Mantak Chia

Mantak Chia was born in Thailand in 1944 to Chinese parents. As a child, he learned meditation from Buddhist monks and practiced Asian martial arts, including tai chi and aikido. During his studies in Hong Kong, he deepened his knowledge of Taoist practices under several teachers and supplemented it with studies of Western anatomy and medical science. On this basis, he developed Universal Healing Tao, a system of Taoist exercises and teachings that was disseminated internationally. Chia wrote numerous books, which were translated into many languages, and trained teachers and practitioners. In 1990, he was named Qi Gong Master of the Year at an international congress on Chinese medicine and qigong.