Who are your instructor's teachers?
Sifu David Chang, Wushu Central- San Jose, CA 2004-2012
Sifu (Master) David Chang is one of the United State's foremost experts in Wushu, has coached a number of national Wushu champions, and together with his wife Elizabeth owns Wushu Central, one of the nation's most successful Wushu school.
For Sifu Chang, Wushu is an all-encompassing passion and the great love of his life. He began studying Wushu at the age of eighteen with Sifu Bryant Fong and the U.C. Berkeley Wushu Team. There he developed his basic foundations in Wushu, but it was not until a couple years later, when he entered his first competition at the 1996 USAWKF Western Regional Championships, that he truly discovered his love for the sport. Sifu Chang began an intense training regimen that included study under China's national champion Sifu Hao Zhi Hua and summer practice in China with the Beijing Wushu Team under the supervision of Jet Li's own coach, Wu Bin.
Sifu Chang attributes his success and inspiration to the many outstanding coaches he has studied under, including in the United States: Hao Zhi Hua, Bryant Fong, Liu Bo, Li Jing, Dale Chung, and Tony Chen. In Beijing, he trained with Sun Ming Li, Zhu Wei Guang, Zhang Xian Ming, Liu Yang, Cui Ya Hui, as well as a host of other Beijing Wushu Team athletes. He comments, "Every single one of my coaches, in their own unique way, has contributed to my development as a martial artist. I owe everything to each and every one of them."
Sifu Chang's Wushu expertise covers both traditional and contemporary styles, including Shaolin, Long Fist, Southern Fist, Staff, Straight Sword, Broadsword, Spear, Drunken Fist, Eagle Claw, Praying Mantis, Drunken Sword, Plum Flower Fist, Wu Dang Sword, and more. In addition to Wushu, Sifu Chang also has extensive experience in Tae Kwon Do, as well as Karate, Judo, and Hapkido.
Sifu Chang's Wushu tournament record includes over 40 awarded medals and winning Grand Championships at the 1998 Annual Open Classic Belt Tournament in San Jose, the First International Eagle Cup Kung Fu Tournament in San Francisco, the 15th and 16th Chinese American Athletic Tournament in Cupertino, the 2000 and 2001 Grand Championship Festival in Scottsdale, Arizona, and at the end of his competitive career winning Men's All-Around Champion at the 2001 USAWKF U.S. Nationals in San Diego.
Sifu Chang can be reached in Wushu Central at (408) 850-9479, or by emailing info@wushucentral.com.
David-Dorian Ross, TaijiFit International-Huntington Beach, CA
David-Dorian Ross is "America's favorite" Tai Chi master teacher – having introduced Tai Chi to more people in America than any other individual through his television shows and dvds. He has been studying Tai Chi since 1979 from some of the top Masters in the world. He's also a US and world record holder in Tai Chi forms competition.
David-Dorian began his Tai Chi lineage by studying from Sifu Kuo Lien-ying in San Francisco. Sifu Kuo brought Guang Ping – the predecessor to Yang style – to the US, and was one of the first Chinese masters to teach Tai Chi to non-Chinese students. David-Dorian's Yang family lineage comes directly from Yang Chen-fu to GrandMaster Hu Yuen Jou to GrandMaster Doc Doc-Fai Wong of San Francisco and then to his disciple Jane Hallander. David-Dorian has studied with both Jane Hallander and then GrandMaster Wong after she passed away. In the 1990's, David-Dorian made numerous visits to China to study with coaches there – in particular with Coach Wu Bin, the master who discovered Jet Li. David-Dorian's current teacher is Wei Jingling from Jiangsu province, a former member of the Jiangsu professional Wushu team and a Chinese national Tai Chi champion. Coach Wei's teacher is Men Huifeng, who is considered one of the most knowledgable martial artists in China. Among other accomplishments, he was the person who developed the hand-to-hand system used by the China defense force. He was also on the committee of masters who created the 48-movement combined form. David-Dorian is also currently studying with Huang Chungliang, focusing on the Tai Chi principle of wu wei.
David-Dorian is also an international competitive Tai Chi champion. He is a former member of both the San Francisco Wushu team, the US National Tai Chi team and two U.S. National Wushu teams. He competed at the first World Wushu Championships in Beijing in 1991 and was the only non-Asian out of 42 participating countries to win a medal. He is an 8-time US gold medalist, World silver medalist and 2-time World bronze medalist in Tai Chi forms competition. He is the only American, and the only non-Asian, in the world with this record.
Inside Kung-fu Magazine called David-Dorian "the man who brought Tai Chi mainstream." He has written, starred in and hosted more than 100 instructional dvds, television specials and television series. He is a Professor for The Great Courses, and his program The Essentials of Tai Chi and Qigong is the #1 selling dvd collection in the world. He is a featured expert for YMAA Publications, and his dvd "Tai Chi Fit Over 50" is the #1 New Release in Amazon's Top 100 fitness dvds. David-Dorian is also the executive producer of "24 Hours of World Peace Livestream," a live webcast of World Tai Chi Qigong Day events. Bill Douglas, the founder of World Tai Chi Qigong Day, dedicated the 20th Year to David-Dorian for his contributions to the theme of world peace and harmony. International action film star Jet Li called David-Dorian "the American Idol of Tai Chi" and brought him to China to be the international face of his online TaijiZen Academy. David-Dorian is the only master of the TaijiZen method outside of China.
David-Dorian is a pioneer in multi-media methods for educating people about mind-body methods like Tai Chi, yoga and meditation. He is the CEO of TaijiFit International, the first Tai Chi school in the world to use live streaming technology. TaijiFit Academy is an international school with students in countries worldwide, who can study together in the same class without leaving their home. TaijiFit International has also partnered with the largest healthcare services and insurance provider in America to provide Tai Chi workplace wellness and Tai Chi classes to special populations all across the country.
David-Dorian is a great believer in the power of collaboration. He recently introduced The Great Courses and YMAA to each other, and the result is a new opportunity to introduce many more people to Tai Chi and martial arts. YMAA is the #1 English language publisher of Chinese martial arts books and video in the world — and The Great Courses is the #1 distributer of top-quality educational courses for "life-long learners." These two great publishers are now working together to create streaming versions of martial arts instruction on the Great Course Plus platform – beginning with a channel dedicated completely to David-Dorian's Tai Chi and martial arts programs. Viewers will be able to subscribe to this channel in the fall of 2107.
Chungliang Al Huang- Urbana, IL / Living Tao Foundation-Gold Beach, Oregon
Chungliang Al Huang is Founder/President of Living Tao Foundation. He has been called "a master in the arts of living" and "a sage for the modern age."
Huang's organic style of Tai Ji is immediately accessible to people of all ages and experience levels. His approach allows students to quickly experience the joys of Tai Ji energy flow along with the deeper sensations of stillness in motion.
Huang uses a wide range of tools to inspire his students: brush calligraphy, music, poetry, mythic story telling, and more. Fundamental to his work are the Five Elements, Tao Te Ching, I Ching and other classics in Taoist, Zen Buddhist and Confucian studies.
If you spend any time at all with Chungliang, you immediately understand why so many people around the world choose to study with him. His passion, charm, intelligence, tireless energy, and child-like enthusiasm are infectious.
For a complete bio on the life of this remarkable man visit living-tao-foundation/about-chungliang-al-huang
Find out more-
WushuCentral.com
TaijiFit.net
LivingTao.org