Chee Soo

Chee Soo
Chee Soo beginning the Lee-style t'ai chi Form sequence Drive the Tiger Away
Born	Clifford Soo June 4, 1919 Marylebone, London, England
Died	August 29, 1994
Style	Lee-style t'ai chi ch'uan
Occupation	Author, soldier, herbalist, martial artist

Chee Soo (born Clifford Soo, also known as Clifford Gibbs, June 4, 1919 — August 29, 1994) was an author of books about the philosophy of Taoism and in particular Lee-style t'ai chi ch'uan, Qigong, Ch'ang Ming, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Feng Shou 'Hand of the Wind' Kung Fu.

According to his birth certificate, he was born Clifford Soo on 4 June 1919 in All Souls, Marylebone, London, the son of Ah Chee Soo who was a pastry chef at the Westminster restaurant. His father was Chinese and his mother, Beatrice Annie Soo, was English. Although he enlisted in the British Army under the name Clifford Gibbs, his mother's maiden name, in later life he took his father's name and was known as Chee Soo. In a 1977 LBC radio interview Chee Soo described meeting a Chinese Martial Arts teacher from Shandong called Chan Kam Lee in Hyde Park when he was fourteen years old. Chee Soo said he was invited to Chan Lee's class in the summer of 1934, and this was the beginning of his martial arts training. Chee Soo said that Chan Kam Lee adopted him as a nephew, and taught him the arts whenever his work and time permitted.

In 1937 Chee Soo joined the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Tank Regiment part of the 7th Armoured division known as the Desert rats, during World War two he was promoted to sergeant and became a troop commander. He was awarded the Military Medal after the Battle of Beda Fomm in Libya in February 1941, part of Operation Compass. After his regiment were transferred to Burma he was captured by the Japanese on 19 April 1942 during the Battle of Yenangyaung and forced to work on the Death Railway as a P.O.W. where he contracted Malaria, he was later classified as a war crimes witness: