Dr. Wu was born in 1916 in Guangzhou, China. He was the inheritor of his family’s knowledge of medicine, philosophy, and the martial arts. Professionally his family members were medical practitioners that utilized both Chinese and Western techniques. Dr. Wu himself received a Bachelor of Science degree in Horticulture from the University of Nanjing in 1940.
After winning a scholarship from the Chinese Nationalist government, he came to the United States in 1947 to pursue graduate studies at the Ohio State University. He subsequently earned a Master of Science degree in Horticulture in 1950 as well as a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Plant Biochemistry in 1957 both from that institution. This relationship with OSU would continue throughout his life as Dr. Wu was the driving force behind the Ohio State University Alumni Association Chinese Culture Club. He also taught at OSU and other various schools such as Antioch College, Kenyon College, Wittenburg University, Wright State University, and the University of Dayton. And although Dr. Wu also had experience in industry working for the American Chemical Society throughout the 1960’s, probably his greatest impact on the world has been through the martial arts.
Dr. Wu began teaching Chinese Kung Fu in 1957 at Antioch College. Having studied not only from his family but from several noted instructors in China, he taught many different styles of kung fu and qi gong as well as the application of chinese philosophy in the day-to-day world. Dr. Wu remained an avid student of Taoism, Ch’an Buddhism, the I Ching, and I Ching astrology throughout his life. He was the head of the Guang Hua Mountain Ba Gua Zhang school in the western hemisphere as well as in Europe and he was the founder and president of Dr. Wu’s Chinese Kung Fu & Tai Chi Chuan Institute in Columbus, Ohio. He continued to teach the martial arts actively until his death in September of 2000.