Kuo Lien-Ying was one of the most distinguished and revered martial artists of the twentieth century. He was born in Sanyuan City, in northern China in 1890, and began training as a boy. He went on to study, practice, and teach a great array of Chinese martial arts. Kuo Lien-Ying's life spanned the time of great upheaval and tranfition between the Ching dynasty and modern China. A great master of traditional art, he continued to practice and teach in San Francisco until his death in 1984.

Simmone Kuo has taught Chinese internal martial arts in San Francisco for the last two decades. She is familiar to Bay Area citizens and children from her many television and school appearances. She continues to lead classes at the academy which bears her family name and is a member of the Physical Education Department at San Francisco State University.