In 1907, at the age of 12, Kuo started training in Northern Style Shaolin kung fu, studying for five years with Master Li Lin, who was especially skilled in changquan.

After completing "Chin to Toe" in 100 days Kuo was taught the Guang Ping Yang tai chi by the 100-year-old master Wang Jiao-yu.

While he was in Taiwan, his students in San Francisco located an empty storefront at 11 Brenham Place, an alley which faced Portsmouth Square Park, which was unfortunately adjacent to a funeral parlor.

Chung-mei was trained in the Shaolin kung fu and tai chi styles at an early age, achieving Chin-to-Toe at 18 months.

Reportedly, one of the stories that Kuo told his students was about the time he was walking in a Chinatown alley late one evening and was set upon by a group of robbers.

[citation needed] In 1975 Sam Peckinpah filmed part of The Killer Elite in Portsmouth Square, and hired Kuo Lien-ying and many of his students for the scenes of a martial arts school in San Francisco.

Kuo and his students gave many demonstrations of tai chi and Shaolin kung fu at many locations, including schools and banks.

Simmone Kuo, Kuo's widow and student, continues to teach privately at the Lien-Ying Tai-Chi Chuan Martial Arts Academy in San Francisco Chinatown (15A Walter U Lum Place, above the produce market) after retiring in 2016 from physical education teaching duties at San Francisco State University.

The Guang Ping Yang Tai Chi Association was formed in 1997 to honor the memory of Sifu Kuo Lien-ying and in commemoration of his unselfish sharing of his many skills.