WTBA
Founded back in 1981 as the "Australian Taiji Boxing Association", the WTBA has grown to proportions way beyond its founder's (Erle Montaigue) wildest dreams.
Back then we had around ten schools in Australia, then, as students began to arrive from New Zealand and take what they learnt back home, it became known as the Australasian Taiji Boxing Association. More and more students arrived from overseas to train with Erle Montaigue and Erle began travelling overseas twice per year to Europe and the same to the USA and Canada. Eventually those students, some of whom were already qualified instructors for many years, began teaching under the WTBA banner and some became representatives of Erle Montaigue.
Nowadays the WTBA spans many different countries with new instructors joining weekly. All are in some way attached to Erle Montaigue and his teaching. Some have come from karate backgrounds while others have come from the traditional Taiji backgrounds. People are able to join as WTBA members where-by there are not particularly instructors. All one has to do is to fill out the form and send it in with your £20.00 per year subscription fee to our quarterly Magazine, "Combat & Healing".
Those who wish to join as instructors of the WTBA must of course pass some criteria and be voted on by the members of "Head Office" in Australia. For these, there is also a one off US$50.00 fee which goes towards our building fund for our new club house on the farm.
The WTBA is not a commercial organization where grades are paid for etc. It is a group of friends with a like mind getting together for training and friendship. If for instance one of our members is travelling overseas, we can usually find he or she somewhere to stay, with one of our members. We DO have grades but they are totally informal with only a certificate given out when the time is right, nothing formal, no payments. No bowing, no calling anyone of our instructors, including Erle Montaigue, 'sifu' or 'master', we are all friends and so are on first names.
Erle Montaigue
Erle Montaigue has been practising the martial/healing art of T'ai Chi Ch'uan since 1968. His teachers include Master Wong Eog (1968), Master Chu King Hung (1973) London, Grand-master Chang Yiu-Chun one of only two disciples of Yang Shou-hou. Erle became the first student of Master Chu in London in 1973. Chu was one of three disciples of Yang Sau-chung, (1909-1985) the eldest son of the great master Yang Cheng-Fu. Erle was formally introduced to Yang Sau-chung in 1981 when he visited him at his home in Hong-Kong to have his form corrected.
In 1985, Erle and eight of his students became the first Westerners to be asked to perform at the all China National Wushu Tournament in Yinchuan China. There, Erle was tested by four of the world's greatest Chinese masters and was awarded the degree of "MASTER", the only Westerner to be given this honour. Erle now regards Chang Yiu-Chun as his main teacher from whom he learnt the "Old Yang Style" & The Dim-Mak.
Erle's books, videos and articles have helped to change the way that people look at the internal martial arts. His videos are viewed all around the world and his books are sold in China.
He is the Chairman of the WORLD TAIJI BOXING ASSOCIATION, Chairman of the WORLD THERAPEUTIC MOVEMENT ASSOCIATION, Vice Chairman of the FEDERATION OF AUSTRALASIAN WUSHU AND KUNG-FU ORGANIZATIONS, Editor of COMBAT AND HEALING MAGAZINE and has his own column in "Australasian Fighting Arts Magazine." He is also the Australasian Correspondent for Fighting Arts International, the prestigious British International Martial Arts Magazine and writes his own column for this magazine.
In 1995 May, Erle Montaigue became the first westerner to go to China to learn from the Original Wudang Shan group, namely one Liang Shiah-kan, the keeper of the original Dim-Mak Qi Disruptive Forms.
Special thanks to Erle Montaigue for the use of this material and for enhancing the quality of our training through his research and dedication.
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