Ted Mancuso
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Head
Instructor at the Santa Cruz Academy of Martial Arts, Ted Mancuso,
has been teaching for over thirty-five years. He became the head
instructor of the largest chain of martial arts schools in America
when he was 21. Continuing with his studies Mr. Mancuso started
training in traditional Shaolin Temple style Kung Fu. He followed
Kwong Wing Lam for 12 years. After this he studied with the famous
teacher, Adam
Hsu (Hsu Ji) in a number of arts.
Mr.
Mancuso has been instrumental in promoting Chinese Martial Arts
through his hundreds of articles. His work has appeared in English,
Spanish and Chinese. He is the author of two books on the arts
including the popular "Kung Fu for Young People."
He
is the president of a martial arts publishing company: Plum Publications.
Plum was the publisher of the first major book on Chinese martial
history by Professor Kang Ge Wu one of the world's authorities
on the subject. His company is a source of information for martial
researchers and the repository of over 1500 items related to the
art and personally reviewed by the Plum staff. He has produced
instructional videos one of which: BaGua, the Art of Change is
considered one of the best of its kind.
Ted Mancuso performing
Ba Gua Zhang
(8 Trigrams Palm)
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His
students have won tournaments all over the area. Former students
have become teachers in their own rights and spread the art throughout
the United States. Mr. Mancuso believes in the martial arts as
a whole entity, completely unlike most of the represenatations
of it in popular media. In his words, "People who see the
arts as fighting, or sport, or exercise suffer from a lack of
imagination and understanding. 5000 years of culture and human
struggle don't produce gym class or a fashion show. The martial
arts is tied to the human condition and is informed by every part
of our being."
Styles
taught by Mr. Mancuso include: Shaolin, Mei Hua (Plu Blossom),
Ba Gua Zhang (8 Trigrams Palm), Tai Chi Chuan (Chen and Yang styles),
China Na (grappling) and Jiao Men (Muslim Kung Fu).
