Eldest Son of Grand Master Wu Chien Chuan (The Third Generation Grand Master) (1900-1970)

Grand Master Wu Kung Yi was the eldest son of the third generation. He was instrumental in spreading Tai Chi Chuan throughout the South East Asia. In 1954, Grand Master Wu Kung Yi responded to the controversy started by a newspaper in Hong Kong regarding the validity of Tai Chi Chuan as a martial art by agreeing to accept a challenge to fight another style of martial art. He put only one restriction on the match - that the proceeds of it be donated to charity. The contest of the two different styles of martial arts intrigued thousands who came to view it. Grand Master Wu Kung Yi was fifty-three at that time, some twenty years older than his opponent. It soon became apparent to the committee overseeing the fight that the opponents were not mismatched and that the contest was a serious one indeed. At the completion of the second round, they ended the fight by voting it to be a draw. Grand Master Wu Kung Yi had clearly demonstrated Wu's Tai Chi Chuan as a formidable style of martial art. Previously in 1937, Grand Master Wu Kung Yi and his brother Grand 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 by Grand Master Wu Kung Yi and the Macau Academy by Grand Master Wu Kung Cho. These two centres developed large followers. In the 1960's, Grand Master Wu Kung Yi taught Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan on television and sat on the Advisory Board of the Martial Arts Association in Hong Kong. In the 1950's, Grand Master Wu King Yi promoted throughout Asia the development of a new segmented form, a detailed, small circle 108 Standard Form. He was the Gatekeeper of the Wu Style from 1942 until he passed away in 1970.