About

About & history

Promoting a healthy society through the martial arts of Kung Fu and Tai Chi.

The aim of Wutan International is to promote a healthy society from which we can all benefit. By practising and teaching the martial arts of Kung Fu and Tai Chi, we aim to improve the mental, physical and spiritual health of ourselves and those around us.

Wutan Brighton teaches Kung Fu and Tai Chi in relaxed, friendly classes where everybody is welcome. Our beginners' classes suit people who have never tried before, as well as experienced martial artists who want to try new styles. All our classes aim to build your fitness and develop your skills at your own pace.

Our syllabus covers several Chinese martial arts styles, including Wing Chun, Choy Li Fut, Long Fist and Praying Mantis. All of our instructors regularly visit the head of the school in the UK, They Soon Tuan, to make sure their teaching and forms are correct.

Our lineage

History

1966 · Taiwan

Grandmaster Liu Yun Qiao & Master Wu Song Fa

In 1966 Grandmaster Liu Yun Qiao, former head trainer to the bodyguards of President Chiang Kai-shek, retired as Chairman of the Civil Defence Force in the Republic of China (Taiwan). He chose twelve disciples to pass down his skills and named his school Wutan. Many were already highly skilled martial artists, some teaching in their own right, and they brought their students with them. The result was a school with a wealth of experience and knowledge in the traditional martial arts.

One of Grandmaster Liu's later students was Master Wu Song Fa (Ng Choong Fah), already a skilful martial artist before he was accepted. He trained under strict supervision for six hours a day for many years before Grandmaster Liu accredited him as having mastered the arts of Wutan. Master Wu visits the UK every year to train students and disciples, so that Wutan UK keeps the highest standards of Wushu practice.

1981 · United Kingdom

Sifu They Soon Tuan

Master They Soon Tuan, a student of Master Wu Song Fa, began teaching in the UK in the late 1970s. Wutan Tai Chi International was registered in the UK in 1981. He is the official director of taolu (Wushu forms) for the BCCMA, the governing body for Wushu in the UK.

He began learning martial arts from his father before his seventh birthday, and from that day martial arts became the most important part of his life. He trained for at least five hours every day, learning every technique and system his Crane-style master recommended, and taught on his teacher's behalf for four years in the East before coming to the UK.

He believes many instructors fail to help their students reach their potential, even after twenty years of hard training, because they stop their own training once they reach black belt. That is why Sifu They still returns regularly to his own master for further instruction.

2001 · Brighton

Wutan Brighton

The Brighton branch was founded by Eddie Turner and Mary Stephenson, who had both trained for many years under Sarah Scotthorne at Wutan's Nottingham branch. When they left Nottingham they thought about joining an existing branch, but the founder, They Soon Tuan, encouraged them to start their own:

“If you wait for the day you know it all and feel ready, you'll be old and grey already.”

So they landed in Brighton to sow the seed of another Wutan school. The branch began in 2001 at the Withdean Sports Centre, with a small group of Tai Chi students on a 16-week course in Yang style. After a tentative start it moved to the King Alfred Leisure Centre, where the Kung Fu classes began, and then to St Peter's Church hall near the Level. Since then Wutan Brighton has gone from strength to strength and become a haven for martial arts enthusiasts. Today we train at the Hanover Community Centre, just up the hill from the Level.