Tai Chi Chuan – The Professor Cheng Man Ching lineage:
Wong’s Academy of Chinese Martial Arts is a traditional martial arts school teaching Tai Chi Chuan following the lineage of Professor Cheng Man Ching 鄭曼青and Huang Sheng-shyan 黄性賢to adults of all ages.
The Academy is founded upon the principles of respect, integrity, honour, virtue and goodwill to all. These are values that are expected from all of the Academy’s members. Chow Gar and Tai Chi are both taught in the traditional manner, requiring from student; diligence, patience, self-discipline and application.
In his book entitled “Introduction to Tai Chi Chuan”, Grandmaster Kit Po WONG wrote: “ Tai Chi Chuan 太極拳 , a fruit of the combination of Chinese philosophy, medical theory and martial arts, has more than a thousand year history since it was created by the Founder Rev. Cheng San-feng 張三丰 . It was not known outside China until this (20th) century. Today, not only do people practice it in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, but also in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and other Western countries. It is through the hard work of great masters like Yang Cheng-fu 楊澄甫, Cheng Man-ching 鄭曼青, Huang Sheng-shyan 黄性賢 and many others that Tai Chi Chuan gained its popularity. The gentle and slow movements of Tai Chi Chuan make it suitable for people of all ages, whether they are strong or weak. The principal aim of the art is to help people to maintain good health, and to attain everlasting youth. In view of this, the martial art aspect of Tai Chi Chuan is only secondary, although all great masters of Tai Chi Chuan are great martial artists.
The Tai Chi Chuan movements contain many circles and they are performed slowly and evenly. The origin of the circles comes from the rotation of the waists. By going through the movements slowly and evenly, long, deep and even breathing can be developed. Although it is dynamic in form externally, through the movement, internal tranquillity is sought. This is beneficial to the nervous system. Daily practice of the Tai Chi postures helps to regulate the blood circulation, increase the rate of metabolism, reduce high blood pressure and soften the blood vessels. Moreover, it promotes digestion by cleaning the digestive organs. The postures, when performed correctly, provide massage to the internal organs, especially the kidneys. It can be said that the practice of Tai Chi Chuan assists people with high blood pressure, tuberculosis, neurasthenia, paralysis, gastric and enteric diseases and kidney diseases, to the road of recovery.”
Wong’s Academy of Chinese Martial Arts teaches Tai Chi Chuan in the traditional way passed down to Grandmaster Kit Po Wong. While instruction is gained in groups of students according to their general level of knowledge and aptitude, the Academy understands that progress for each student is an individual path so there is no pressure to move up in “levels”. Wong’s Academy of Chinese Martial Arts teaches Tai Chi in a friendly collegiate and non-aggressive atmosphere where the progress of each student is more important than competition.
The Academy teaches formal classes on Saturday afternoons that include a balanced training regime consisting of loosening exercises, basic stances and transfer of weight drills, 37-posture Short Form (短架), Long Form (長架) and push hands (推手). Students will first learn the Short Form, followed by the Long Form. Once students have a solid grounding in these two forms they may progress to learn over time; Tan Do (單刀, Single Broadsword) and Gim (劍, Tai Chi Straight Sword).
Tai Chi Lineage
This lineage shows the transmission of Tai Chi Chuan in relation to Wong’s Academy of Chinese Martial Arts only. Grandmaster WONG Kit Po acknowledged his many other colleagues who studied under Master HUANG Sheng Hsyan (黃性賢).