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By Matt Carter

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Grandmaster Wu Kwong Yu, head of the International Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan Federation will visit the city from November 28-30 to participate in the 10th anniversary celebrations of Wu's Tai Chi Chuan Academy in Fredericton. The academy is the centre for the city's Tai Chi community. For the past few years it has been located above Victory Meat Market on King Street.

"It's an honour to have Grandmaster Wu Kwong Yu visit us in Fredericton and our students are looking forward to training with and receiving instruction from him," said Martin Kennedy, principal instructor at the Fredericton school and a student of the grandmaster for the past 27 years.

"Learning this ancient and sophisticated art from a direct descendant of Wu family will be a unique opportunity for our students." Earlier this year, Grandmaster Wu was honoured with official recognition by the People's Republic of China as the Gatekeeper of the Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan. He has been declared a national treasure. In a unique display of gratitude to this living legend and his family's legacy in marital arts, a 15-CD box set of the various facets of Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan featuring Grandmaster Wu and other direct descendants of the Wu family has been issued by the People's Republic of China.

For those practicing Tai Chi, family members like Grandmaster Wu Kwong Yu are regarded as the highest authority on the art form, having learned and practiced with the greatest masters alive "" their own family's pervious generations. Original family members are known for their unique insight into teaching techniques and concepts.

Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan is one of the three major styles of Tai Chi that exist today. Each style has been named after the family that first practiced it, taught it, and passed it down through the generations. The slow motion movements commonly associated with the art are known as forms, a collection of balanced movements and positioned that make take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes to properly complete.

"Tai chi is a low-impact, weight-bearing exercise and complex martial art but is more widely known today for enhancing physical and mental health," said Mary Kennedy, an instructor at the Fredericton school. "Tai Chi is a well rounded martial art that also improves the flow of energy through the body, leading to overall wellness and a wide range of benefits including improved strength, conditioning, coordination, and flexibility, reduced pain and stiffness, better balance and lower risk of falls, enhanced sleep, and greater awareness, calmness, and overall sense of well being." At 62, Grandmaster Wu Kwong Yu is the world's foremost authority on this style of Tai Chi and oversees instruction at several schools around the world. His presence in the capital city marks an extremely important point for the local academy.