Bak Mei Kung Fu Vancouver
MASTER WILKIE WU 胡偉坤師傅
Master Wilkie Wai-Kwan Wu was born in 1948 in the city of Guangzhou, China.
He was educated in Guangzhou and immigrated to Hong Kong in 1962, where he started learning martial arts at a very young age at Yip Chi Sum's Bak Mei Athletic School. Since 1963, he has studied Bak Mei under the tutelage of respected Bak Mei Grandmasters Yip Chi Sum, the late Kwok Chi Cheung, and the late Chow Fuk. His curriculum included routine wushu training, weapons training, sparring, theory and history studies. During the course of his studies, he often participated in demonstrations, competitions, and lion dances during festivals. In 1968, Wilkie's intensive training was completed at the Wushu school in Hong Kong, where he stayed on as an assistant coach.
In 1969, Wilkie immigrated to Canada to further his education. During his years in university he taught martial arts in his spare time. Wilkie was the first to introduce Bak Mei in Canada. It has spread ever since.
In the 1970s, he opened a school and taught Bak Mei in Vancouver's Chinatown. The school became so popular that it was required to separate students into multiple classes; Wilkie also invited Master Yip Chi Sum to come to Vancouver and stay and help out at the school for a few years in order to better train the students. During those years, he taught many students and participated in numerous competitions and demonstrations, helping to promote Chinese martial arts to Canadian society.
In the early 1980s, Wilkie was honoured to be invited as a coach to teach the Dragon Sign Athletic Association of North America where he helped train many students. In 1984, he was selected as one of the members of the Canadian National Wushu Team to represent Canada. participating at the 1985 World Wushu Invitational Competition in China.
Through the 2000s, Wilkie became a committee member who participated in organizing the International Chinese Martial Arts Championship, hosted by the Western Canada Chinese Martial Arts Association in Vancouver. He was awarded an achievement award from the Canadian Chinese Wushu Organization (CCWO National) for Outstanding Contribution to the Martial Arts. In 2004, Wilkie was a Canadian team leader for the first World Traditional Wushu Competition in Zhengzhou, China.
Wilkie was a former President of the Western Canada Chinese Martial Arts Association and current President of the Bak Mei Vancouver and the Canada Bak Mei Martial Arts Association, as well as the Overseas Vice-President of the Hong Kong Pak Mei Martial Arts Association.
Wilkie has trained hundreds of students, many of whom have won great honours and awards, in Canada and internationally. Wilkie Wu is highly regarded in the Chinese martial arts community in Vancouver. He currently teaches Bak Mei in Vancouver and actively participates in various organizations promoting Chinese martial arts.
Sifu Wilkie Wu
The Bak Mei Kung Fu Association (白眉國術會) on Powell Street in Vancouver's Chinatown in 1973 where Wilkie Wu taught Bak Mei. Grandmaster Yip Chi Sum hand-painted the sign.
Photo is "Orange Cars, Powell" by Fred Herzog.