Jimmy H. Woo

Grandmaster Jimmy H. Woo is credited with bringing the art of San Soo to America.
Chin Siu Dek (Jimmy’s real name) was taught by his Great Uncle Chin Siu Hung. Hung was a well-known fighter, teaching in his own San Soo school. In his teens, Chin Siu Dek became a traveling teacher of Tsoi Li Ho Fut Hung; the official name of the martial art perfected hundreds of years before in the monastery very near his small village.
In 1935, at the age of 21, Chin Siu Dek left mainland China under the passport name Jimmy H. Woo and sailed for the United States. During the early years in this country, Jimmy lived in Chinatown, Los Angeles. He carried the art to America and began teaching privately to close relatives and friends; later he was the instructor for several years at the Sing Kang “cousins club” a social/recreational organization. He also acted as security/police for the residents and business owners in the area and sometimes as a bodyguard, the only unarmed one in the area.
In December 1962 Jimmy officially held the grand opening for his martial arts studio in the Midway Shopping Center in El Monte, CA. In the early years he called it “Karate-Kung Fu” because no one knew what Kung fu was at that time. Jimmy H. Woo continued teaching his instructors class two Saturdays a month until his death in 1991, totaling nearly 46 years of kung fu teaching in America.
He became a "Grandmaster" ("Lau Sifu") in January, 1984.
He was married to Bernice Woo. His grandson, James P. King, is head of the International Kung Fu San Soo Association (IKFSSA).

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