Search the internet and you can find many independent martial arts instructors, but that's not the case with the Wutan School, where the instructors can trace a lineage of teaching back to Wu Chong (1712–1797), whose skills in martial arts so impressed a Taoist that he taught the young Wu for ten years. Six generations later, those skills were taught to Liu Yun Qiao, who would become the founder of the Wutan school.

Wutan UK, founded by Master They Soon Tuan, was officially registered with the British Kung Fu Council and Martial Arts Commission in March 1981.

The Wutan school covers a range of martial arts, from Tai Chi, Pa Gua and Hsing I to Chai Lei Fut, Praying Mantis, Wing Chun, Ba Ji Chuan, Pi Qua, Mi Zhong and Kickboxing. All these arts cover both the internal (meditative) and external (combative) features of the martial arts. To find out more about the Wutan school, visit the Wutan UK website.

Bath Wutan has been going for more than three decades, providing the well-documented benefits of Tai Chi, Kung Fu and Qigong. In fact, the NHS recommends Tai Chi and Qigong as forms of exercise and relaxation that can improve flexibility, mobility, balance and posture, as well as reduce stress and tension.

Here's a brief history on how Wutan Bath came into being: due to an error in the Bath Chronicle, in which the wrong location was printed, one day in April 1991 around 40 students waited with great anticipation at Manvers St Baptist Church for a Tai Chi demonstration, while Andrew Carter, the Wutan instructor, sat disconsolately in an empty hall at Holy Trinity Church on Monmouth Place! However, a successful session was achieved the following week.

Wutan Bath was established in 1992. By the late 1990s the branch moved to Percy Community Centre on New King Street to accommodate much larger classes. In 2002, Wutan Bath moved to its current location, Hayesfield Lower School on Brougham Hayes. The branch has extended to additional instructors who teach at other sites.

At the age of seven, Liu Yun Qiao (1909–1992) began his training with Li Su Wen (1864–1934), perhaps the most famous practitioner of the six generations who were taught Pa Ze, starting with Wu Chong (1712–1797). Liu would eventually become the head trainer to the bodyguards for the president of China. Grand Master Liu Yun Qiao retired from his post in 1966 and founded the Wutan martial arts school. He chose 12 disciples, most of whom were already highly skilled in martial arts, to teach them his skills. From this auspicious beginning, the Wutan School now has masters and schools throughout the world.

One of Grand Master Liu Yun Qiao's senior disciples, Wu Song Fa (d. 2018) trained with Grand Master Liu Yun Qiao for many years before being accredited as having mastered the arts of Wutan. Master Wu taught many disciples in Malaysia, and he also gave in-depth training to 12 senior students in Wutan UK.

They Soon Tuan began learning the martial arts from his father by the age of seven, practising five hours a day, and at the age of 15 was put in charge of his Crane Kung Fu school. His Kung Fu master sent him to train under other teachers to learn different systems. After many years of training, Master Wu Song Fa accepted They as his student. On arriving in the UK to study at university, They founded a martial arts school here in 1977 to promote the correct teaching of authentic Chinese martial arts (which are collectively known as Wushu), and he was given permission by Grand Master Liu Yun Qiao to use the Wutan name in 1986.

Master They has held the role of Taolu Director of the British Council for Chinese Martial Arts (BCCMA), instructing top athletes that include UK and international champions, and has trained British Wushu teams. His Wutan UK school has brought many thousands of people to greater health and happiness over more than four decades.