Grace Xiaogao Wu-Monnat was born into an ancestry rich in the traditions of the Chinese martial arts. Young Grace began her kung fu training with her grandfather, China’s well-respected grandmaster Wang Zi-ping, her mother, Professor Wang Ju-rong, New China’s first generation woman Wushu grandmaster, and her father, Dr. Wu Cheng-de, a prominent Wushu master and orthopedic doctor. During the Culture Revolution, Grace’s grandfather was forbidden to teach.  Thus, as a child, Grace began to teach martial arts as her nearby grandfather’s teaching puppet. So began her lifelong quest to both learn and teach Chinese martial arts.


Grace received a bachelor’s degree in physical education with an emphasis in Chinese martial arts from Shanghai Normal University.  She was selected as a member of Shanghai Wushu teams and attended the Second National Minority Sports Games in Inner Mongolia.  With her parents, Grace has coauthored a number of published articles on Wushu routines and Wushu for health in WuLing and Shen Ming Zai Yu Yun Dong magazines.  She and her parents also authored 3 Volumes of the series "A Highly Respected Master Teaches You Martial Arts" --- Wang Zi-ping’s Martial Arts Routines Repertoire Selection, Wang Zi-ping’s Skill at Martial Arts Technique, and Wang Zi-Ping’s Martial Arts Weapon Repertoire Selection --- in the highly respected martial arts Masters instructional series.  After immigrating to the US, Grace received a Master’s degree in Sports Administration from Wichita State University.  She is the owner and instructor of the Grace Wu Kung Fu School in Wichita, Kansas.

Over the years, she has also served as a judge of numerous regional, national and international Chinese martial arts tournaments in the US and China. To promote Chinese martial arts beyond the sports world, Grace and her husband, Dan Monnat, a lawyer and principle partner in Monnat and Spurrier Chartered, developed a continuing legal education program based on Sun Tzu’s, The Art of War,  martial arts strategies, and practical legal principles entitled, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Kung Fu Strategies for Trial." Together they have taught the wisdom of Wushu principles and strategies to lawyers across the US.  In the fall of 2006, Grace’s students held a Grace Wu Kung Fu School 20th anniversary celebration as a tribute to Grace and to express their appreciation for her shared knowledge, tireless teaching, and promotion of the Chinese martial arts.