Chee Soo
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Chee Soo (died 1994) was the grand master of the Lee style of T'ai Chi Ch'uan and the Lee style Taoist Arts.
Chee Soo was born of a Chinese father and an English mother, and as they died when he was only a very young child, he was brought up in a Barnardo's home, which was and still is a charitable orphanage. He started his first job as a page boy in a nursing home in Earls Court, West London, and in his spare time he used to go to Hyde Park to play. One time he accidentally hit the back of an elderly gentleman who was sitting on a park bench with a ball. Having recovered his ball, he went up to the gentleman to offer his apologies, only to see that the man was also Chinese. As it was a very rare thing to see another Chinese in London in those days, they began to talk together, and even arranged to meet again. So the two began to meet fairly regularly and a very strong friendship developed between Chee Soo and the gentleman, who was Chan Kam Lee.
In the summer of 1934, Chee Soo was invited to Chan Lee's class and that was the beginning of the training to start his learning of the vast range of the Taoist martial, philosophical, healing and cultural arts that he has maintained ever since. Chan Lee, who had no family of his own, earnestly desired to keep the Taoist arts alive, and he adopted Chee Soo as his nephew, and taught him the arts whenever his work and time permitted. For Chee Soo it meant that he had someone on whom he could rely, and to advise him, and to teach him the fundamentals of the Taoist philosophical attitude to life and all that it meant.
In 1939 the Second World War broke out, and Chee Soo did his share of the fighting in France, North Africa and Burma. After the War, he was discharged from the forces and took a course in book-keeping, stock control, commercial history and sales promotion.
He managed to make contact with Chan Lee, and the class in Holborn was restarted. In 1950, Chee Soo, with Chan Lee's permission, formed his own class in Manor Road School, West Ham, East London.
In the winter of 1953 - '54, Chan Lee died, off the coast of China, near Guangdong, when the ship that he was travelling in sank in a severe storm. Chee Soo was asked to take over the leadership of the Association but declined at that particular time. By 1959, groups and clubs were being formed all over the world and they were asking for leadership. For this reason, Chee Soo decided to accept the post of President of the Association. Since then the Association has grown in the British Isles, Australia, South Africa, France, Germany, Holland, Mauritius and New Zealand.
During the 1960's Chee Soo taught kung fu and T'ai Chi to Diana Rigg and Patrick MacNee on the set of the cult television series 'The Avengers'
In 1982 Chee Soo moved to Coventry in the West Midlands where he set about training the next generation of Taoist teachers to continue his work. He devoted a great deal more time to writing and completed the publication of his series of five books about Taoism and The Lee style. Here he was remarried to Marilyn Perkin who was to become the Honorary Secretary of the Association. For many years they taught classes in the local area which are still running today, as well as many courses throughout the country and also overseas. Eventually they moved to Ebbw Vale in South Wales to be near Marilyn's elderly mother where Chee Soo died in August 1994.
[edit] Books written by Chee Soo
The Chinese Art of T'ai Chi Ch'uan - The Taoist Way to Mental and Physical Health. (ISBN 0954524403)
The Taoist Art of Feng Shou- 'Hand of the Wind' kung fu. (ISBN 095452442X)
The Taoist Art of K'ai Men - Open the door to the Inner Self through Chi Gung. (ISBN 0954524411)
The Tao of my Thoughts - The Thoughts of a Modern Taoist Master. (ISBN 0954524454)
