RED DRAGON MARTIAL ARTS ACADEMY
History of Tai Chuan Tao
TAI CHUAN TAO was founded by Grand Master Cheng Lu [sometimes refered to as Kwon Sup Lou] He was born in the Honan province of Mainland China in December,1918. His mother was of Chinese decent and his father was the Korean Military Ambassador. It was in 1922 that the family moved back to Myong County in Korea.
At the age of eleven,his father sent him to study calligraphy with a well known scholar,Mr. Han IL Dong, in Seoul,Korea. It was during that time that Mr.Han began teaching him Tae Kyon,an art that was only known by royalty and a select few in the military. Mr. Han was a master of Tae Kyon [The root of Tae Kwon Do] Which is an art predominently comprised of kicking techniques and foot manuvers. It was during that time that Lu met and became close to Choi Hong Hi [the founder of modern Tae Kwon Do]. While training with Mr. Han, Cheng Lu and Hong Choi became very good friends and shared many interests.
In the year of 1935, Choi went to Japan to further his education, Cheng Lu and his mother moved back to Honan Province in China to live with his mother's cousin, because of the death of his father and to further his education and martial arts training.
His mother's cousin was Master Chen Pan Ling, a Master of the Internal Arts of Ta Sheng Chuan [Monkey Boxing] and Taun Chaun (short boxing). He was also a professor of Engineering. While under the tutelege of Master Ling, he remained in close contact with Choi Hong Hi, who was still in Japan. While in Japan,Choi became very proficient at Isshin Ryu and Shotokan Karate, which blended well with the Tae Kyon which consisted of all kicking tactics.
Choi then returned to Korea aroung 1940. Choi became very influential in the military. He was Chief Commander for all the Special Forces in Korea known as The Korean Roks. Cheng Lu stayed in touch with Choi and in 1946, he returned to Korea to the Tae Jong to train with The Second Regiment, a special forces unit, under the guidance of Choi. By 1953, Choi had become very powerful both politically and militarily. He wanted to expand his Tae Kwon Do to the rest of the Asian countries. During this time, Master Lu had become an Eighth Dan in Tae Kwon Do Chung-Moo-Kwon. This system was developed for the civilian population. By 1955, the first book on Tae Kwon Do was written and Choi started to expand Tae Kwon Do throughout Asia.
It was in 1956 when Master Lu returned to Kuo Chung, Taiwan where his mother and Master Chen Pan Ling were living. Master Ling was in Taiwan teaching at the University of Taiwan in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.
Master Ling was a leading authority of Chinese boxing. He was also known for organizing special tournaments held Taiwan.
Master Lu began instructing the Taiwanese Special Forces Units using the Tae Kwon Do that was developed by Choi between the years of 1956 through 1972.
Throughout his sixteen years of teaching The Special Forces the system of Tae Kwon Do, he is also been developing his own system of Tai Chuan Tao, adding the internal to the external principles. He found that blending and redirecting rather than stopping and intercepting, to be a much more efficient and effective system for actual combat situations, in both mental and physical strategies. He continuously trained under the guideance of Master Ling until his death in 1967. Master Ling's death inspired and motivated Master Lu to complete the system of Tai Chuan Tao into a structured format that could be taught.
In 1972 Master Lu took Tai Chuan Tao from his private Kwoon and introduced it to the Taiwanese Special Forces (Navy Seals) as part of their regular regimen. With the diversity of Tai Chaun Tao he felt that it was a complete and spontanious system for actual combative situations, which was needed for special forces.
Master Lu was a devoted Taoist who believed that people had their own unique Tao (way), and that one should be allowed to cultivate and refine it, rather than suppressing it, which in turn strengthens our weaknesses and refines our strengths.
In June of 1972, Sigung Gabriel first met Master Lu while stationed in Tainan,Taiwan while in the United States Air Force. He was introduced to him by William Rankins, an American that had been in Taiwan for five years. He had known of Master Lu for quite some time. Sifu Gabriel, being a Third Dan in Tae Kwon Do, found that his martial arts training felt incomplete to him. After meeting Master Lu and seeing Tai Chuan Tao, he felt that he had found what was missing in his own training. It took three months of continuously going to Master Lu's Kwoon (training hall) and training with some of the students and doing tasks at the Kwoon before Master Lu accepted him as a student. He began teaching and showing him of Tai Chuan Tao. After training with Cheng Lu for two years, he became a disciple. A disciple is equal in meaning to private tutelege. After returning to the United States in 1976, Sifu Gabriel started to demonstrate and introduce Tai Chuan Tao. In 1978 the first Red Dragon Martial Arts Academy of Tai Chuan Tao was opened. In 1979 The American Tai Chuan Tao Association was formed. In 1987 Sifi Gabriel's first disciple of Tai Chuan Tao, Sifu David Collins, began teaching the system at the Red Dragon Martial Arts Academy in Wareham, MA. The system has been growing ever since with its instructors continuously developing and refining it. Tai Chuan Tao is now internationally recognized, and is becoming very prominent in competitive sport karate circuits. Our goal is to show that the true science of Tai Chuan Tao means to practice it in such a way that it will be useful in all things.
(Exerpted from an interview with Sigung John Gabriel)
Mr. Rebelo started training with Sifu John Gabriel in 1979, He stayed with Sifu Gabriel for several years. He was one of the first individuals to achieve Nimyu sash [red with black toungues] in Tai Chuan Tao in november of 1981. Mr. Rebelo acted as public relations officer for the American Tai Chuan Tao association since it's conception, and after training in many other arts, eventually recieved his Black belt/sash in Tai Chuan Tao.