Ma Yueliang

Ma Yueliang or Ma Yueh-liang  (1 August 1901 – 13 March 1998)  was a famous Manchu teacher of tai chi. He was the senior disciple of Wu Jianquan, the founder of Wu-style tai chi, and married Wu's daughter Wu Yinghua in 1930.

Biography
Ma Yueliang was also a medical doctor who graduated from the Beijing Medical College in 1929 with a specialty in hematology. He established the First Medical Examination and Experiment Office and ran the blood clinics at Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai. Like Wu Quanyou and Wu Jianquan, Ma was of Manchu descent. Ma was educated both in the traditions traditional Chinese medicine and Western science.

There are accounts that Ma was a gifted martial artist in his youth. He had studied a number of martial arts including, Shaolinquan, Three Emperors Pao Chui, Baguazhang and Tongbeiquan. However, Wu Jianquan would accept Ma as a student only if he concentrated on Wu-style tai chi. From about age 18, Ma exclusively studied Wu-style tai chi. Wu Jianquan started the Jianquan Taijiquan Association in Shanghai in 1936, and Ma became the deputy director of the Association. Ma studied tai chi with Wu Jianquan until the death of his teacher in 1942. The Jianquan Association still exists today internationally and remains a resource for the study of Wu-style tai chi.

It is difficult to overstate the importance of Ma Yueliang and his wife in the emergence of Wu-style tai chi after the Cultural Revolution in China. Even at an advanced age, Ma was chosen as one of the 100 Best Martial Artists in China. Wu Yinghua and Ma continued to teach in tai chi until their deaths. They taught a large number of students in Shanghai and in their travels to New Zealand, Germany and elsewhere. They published several books on Wu-style tai chi, including the "Orange Book" relied upon today by Wu-stylists throughout the world. Ma and Wu Yinghua's Wu-style sword/weapons book includes a family picture with several of their closest students. Ma Yueliang also publicly practiced a number of formerly closed door (private or family secret) forms and methods so that they would not be lost. In public, Wu Yinghua would often demonstrate the Wu-style Slow Set and Ma would follow by demonstrating the Wu Style Tai Chi Fast Form. Ma taught many high level students, including Xie Bing Can and Fei Gua-ching, who is still active in the Jianquan Taijiquan Association in Shanghai. Li Liqun is one of Grandmaster Ma's oldest and closest living students.  He was the deputy vice-secretary of the Jianquan Association in Shanghai under masters Ma and his wife Wu Yinghua.

Ma Yueliang and Wu Yinghua are survived by their children and grandchildren, including: Ma Jiangchun (b. 1931), Dr. Ma Hailong (b. 1935), Ma Jiangbao, and Ma Jiangling (b. 1947). Ma Jiangbao lived in the Netherlands and taught traditional tai chi throughout Europe. Their adopted daughter Shi Mei Lin now lives and teaches Wu-style tai chi in New Zealand. She also has students in France and in the United States (Tucson, Arizona).

References

Bibliography
Wu Kung-tsao. Wu Family T'ai Chi Ch'uan (吳家太極拳) Hong Kong 1980, Toronto 2006, 
 Wu Yinghua, Ma Yueliang, Shi Mei Lin (1987). Wu Style Tai Chi Fast Form. Henan Science Skills Ltd. Henan (only available in Chinese) /G122.
 Wu Yinghua, Ma Yueliang, Shi Mei Lin (1991). Wu Style Tai Chi Fast Form. Shanghai Book Co Ltd, Hong Kong (only available in Chinese) . .
 Wu Yinghua, Ma Yueliang (1993). Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Forms, Concepts and Application of the Original Style. Shanghai Book Co Ltd, Hong Kong. .
 Ma Yueliang & Zee Wen (1986, 1990, 1995). Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Push Hands. Shanghai Book Co Ltd, Hong Kong. .
 Dr Zee Wen (2002) Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan, Ancient Chinese way to health. North Atlantic Books. .

Tai chi lineage tree with Wu-style focus

External links
Google video of Ma Yueliang performing Wu-style fast form
QuickTime movie of Ma Yueliang performing 13 posture spear form

 by Bill Moyers

Ma Jiangbao's Traditional Wu-style Taijiquan website
Wu-style Taijiquan website: Shanghai

1901 births
1998 deaths
Chinese tai chi practitioners
Manchu martial artists