Sifu Tai Loi Yim is the current and Eighth Generation Grandmaster of the Hung Fut System
Sifu Tai Loi Yim
Lifelong dedication to Kung Fu
Tai Yim was born and raised in Hong Kong, where he began his martial arts training at the age of 6.
Tai Yim began training Kung Fu at the age of 6, studying Northern Shaolin with his father. He continued his early training, studying Hung Gar and Southern Mantis, until the age of 13, when he began practicing Hung Fut Kung Fu. Since then he has remained an exclusively Hung Fut stylist.
Tai Yim first witnessed a demonstration of the Hung Fut System in Hong Kong when he was 12 years old. It was given by 7th Generation Hung Fut Grandmaster Hung Yu Chung, a famous Hong Kong martial artist and the son of Hung Ju Sing, the White Haired Devil. Tai Yim liked the fact that the system was both unique and practical, with plenty of power and speed. It also impressed him that, as his future teacher was doing the Hung Fut staff form, his power was so great that the pole broke in half as he swung it. Tai Yim was so excited that he began moving and punching along with the demonstration. Following this demonstration, he realized he had found the right style and the right teacher to guide his martial arts career.
Tai Yim Embraced the Unique and Practical nature of Hung Fut
Made Hung Fut integral to his identity
Tai Yim became the 8th Generation Grandmaster of the Hung Fut Style at age 20.
When he was 13 years old, Tai Yim started practicing Hung Fut Kung Fu, becoming an instructor at Sifu Hung Yu Chung’s school by the time he was 16. Shortly after joining the school, Tai Yim became a fixture there. He was the first person to arrive each day and the last to leave at night. He regularly helped his teacher in the school with no thought of taking money for his time. Sifu Hung recognized Tai Yim’s commitment and discipline, and since he had no son of his own, adopted Tai Yim as his son. When Sifu Tai Yim was 20 years old, his teacher passed away. Before he died, Hung Yu Chung passed Hung Fut’s lineage title to him, making Tai Yim the Eighth Generation Hung Fut Grandmaster.
In 1975, Tai Yim opened his own Hung Fut School in Hong Kong. During his time in Hong Kong, Tai Yim hosted one of the largest martial arts tournaments in the history of Hong Kong. He made numerous television appearances during that period, and served for many years as an honorary board member and advisor for various organizations, including the Hong Kong News Agency and New Martial Hero magazine. As an important complement to his martial arts training, Tai Yim studied herbal medicine at the Hong Kong Kowloon Herbal College, graduating in 1976.
Bringing ancestral wisdom to the West
Grandmaster Hung Yu Chung had always wished to take Hung Fut to the Western world.
In 1977, in fulfillment of his teacher’s wish, Sifu Tai Yim immigrated to the United States to spread the Hung Fut System. He opened his first Hung Fut School in Wheaton, Maryland in 1979 and, eight years later, opened a second school in Fairfax, Virginia. Currently, Sifu Tai Yim heads the Hung Fut Kung Fu School in Kensington, Maryland, where he continues to teach and spread the Hung Fut System.
Less than a year later, he co-founded the North American Chinese Martial Arts Federation (NACMAF), now called the United States Traditional Kung Fu Wushu Federation, to unite and promote the Chinese martial arts community. He was also appointed to the Board of Directors of the Chinese-American Communities of the United States that year. In 1987, he became vice president of the Cantonese Association of Greater Washington.
Focused on growing the Marial Arts community.
During the decade of the 1990s, Sifu Tai Yim continued to be very active in the martial arts arena, taking an even greater leadership role.
In 1991, he produced two martial arts motion pictures in the United States. In 1993, along with colleagues from NACMAF, he founded the United States of America Wushu-Kung Fu Federation. In 1995, he co-hosted the World Wushu Championship, held in the United States that year. Currently, Sifu Tai Yim serves as president of the World Hung Fut Kung Fu Federation and president of the United States Hung Fut Kung Fu Federation.
Promoting the Kung Fu Culture
Over the years, Sifu Tai Yim has produced many national and international champions and grand-champions, several of whom are currently instructors at the Hung Fut Kung Fu School. He has also worked diligently to promote Chinese martial arts and culture by hosting numerous tournaments and conducting frequent workshops. Sifu Tai Yim’s wish is for the general public to benefit from Chinese martial arts, thus fostering friendship and understanding between cultures, and helping to engender mutual respect and world peace. Today, at his school in Kensington, Maryland, Sifu Tai Yim continues to promote Chinese martial arts around the world so that they will flourish for generations to come.
what They’re Saying
From our Students
I can’t say enough good things about Tai Yim Kung Fu. I have been going to this school for over 30 years and I’m proud to say that my twin sons are now attending as well. When it comes to traditional Shaolin Kung Fu there is no other school that comes close. I am also very pleased with the schools ability to continue teaching during Covid-19 with online lessons. Thank you Sifu Tai Yim for years of learning and life lessons.
I became interested in martial arts as a young adult entering college. After playing sports at a competitive level and deciding to stop, I was looking for a meaningful way to continue developing myself. Fortunately, I had a family member that was well known as a teacher in the Chinese martial arts community for over 30 years, but with whom I had never practiced simply due to distance. As I took an interest in joining a school, he was very keen on helping me find a place that would have something real to offer.
The moment I mentioned Sifu Tai Yim’s name, he made it clear that that was where I needed to go. More than a decade later, I’m very comfortable saying it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made for myself. Traditional martial arts have a unique ability to cultivate both competence and humility in a person through the pursuit of a practical skill – in the case of Hung Fut, it’s a skill that has been carefully maintained for generations. If this is what you’re looking for, Sifu Tai Yim is one of the few teachers with the knowledge and ability to truly offer it.
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