Tai Ba Gua History

‘Tai’ Martial Arts are part of the Japanese Invasion of Martial Arts into America
after World War II. David German, the founding Grand Master of Tai (Transitional
Arts Incorporated), is typical of the influx of highly trained Martial Artists into the
US in the late 50’s.

The Great Grandfather of All modern Martial Arts in America is Emperado, who
with William S. Chow and James Mitose founded Ka Ju Ken Bo. Emperado was a
Hawaiian native with deep ties to Asian Martial Arts. Teaching in Hawaii, in a “New
America”, as the 50’s were, he combined 5 arts (Karate, Judo, Ju Jitsu, Kempo and
Boxing) into one … traditional yet adaptive. This was the start of our own new
“American” style of welcoming all styles. Bruce Lee was deeply impacted by this
phenomenon … and thus a new generation of American Masters and Grand
Masters began on these shores.

One of Emperado’s early Black Belts, Ed Parker, was the first to bring Ka Ju Ken
Bo to the mainland under the name of American Kenpo Karate in 1954. He is
considered popularly as the “real” father of American Martial Arts. In 1957 one of
Ed’s first Black Belts was a tough and boisterous trouble maker named David
German. He opened two Kenpo Karate Schools with Ed in Southern California
(Ed’s first school was in Provo Utah before he moved his headquarters to
California).

David followed the rules of Kenpo in the first school, though in their second school
he started expanding his curriculum to include his other training, with a heavy
emphasis on ground fighting. Both Ed Parker and David German were training at
this time with Olympic gold medalist and Judo Master Gene LaBelle. David had
already achieved a Black Belt in Jiu Jitsu from Sensei Kimura when he was 12 and
another Black Belt from Sensei Al Thomas (another famous mixed martial artist) in
Budo Ju Jitsu when he was 14.

This pollution of the American Kenpo system was unacceptable to Ed Parker. This
rift caused David to leave the Kenpo system and open his own Tai Karate school in
West Covina California.

David German was given the title of “The Eclectic Heretic” by Black Belt Magazine,
and it was true that he was both. He relished improvisation as well as breaking
the rules. He was an exceptional grappler and mixed martial artist long before
this was as popular as it is in the American mainstream today.
It was Gene Labelle’s influence that makes Tai a largely grappling oriented art … in
strategy if nothing else. My specialty in the Tai system is Ba Gua which is
basically soft standup grappling in its crudest context.

Going out on his own opened many doors for David. His internal training came
from Sifu Leonard Lum, a Chin-Na, White Eyebrow, and Praying Mantis Master.
David married his daughter for a brief period in his 20’s creating yet another rift
with a Grand Master. He walked away with many classical and Internal techniques
which fueled his grappling engine. As a result of Leonard’s teachings David then
opened his White Tiger Studios which incorporated much more Internal Kung Fu
into the TAI system.

Mr. Parker was a brilliant educator and innovator and his system exploded in
popularity and growth as he took over the American Market in the early 60’s. Part
of his legacy was his establishment of the ‘Gathering of Eagles’ event. It was an
invitation only symposium held every 10 years bringing together the top American
Martial Artists to celebrate and share their skills and insights. I was fortunate
enough to have been invited in 2012 where David German was honored and given
a post humus award for his contributions to the development and advancement of
American Martial Arts. He was also given his rightful standing by having TAI
included formally as a sister branch of Ed Parker’s American Kenpo Association.
This previously was not possible without difficulty due to their rocky and
competitive relationships.

Thus, by the early 70’s ‘Tai’ was firmly established formally, though it had been
going on for over 15 years.

David’s 2 nd Black Belt was another ruffian named Ken Galster. David was doing a
lot of public exhibitions (“Demos”) at this time in Las Vegas and Ken was his
“Uke”, or practice partner. As anyone who has been David’s Uke would confirm
(myself included) you were simply his punching bag. David German’s

transmission of the vision of Tai bordered on charismatic genius, with a healthy
dose of street savvy. Beyond the intricate skills and conditioning required to be a
warrior, David was a master of promoting the Spirit of the art. Toughness was a
mandatory requirement to embodying this Spirit, and all Tai instructors are
imbued with this quality. Perhaps more than any other Tai Black Belt, Ken Galster
was the toughest, and went even deeper than David in exploring and research into
how to develop this Toughness and Spirit with the “Internal” techniques and
Philosophy of Sifu Lum’s influence, which was heavy while Ken was in training with
David.

Tai is all about discovering one’s own personal style of martial art, based on one’s
own strengths, weaknesses and preference. Tai has hundreds of schools around
the world and each, while remaining true to the core of Tai and David’s principles,
is unique in its emphasis. That is how David taught and how he established his
organization of Tai. Some specialized in grappling, others in weapons training,
some in competition MMA and others on the Internal Forms. If one didn’t have
personal passion for their art there could be no Tai Spirit!
Ken Galster’s passion for the Arts he learned from German were in the classical
forms of David Lum’s Praying Mantis and Eagle Claw and in the rigorous Bushido
basics of Al Thomas. Thus Ken’s specialty and our school’s branch became known
as Tai Kung Fu … with David’s blessing.

From the onset, American Martial Arts through the lineages of Emperado, Ed
Parker, David German to Ken Galster and now on to me, is about effectiveness for
real life street situations. We are all about pure fighting arts through and through
with the deeper “Internal” Truths and cultivation coming only after years of
training in the ‘’Basics’ and Fundamentals first.

Now is an important Time in the evolution of the Arts for both parties. It is
important that TAI become infused into Ba Gua worldwide … an important time to
view our world of the 21 st century in the Shao Yong model.
Also, it is an important Time in the evolution of TAI … into the deepest layers of
Classical influence upon this adolescent American System!
This form is Classical Ba Gua … Shao Yong to the letter!

In what oral tradition has been lost over the centuries, now it is more imperative
than ever to learn and PRACTICE the form, and try to Understand and Ingest the
Deeper Wisdoms of which this Form is alluding.