Wendy Shih was born in Shanghai 1967. When she was five years old, it was discovered that the bone marrow in her right arm had failed to develop leaving the bone in that arm as fragile as an egg shell. An initial operation left doctors baffled as to what to do and it seemed that eventually she would have to lose her right arm. Both of her parents are doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine as well as Masters of Qigong. Her father, Tzu Kuo Shih and her mother De-Ying Huang plus Masters who were friends of the family hoped to heal Wendy with Chinese herbs and special Qigong practices.
Wendy began studying Tai Chi Chuan to help recovery and by the age of twelve, she had progressed so well that she was accepted as a student of the 80 years old Grandmaster of the Wu style, Ma Yui Liang. The great masters of the traditional arts who were friends of Wendy’s parents treated her like a daughter. In addition to attending public school, she received a classical Chinese education. She was tutored in painting and calligraphy by Shanghai’s famous painting Master Sung Sun Wea then in his nineties. Wendy is sixth generation of her family to go into healing. She entered the Shanghai College of Traditional Medicine.
Representing the city of Shanghai and the youngest participant, sixteen year old Wendy Shih participated in the first assembly of Wu Tang Master to be held in over 50 years. She accompanied her teacher the 90 year old Master Pan Ch’un. At the meeting, she met and was accepted as a student of the legendary 94 year old Grandmaster Lu Zi Jian and Master Xiu Weng Zong. She has competed, and demonstrated before Old Wu Tang Masters, on National Television, and gave demonstrations of her arts in Woodstock and New York City.
In 1986, she won first Prize in the National Wu Style Competition and in 1987, was awarded the title of Master and graduated from medical school as an acupuncturist and herbalist, and received her license as certified laser acupuncturist.. In 1988 she joined her father and sister in America, she learned to drive a car, began to teach Tai Chi Chuan and is very happy and comfortable with her life in America.