Grandmaster Willy Lin

Grandmaster Willy Lin was born in 1938 in Tai-Chung, Taiwan. From 1960 until he emigrated to the United States by way of Brazil, Willy Lin was head instructor and assistant to Wang Jyue Jen, the martial artist who introduced T'ien Shan P'ai from China to Taiwan.

Everything Grandmaster Willy Lin knows about martial arts, he learned from his teacher, Wang Jyue Jen. Grandmaster Willy Lin has never studied any other system or trained with any other person.

Lin became a student of T'ien Shan P'ai in 1957 in his hometown of Taichung, Taiwan.

After studying with Wang Jyue Jen for 5 years, Grandmaster Willy Lin was selected for special private training along with his classmate, Tsong Chung Chen. Grandmaster Willy Lin isn't sure if they were the first to be selected for this training, because his teacher never spoke of any others before whom he had trained at this level. Wang only spoke of "students" and "old students."

In 1962 Wang considered Lin and Chen his most advanced students. He invited them to receive special training at that time and performed a private ceremony for them to formalize their commitment to T'ien Shan P'ai.

Once Grandmaster Willy Lin's special training was completed, he alone was asked to become Wang's assistant and his head instructor. For the next six years Lin taught at his teacher's school, "Lei Sheng Wu Yuan" or "Thunder Sound Martial Arts Garden."

In 1968 Grandmaster Willy Lin emigrated from Taiwan to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he taught martial arts to the Sao Paulo Chinese Association and to the Sao Paulo Police Department. In 1970 he came to the United States, where he opened his first school in 1971 in the Washington DC area.

So far as Grandmaster Willy Lin knows, he was the first person to introduce and to teach Wang Jyue Jen's system of T'ien Shan P'ai in this country.

Grandmaster Willy Lin currently resides in New York, and his teachings have given birth to several martial art institutions in and around the East Coast of the United States. In accordance with Grand Master Wang's philosophy, Grandmaster Willy Lin continues to believe that Chinese boxing serves primarily as a means to perfecting life. This perfection encompasses preservation of health, remedies for physical and mental weakness, and improvement of one's personality.

Although Grandmaster Willy Lin has necessarily made some concessions to the American way of life, he still retains the Chinese method of martial arts instruction. As he likes to explain: "The teacher will first show the student how to paint a dragon's outline and larger details. The student's practice will make him skilled in that particular endeavor. When he has perfected painting so, the master will come and show his student how to paint the eyes of the dragon, thus breathing life into the painting."

Grandmaster Willy Lin has always been a devoted disciple of his mentor's teachings. He is presently 86 years old and has been practicing martial arts for 67 years.

Click here for information about upcoming Grandmaster Willy Lin Seminars.

Visit Grandmaster Willy Lin's website:

http://www.LinKungFu.com/

Grandmaster Wang Jyue Jen

Tien Shan Pai Grandmasters Reunion