Featured Author: Joe Varady

Joe Varady began his formal martial arts training in 1986. Over the past three decades, he has cross trained in eastern martial arts such as karate, tae kwon do, judo, wing chun, and eskrima, as well as various western martial arts including boxing, fencing, long sword, sword and shield, pole-axe, and various methods of armored fighting. Joe is also a trained educator with a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education. In 2006, he became a certified Master Instructor in The Bao Way System of Self Defense.

In Memoriam: Grandmaster Kao Tao (高濤) 1932 - 2024

Grandmaster Kao Tao (高濤) was the first tai chi teacher of Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming in Taiwan, starting in 1962. His tai chi lineage can be traced back through Yang, Cheng-Fu to Yang, Lu-Chan. Grandmaster Kao lived in Taiwan. He was born July 7th, 1932, and studied Taijiquan as a youth for his health, after a promise to his mother to avoid the martial arts to keep him safe in dangerous times. For more than sixty years, he practiced and taught Yang-style Taijiquan, achieving a high level and enlightening others. Taijiquan was his constant companion. In 2009, students recommended that he participate in the World Cup Taijiquan Championship, resulting in an unexpected reunion with his long-lost student, Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming. Master Kao then visited with Dr. Yang in California to help teach the students there lessons in taiji, qigong, philosophy, Chinese language, culture, and literature. Master Kao also visited other YMAA schools around the world, sharing his knowledge and high spirit. Sadly, Grandmaster Kao passed away at age 92 on January 11, 2024, a couple months after Dr. Yang had visited him in Taiwan, from pneumonia and a heart attack after a Covid-19 infection.