MASTER

CHANG DSU YAO

Master Chang Dsu Yao was born in June 14th 1918 in P'ei Hsien, a rural area of the central part of China actually situated in The Kiang Su but anciently it was part of the near district of Shantung. In 1924 he started the practice of kung fu Shaolin Ch'uan style, under the guide of the famous Master liu Pao Ch'un (also known as Liu Chin Ch'en) a middle-aged man who later after will introduce Master Chang Dsu Yao also to the Yang family's T'ai Chi Ch'uan (Master  Liu Chin Ch'en was in fact a good friend of Yang Ch’eng Fu  who was the most relevant exponent of the style).

The hard trainings with Liu Pao Ch’ün caught up the apex during the period of the cut of the grain, when the job in the fields was very stressful.

In 1938 Master Chang Dsu Yao chose the military career by entering as a cadet in the Cadet Officers Academy in Kuei Lin where he will have the opportunity to meet other great Masters with whom he will share his own knowledge about martial arts and they will give him further precious teachings about it. In particular, he will learn the Pa Chi Ch’üan, while Master Chang Ch’ing P’o (among his preceptors he praised also Yang Ch’eng Fu and Sun Lu T’ang) will give him inner styles (nei chia) lessons: Hsing I Ch’üan, Pa Kua Chang and Liang I Ch’üan (a very frequent style in the Anhwei district).

After he became an Officer, Master Chang Dsu Yao will face the dramatic experience of war, before in the second world war and then in the one between the Mao Tse Tung's communist forces  and Chiang Chie Hsi's  nationalist army. After the defeat of the latter, in 1949 Master Chang Dsu Yao, moved to Taiwan as other great Kung Fu Masters did.

Here he continued his relationship with Chang Ch’ing P’o and he frequented for many years well-known Masters as Cheng Man Ch’ing, Yang Ch’eng Fu's student, and Liu Yun Chiao who invited him to teach in his Association and to write columns on the valuable Wu Tan magazine founded by himself. In Taipei he will be charged to teach traditional chinese martial arts to the national army and years later, also to the police forces. In these fields his lessons were particularly focused on essential and direct trainings mostly according to Lien Pu Ch’üan and Pa Chi Ch’üan styles.

In the 60's Master Chang Dsu Yao will have the opportunity to teach Shaolin Ch'uan and T'ai Chi Ch'uan at The University of Taipei.

In 1974 Chang Dsu Yao decided to quit the army, and an year later, invited by a compatriot, he will move to Bologna, Italy, where he will start to teach kung fu for free in a city park, gathering several students, in a first time mostly chinese people. In 1977 Master Chang Dsu yao moved to the province of Milan and he made of this city the startin point of his teaching in Italy and in Europe.

Master Chang Dsu yao died in the beginnings of 1992 while he was in Taiwan for the new Year festievities.