About Grandmaster Hsu Fun Yuen
Hsu Fun Yuen was born into a traditional agricultural family in Tien Tai village on the East Side of Che Chiang Province in the People's Republic of China on July 4, 1928. Suffering from a feeble constitution while young, he was prone to illness. His parents encouraged the study of Shaolin in order to obtain strength. This gradually replaced weakness with vigor and good health. Rarely ill from then on, Hsu developed a passion for Chinese Martial Arts. Following high school he continued study of Martial Arts with Li Yuanchih at a military school. Thereafter he furthered his instruction under the tutelage of Chen Man Ching in an intense study and analysis of the Martial Arts, particularly Tai Chi. Mr. Cheng was known as a connoisseur of the Tai Chi forms.
In 1951 he began a career as an instructor. In 1964 he traveled to such countries as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in hopes of popularizing the study of Tai Chi, successfully teaching over 2,000 students. In Taiwan he founded the Tai Chi Chuan Association of Taipei, Taiwan. Membership grew to 10,000.
In 1977 Sifu Hsu came to the United States and taught Tai Chi in New York and Miami. During the winter of 1978, he was invited to teach in Chicago. The amount of students in Chicago interested in learning Tai Chi steadily increased. Hence, during the summer of 1981, the Hsu Fun Yuen Tai Chi Academy in North Chicago was founded. Within 10 years of its establishment the number of students accumulated to approximately 1,000.
Below are archival images of Grandmaster Hsu, his teacher and fellow class mates.
Cheng Man Ching and Hsu Fun Yuen practicing Push Hands
Ben Lo, T.T. Liang, Cheng Man Ching, Yi Ching Bo, Hsu Fun Yuen
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