's widow and student, continues to teach privately at the Lien-Ying Tai-Chi Chuan Martial Arts Academy in San Francisco Chinatown (15A Walter U Lum Place, above the produce market) after retiring in 2016 from physical education teaching duties at San Francisco State University. Notable students of Master Kuo that were largely responsible for the transmission of the art include Masters Peter Kwok, Henry Look, Y.C.Wong, and Y.C. Chiang. The founder of
World Tai Chi and Qigong Day World Tai Chi and Qigong Day (WTCQD), also spelled World T'ai Chi and Ch'i Kung Day, is an annual event held the last Saturday of April each year to promote the related disciplines of tai chi and Qigong in nearly eighty countries since 1999. Ove ...
, Bill Douglas, carries on the form under the name Guang Ping Yang tai chi, as passed down from Kuo Lien-ying to Gilles Messenger to Colin Berg, Anne Beier and Jennifer Booth, Bill's teacher.


Guang Ping Yang Tai Chi Association

The Guang Ping Yang Tai Chi Association was formed in 1997 to honor the memory of Sifu Kuo Lien-ying and in commemoration of his unselfish sharing of his many skills. The mission of the Association is to promote, perpetuate, develop interest in, and preserve the quality of Guang Ping Yang tai chi throughout the world, and to provide support for research and education in Guang Ping Yang tai chi. *Honorary Chairmen: Y.C. Chiang, Henry Look *Past Presidents: Henry Look, Donald Rubbo, Nina Hopkins Sugawara, Nick D’Antoni, Dominick Ruggieri, Randy Elia, Lawrence Riddle, Lucy Bartimole, Grace Cheng, Valarie Prince Gabel *Current President: David Chosid


Books

*''The T'ai Chi Boxing Chronicle'', Compiled and explained by Kuo Lien-ying, translated into English by Gordon Guttman *''Tai-Chi Chuan in Theory and Practice'',


Notes


References


n matters of taste there is no dispute*''Asian Mind Body Techniques'', p 216-217


External links

*
Donald and Cheryl Lynne Rubbo's Kuo webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuo, Lien-ying 1895 births 1984 deaths Chinese tai chi practitioners American tai chi practitioners