Kuo Lien Ying

Kuo Lien Ying studied various martial arts from the time he was 12 years old. He was eager to improve his skills so he could better serve his country. China was in turmoil. When he heard of the mastery of Wang Chou Yee (see History), he went to visit him in Beijing. Acknowledging Kuo as an outstanding and intelligent young man with a solid foundation in martial arts, Wang decided to teach him the 64-movement form of tai chi chuan. Beyond their teacher-student relationship, the two became good friends and pledged to each other that they would pass on the 64-movement form to later generations. They vowed not to change any aspect of the set, so that the lineage would remain pure and the best of the Chinese martial arts would not be lost. Kuo, who had served as an assemblyman in the National Assembly of China, left his homeland in 1952, traveled through Hong Kong, and then settled in Taiwan for 14 years. In Taiwan, he researched and wrote about tai chi chuan while teaching martial arts part-time. In 1965, at the invitation of Huang Wen Shan, dean of the Chinese Cultural Institute, he sailed to the United States. In San Francisco’s Chinatown, and with his wife, Simmone Kuo, he founded the Lien Ying Tai Chi Chuan Academy. The Kuos were very well received by the locals, and the studio has flourished ever since.

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