Internal Martial Arts
I am a lineal practitioner of nèijiā (內家; internal family) martial arts of Bāguàzhǎng, Xíngyìquán and Tàijíquán. These are both martial traditions and methods of Daoist cultivation. Yuèshān-guan (月山館; “Moon Mountain Hall”) is the formal name of my ongoing practice.
I practice Chinese internal martial arts, including:
- The Héběi style Xíngyìquán of Hán Mùxiá (韓慕俠; 1877-1947)
- The Wú (
吳 ) Tàijíquán of Yáng Yǔtíng (楊禹廷; 1887-1982) - The circular Bāguàzhǎng of Yǐn Fú (
尹福 ; 1840-1909) and Mǎ Guì (馬貴; 1851-1941) - The linear bagua of Liú Dékuān (劉德寛; 1826-1911)
- Bāguà, Xíngyì and Tàijí methods of sword, saber and spear
I became the 40th student of Zhang Yun lǎoshī in Princeton, NJ, in 2015. My name transliterated can be read as Ráo Jìngsī (饒静思).
Zhang Yun leads Yin Cheng Gong Fa (opens in a new tab) (尹 成 功 法; abbreviated YCGF) North America, continuing the lineage of Wang Peisheng (Yin Cheng). YCGF Pittsburgh maintains a very nice list of forms (opens in a new tab) — my continued practice is centered around portions of the curriculum listed there and an ongoing study of written classics.
Heihō Kenjutsu
Yuèshān-guan can be read as Gassankan in Japanese. My first introduction to classical kenjutsu was in the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū taught by Kato Kazuo of NY Yagyūkai in Port Washington, NY, in the mid 1990s. I since continued a study of several lines of classical kata-based kenjutsu, including:
- Tenshinshō-den Katori Shintō-ryū (opens in a new tab) at Capital Aikikai [2005-2015]
- Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū (opens in a new tab) under Dr. David Hall at the Hōbyōkan [2008-2016]
- Yagyū Shinkage-ryū as part of the Hōbyōkai [2014-2022]
I hold a mokuroku awarded in 2010 from Capital Katori and a chuden menjō awarded in 2018 from Dr. David Hall, who founded the Hōbyōkan.
My ongoing practice - called Gassan Heihō Kenjutsu (月山兵法劔術) - is private. I maintain a selection of kata from the above sources, but practice them with unified body mechanics drawn from my internal martial arts training. This katageiko is accompanied by free practice called jigeiko and combative pressure testing called tameshi-ai.
The nineteenth century Jikishinkage-ryū master Odani Seiichirō (opens in a new tab) did not think in terms of individual kenjutsu ryūha and I have come to agree with that perspective.
Contact
I continue my practice in the Pacific Northwest. I may be reached via email at .
