Grand Master Eng Chor Khor began to learn the art of tai chi at an early age. In his school years, he excelled in Chinese culture, sports and martial arts. Like other members of the Khor family, Eng Chor learned tai chi and other forms of martial arts from different masters in his hometown in Malaysia. He fondly remembers those early days:
“When I was a boy, my brother Gary and I learned Chinese kung fu from our uncle who had come from China. He was a highly skilled martial artist who taught us kicking and punching. He particularly emphasized kicking, explaining that the leg can kick harder and reach further. Thus, we learned the Northern Chinese Kicking as well as the Southern Chinese Boxing martial arts from him. As teenagers, we were taught by a teacher or “Sifu”, as we say in Chinese. He would come to our house to teach us Dong Pei Chuen, a series of quick movements with kicking, always in attack mode. We loved martial arts and trained very hard so much so that we always sustained bruises and injuries with a brave face.
"Looking back at that time, I remember how passionate I was about becoming a martial artist. But as the years went by, I realized that the martial art I really enjoyed most was tai chi. It has always appealed to me because of its meditative nature and balanced posture that combine breathing with slow, steady movements that can relieve stress. I knew that I could practice tai chi at any age as Chinese people have been doing for centuries to keep fit and prevent or treat disease.”
In 1981, Grand Master Eng Chor decided to come to Australia and joined his brother Gary Khor who had founded the Australian Academy of Tai Chi. Over time, Eng Chor has endlessly studied and researched the beautiful art of tai chi and has released two books. In addition to working with tai chi masters and grand masters throughout South East Asia, he also studied and trained with scholars at Taiwan University and with grand masters from Beijing and Shanghai Institutes of Physical Education and Martial Arts. His expertise and experience have made him a greatly sought after lecturer for the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
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Grand Master Eng Chor has also presented on national television, featured in many radio interviews and has been published in newspapers and magazines.
His many achievements include being a qualified international Tai Chi and Wushu judge, a qualification not held by many outside China. He was a gold medalist at the 1986 International Tai Chi Tournament in China.
In 1988, he took an Australian team to participate in the National Chinese Tai Chi and Wushu Festival at the invitation of the Wushu Federation of China.
He is also the President of the National Martial Arts Games Committee (NMGC) Australia and an Executive member of the International Martial Arts Games Committee (IMGC).
He was on the organising Committee of the 5th International Martial Arts Games (IMAG) held in Melbourne in May 2013. He has also led students from the Celestial Tai Chi College to Korean and Estonian IMAG to perform and make us all proud, to name just a few.
Grand Master Eng Chor is also an active member of the Chinese community in Victoria, including a trustee of the Victorian Chinese Museum, and a Committee member of the Victorian Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
On a personal note, in Australia Grand Master Eng Chor has raised a beautiful family of three successful children who have all practised tai chi at some time along with their mother Siew Ngoh, who is also an accomplished tai chi practitioner (see picture).