Master Yu Tiancheng was born on 2nd October 1937 in a Catholic landowner family with a several-generation long history of gong fu practice. He died suddenly of heart attack on 22^nd March 2004 in Yantai. In the family, traditional gong fu was practiced by his mother, Zhang Cuigu and her own father, Zhang Jiangong, who was a renowned master of Changquan and Tanglang Quan.

When he was ten, Master Yu commenced his training of Didang Quan under Geng Changzhong. Five years later he started practicing Tanglang Quan under Master Lin Jingshan. Other styles that Master Yu was familiar with include Baguazhang, Xingyi Quan, Tongbei Quan, Changquan, Pigua Quan, Taiji Quan of the Yang and Chen lineage, as well as Qigong. In the course of 16 years of rigorous training under Master Lin, Yu Tiancheng familiarised himself with the entire Mantis system. He had three brothers: Yu Tianfu, Yu Tianlu, Yu Tianmin, and two sisters: Yu Aizhen and Yu Aili. All trained Tanglang under Lin Jingshan except for one of the brothers. Apart from Master Yu Tiancheng, only his younger brother Yu Tianlu got to know the entire Mantis system. The two of them were Master Lin’s very best students, and Lin didn’t collect any tuition from them, which was exceptional. In 1958 Master Yu Tiancheng was permitted by Lin to start teaching Mantis in Yantai, which he continued until his very death.

In his youth, Master Yu had a rather quick temper, and repeatedly took part in street fights, where he could confirm his combat skills. This earned him great respect in the Shandong Province martial arts circles. His fame spread also outside Shandong. Master Lin would often select him for confrontations with fighters from other schools and styles. In the 1970s, Yu spent six months in prison for practicing traditional gong fu. In the period when the practice of traditional martial arts was prohibited, Master Yu would accompany his teacher to the mountains surrounding Yantai where they would train in secret.

In 1991, after the founding of the International Tanglang Union in Yantai, he was charged with the development of the style. In the international Wushu exchange programme, Master Yu was awarded the Eight Dan by the South Korea-China Wushu Union. He was also a honorary member of the Polish Praying Mantis Kung Fu Society, which hosted him during his four visits to Poland.

In the Encyclopaedic Collection of Chinese Expert Biographies published in 1995, he was named one of the 20^th century experts of authentic Chinese gong fu. In his over 40-year teaching career, he had numerous disciples in Poland, the States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, the Philippines, and Italy.

His most accomplished students include: Liu Xianming, Yu Lianyu, Li Baoshu, Wang Baolin, Wang Baochen, Lü Tingbo, Gong Yunfei, Shi Guoyu, Li Xuexin, Xu Yueting, Xu Yuejin, Ji Dezan, Dong Juwen, Zhao Baoshan, Slawomir Milczarek.

In his private life, Master Yu was a top class engineer. He had two sons, a daughter and three granddaughters.