Master Wu Tai Kwei –吳大揆 (1923 – 1972)

Fourth Generation, Eldest Son of Master Wu Kung Yi

Master Wu Tai Kwei was the eldest son of the fourth generation. He was a highly respected martial artist who continued the work of his father Master Wu Kung Yi in establishing Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan throughout the Orient. There were academies in Hong Kong, Kowloon, Macau, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. The Japanese invited him in the nineteen fifties to introduce the Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan into Japan. He also brought the Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan to the mass media by often appearing on television in Hong Kong and Singapore.

One of his aspirations was to expand Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan into North America. However, he did not live to see that become a reality.

In 1937 Master Wu Kung Yi and his eldest son Master Wu Tai Kwei also assisted Master Wu Kung Cho 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, the Macau academy by Master Wu Tai Kwei. These two centres developed large followings.

After the Charity Fight in Macau’s Flower Garden Hotel in January 1954, the Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan became even more renowned. Various Chinese communities throughout Southeast Asia requested that branch academies be set up for them. Master Wu Kung Yi sent 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 Po Man Mansion on Kowloon’s Jordan Road was purchased and made into the Headquarters of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Academies. The original Headquarters on Hong Kong’s Lockhart Road was made into a branch academy headed up by Master Wu Kung Yi’s daughter Master Wu Yan Hsia and son-in-law Kuo Shao Chiong.

Master Wu Tai Kwei sat on the Advisory Board of the Martial Art Association in Hong Kong.

During the 1960’s, several students from Hong Kong migrated to Canada and when established, a group of them requested Master Wu Tai Kwei to come and set up an Academy in Canada. Unfortunately he passed away before he could realize this. His wish to come to establish a club in Toronto was passed on to his brother Master Wu Tai Chi and his oldest son Master Eddie Wu.