Sifu Kuo Lien Ying
(Excerpt from Kung Fu Magazine – Article by Marilyn Cooper)
Sifu Kuo Lien Ying
“When Kuo first came to America, one of his students was David Chin. David helped build Kuo’s school on Brenham Place and gave taiji its first home in America. David gained Kuo’s trust and Kuo taught him openly. After David, Kuo clammed up. He taught everyone else how to feel good, pump up the qi, but never anything that would give them much martial ability.
David was around when I first got there. He was busy training with other masters in Chinatown basements, trying to make sense of various styles and find the inner connection. At that time, Bruce Lee was around, so he wrote up a challenge in Chinese. He showed it to a friend, who begged him to let him sign it and the rest is kung fu history.
Still on a quest for truth, David went on a drive across the country, looking up all martial arts schools in the phone book on the way. He stopped at each one and challenged the teacher, thereby fighting his way across America, much like his predecessor had done in China. I have noticed that some pretty big name teachers of today bow to him with a lot of feeling whenever they cross his path at kung fu events.”