As a young man, he studied t'ai chi ch'uan, along with his brother, under the supervision of Yang Shao-hou. There was a tradition in the Chinese martial arts that youngsters be taught by teachers of a generation older than their parents'. Since Wu Ch'uan-yü had died the same year Wu Kung-tsao was born, he and his brother were taught by Yang Shao-hou, who was technically a generation senior to their father. Both Yang Shao-hou and Wu Chien-ch'üan were famous for their "small circle" martial expertise. The motions of t'ai chi ch'uan forms and pushing hands are all based on different sized circles, small circle movements in the forms and applications follow a more compact pathway for different leverage applications than larger circles.
In the 1920s Wu Kung-tsao served first as an infantry officer in the Thirteenth Brigade of the army until 1929, then later as a martial art instructor for the Hunan Martial Arts Training Centre as well as an instructor for the famous martial art school. During the 1930s, he wrote a well-known commentary on the in 40 chapters on t'ai chi ch'uan that his grandfather had inherited from Yang Pan-hou. His commentary was published as ''Wu Chia T'ai Chi Ch'uan'' , also known by speakers as ''The Gold Book'' because of the colour of its cover. In 1937, he established his family's first school in Hong Kong. In addition to his teaching and literary contributions to the art, Wu Kung-tsao became known as a specialist in the aspect of T'ai Chi training, both for martial purposes and for therapeutic interventions along the lines of traditional Chinese medicine.
Wu Kung-tsao stayed on the mainland after the Chinese Communist takeover in 1949. During and for a short time after the Cultural Revolution of 1964-1978 he was imprisoned by the Red Guards due to his history as a Nationalist military officer, a traditional Confucian scholar and Taoist teacher as well as a hostage to ensure the "good behaviour" of the rest of his family who were at the time living in Shanghai and Hong Kong. He was routinely tortured while a prisoner but was finally released in 1979, when he moved again to Hong Kong.
Wu Kung-tsao's second son Wu Ta-hsin was also known as an expert martial artist and teacher who in his turn was the senior instructor of the Wu family schools internationally from 2001 until 2005.
Generational senior instructors of the Wu family
''1st Generation''
Wu Ch'uan-yü , who learned from Yang Lu-ch'an and Yang Pan-hou, was senior instructor of the family from 1870-1902.
''2nd generation''
His oldest son, Wu Chien-ch'üan , was senior from 1902-1942.
''3rd Generation''
His oldest son, Wu Kung-i was senior from 1942-1970.
''3rd Generation''
Wu Kung-i's younger brother, Wu Kung-tsao , was senior from 1970-1983.
''3rd Generation''
Wu Kung-i's younger sister, Wu Ying-hua , was senior from 1983-1997.
''4th Generation''
Wu Kung-i's daughter , Wu Yen-hsia was senior from 1997-2001.
''4th Generation''
Wu Kung-tsao's son, Wu Ta-hsin , was senior from 2001-2005.
''5th Generation''
The current senior instructor of the Wu family is Wu Ta-k'uei's son Wu Kuang-yu .
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