In 1971 Fist's of fury starring Bruce Lee was released and at the time nothing like it had previously
been seen in England. A craze swept the country with people leaving the cinema attempting high
kicks and making high pitched noises imitating what they had just watched on screen. Jim Uglow was
one of those people and being inspired by what he had seen on screen he went looking for a teacher
who could provide some tuition. Unlike today there was no books or videos at the time which enabled
any kind of insight into what was out there, so he joined the first style which was available to him,
Karate.
While passing through the West End (London) in 1974 Jim came across a different kind of art with a
Chinese man who Jim took for being about 40 years old. He was shocked to be told this man was
actually in his early 60's. This was his first introduction to Tai Chi and he immediately joined this
class on the basis that he was Chinese and so he must know more than a Westerner.
1978 was the year Jim started training with Chu King Hung (3rd disciple of Yeung Sau Chung) for ten
years until Chu King Hung shut down his school in England. He then learned the two man form in the
UK from Chu Gin Soon (the 2nd disciple of Yeung Sau Chung) in 1994 and then went to Boston USA
to have it corrected by him.
Jim was searching for a new teacher from the time Chu King Hung shut down his school, Chu Gin Soon had not accepted him directly as his student and so he had to wait for an opportunity to present itself. Fortune arrived via one of his own students who had a lesson from Yeung Ma Lee (2nd daughter of Yeung Sau Chung) while visiting Hong Kong and subsequently was able to put Jim in contact with Yeung Sifu. January 1997 was the beginning of his training in Yeung family Tai Gik Kuen (Tai Chi Chuan) he is now Sifu Yeung’s most senior student and has studied with her for about 20 years.
In 1981 he began teaching as an assistant to Chu King Hung. On the 1st September 1983 he then became a full time teacher utilising local facilities and travelling to different venues to teach. 10 years later, on the 3rd of August 1993 Jim started his full time school which is still open and continuing to promote the art to this day with the assistance of his senior instructors.
