In 1555, Yu Dayou, along with the Zhuang noblewoman, Wa Shi, led Ming forces to attack the wokou pirates who were raiding near Jiaxing, Zhejiang and defeated about 2,000 of them.

When he met representatives from the influential spy agency, Eastern Depot, he refused to provide bribes to them and ended up being framed on false charges and imprisoned.

He successfully forced the Dutch to withdraw from Penghu Island to Taiwan in 1624, but was subjected to a series of massive raids in 1627 and 1628 by Zheng Zhilong, culminating in the sack of his base at Xiamen.

Yu Dayou was also a martial artist who specialised in a style of weapon fighting called "Jingchu Changjian" (Chinese: 荊楚長劍; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Keng-chhó͘ Tiông-kiàm; "Jing and Chu Long Sword").

Tang Hao, a 20th-century martial arts expert, traced the Shaolin staff style Wu Hu Lan (Chinese: 五虎攔; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Gō͘-hó͘-lân; lit.