An account of Young Wabu

 Grandmaster Young Wabu

I hope I do justice to this account of Grandmaster Young Wabu. In "About my Father," his daughter Lin Yi, reports on how much he cared for his family and how busy he was as a businessman, later studying then practicing Osteopathy, teaching many Tai Chi students, and running a healing practice. The bottom line is that he was super faithful to the Tai Chi he learned from Wu Jianquan. Master Hwa also said his teacher felt every student's "duty" to pass on the art.

From "Uncovering the Treasure, Introduction":

"We can only celebrate what is transmitted from Wu Chien Chuan and the good fortune that the turmoil of war brought Wu to Hong Kong. Wu appreciated Young's natural ability and dedication by discarding the external martial arts for which Young was known. Wu was willing to stay at Young's home to teach him. They worked night and day with very little distraction. This is reflected in the rigorous and in-depth material that is passed on. If Young had sought Wu as a teacher at Wu's home base in Shanghai, he would not have had such dedicated attention since Wu was a much sought-after teacher with many students. For this, we should be thankful for what fate brought about."

I also have some information from the Qi Journal account of the Taiji vs. White Crane fight in 1951. I also put in some of my own accounts of what my teacher, Master Stephen Hwa, has stated. I should also say in addition to Master Hwa's account, that qi Journal reports Master Young was told to give up previous training to learn Taiji. I concur with that because I was told to do the same thing when I learned from the Wu Family in Toronto and became a disciple/teacher. History is beautiful but seemingly fickle if events are not recorded accurately and passed on intact. Please bear with me as I make this account.

From the Qi Journal August 2002: Grandmaster Young Wabu was one of the well-known students of Wu Jianquan. He started in Monkey Boxing. There Young was so good that his teacher, the Gatekeeper of Monkey Boxing, had him on the top of the shortlist for "Master" status. In " Uncovering the Treasure, Master Stephen Hwa reports in "Uncovering the Treasure" that Master Young was versed in several external arts that he gave up learning from Wu. However, Grandmaster Young liked Taijiquan and sought to learn it. It is reputed that the Monkey Boxing teacher asked him who he planned to learn from and stated so many were of poor skill. The story goes the Master had tears in his eyes and sighed when he heard Wu Jianquan. Apparently, the response was also like, "Okay, let me introduce you to Wu Jianquan."

The story also states the Gatekeeper was a teenage friend of Wu's, and they "fought together" in Beijing streets. So Young switched to Taijiquan Now, the stipulation from Wu was that Young had to completely give up all the skills and methods he had learned in the other system. He had to do that before even starting to learn Tai Chi.

Master Stephen Hwa has reported that Wu lived in Young's home in Hong Kong during the Japanese invasions. He reports that the intensity of the training was incredible and went on night and day. One story reported in qi Journal is Young was made to practice single movements hundreds of times before being taught a new one. Grandmaster Young was this way a very senior family student. When Jianquan returned to Shanghai, Master Young was teaching students in the Wu family classes. Those were where his daughter Sonia, then a young girl, was learning and sparring with the men. One story from Qi Journal also reports that Master Young felt junior students were too leisurely in their practice. I think Master Hwa has said his teacher could not understand why students were "so feckless" about Tai Chi. The Journal reported that as a senior student, Master Young debated hotly with Wu Gong Yi about taking the Hong Kong challenge fight with Chan Hak Fu.