Wu Ch'uan-yu was a military officer in the Yellow Banner camp (see Qing Dynasty Military) in the Forbidden City, Beijing and also an officer of the Imperial Guards Brigade during the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Yang Luchan (1799–1872) was the martial arts instructor in that banner camp, teaching t'ai chi ch'uan. In the camp, there were many officers studying with Yang Luchan, but only three men, Wan Chun, Ling Shan and Ch'uan Yu studied diligently and trained hard enough at t'ai chi ch'uan to become disciples. However, they were unable to become Yang Luchan's disciples, because Yang Luchan taught t'ai chi ch'uan to two men of very high status in the military; they were Shi Shaonan and General Yue Guichen. At that time Wan Chun, Ling Shan and Ch'uan-yu were middle grade officers in the banner camp and because of their rank, they could not be seen as fellow classmates with nobility and high grade officers. As a result, they were asked to become disciples of Yang Pan-hou or Yang Banhou, Yang Luchan’s oldest adult son and an instructor as well to the Manchu military.
When Wu retired from the military, he set up a school in Beijing. Wu Ch'uan-yu's Beijing school was successful and there were many who studied with him, he was popularly known as Quan Sanye as a term of respect.
His disciples were Guo Songting, Wang Maozhai, Xia Gongfu, Chang Yuanting, Qi Gechen. Wu's skills were said to be exceptional in the area of softly "neutralising" hard energy when attacked, which is a core skill of good t'ai chi ch'uan practice as a martial art.
Wu Ch'uan-yu had three primary disciples: his son Wu Chien-ch'uan, Wang Mao Zhai and Guo Fen and another student by the name of chang yuanting father o chang yun ji who kept the tradition and saved this unique taijiquan style today called quanyou laojia (quanyou's old form or Chang style taijiquan).
Wu Ch'uan-yu's son, Wu Chien-ch'uan (1870–1942) also became a cavalry officer and t'ai chi ch'uan teacher, working closely with the Yang family and Sun Lu-t'ang, promoting what subsequently came to be known as Wu-style t'ai chi ch'uan in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.
