Kung Fu To'a - History

History

Kung Fu To'a was developed by the Iranian martial artist, Ibrahim Mirzaii from the 1950s to 1970s. Mirzaii developed and created his style aimed at allowing all body energy to be used at its best.

Financially supported by Iran's then-Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Mirzaii started a journey through Asia in order to learn different martial arts and to create a unique style, which should have Iranian characteristics. His journey laid the foundation of Kung Fu To'A.

Grand Master Mirzaii had an intricate knowledge of Tae Kwon Do / Karate / Southern Shaolin Kung Fu and Yoga with some Tai Chi. These were combined to create Kung Fu To'a style. The mental and physical training of Kung Fu To'a renders the body lean, flexible, fast and very powerful able to unleash an enormous amount of power within a split second. It took Mirzai about 25 years to compile his unique style.

During the revolution in Iran in 1978/1979 the shah was overthrown. After the Iranian Revolution, To'a was banned (though there are many Kung fu to'a schools in Iran today). Mirzaii faced hostility from Islamic authorities, particularly for the spiritual aspects of his teaching. He was shot in his legs few years after the Revolution. Mirzaii first fled to Turkey, then to Europe but his whereabouts is still unknown.

After prohibition in Iran and disappearance of Mirzaii, trainers in the Iranian diaspora continued to spread To'a. Today, it is organised in at least ten countries in Europe, Americas and Middle East. A couple of years ago this style was legalised as a sport again in Iran, not as a philosophy, and is nowadays one of the most popular martial arts there. Nevertheless To'A is in other countries still a quite unknown Kung Fu style. Several movies about e.g. Shaolin Kung Fu made these styles more famous than To'A.