月山館

Yuè shān guǎn [ 月山館 ] is a private training activity led by Mark Raugas in Seattle focused on the development of skill at traditional approaches to internal martial arts. When I teach, I generally work outdoors with a limited number of students.

Bagua, Xingyi, and Taiji

I am a student of internal martial arts as taught by Zhang Yun in Yin Cheng Gong Fa North America:

• Wú style Taiji Quan ( 吳氏太极拳 ) is known for its relaxed character, giving practitioners the ability to off-balance an opponent at first touch by borrowing their force.
• Yin style Bagua Zhang ( 尹派八卦掌 ) is known for its smooth and fluid nature, giving practitioners the ability to change spontaneously in response to an opponent's actions.
• Hebei Xingyi Quan ( 河北形意拳 ) is known for its stability, giving practitioners an ability to express sudden and explosive power.

The Taiji, Bagua, and Xingyi taught as part of Yin Cheng Gong Fa includes an extensive curriculum of jian (sword), dao (saber), and qiang (spear). I place special attention to that curriculum in my own practice.

Heihō

Yuè shān guǎn is read as Gassankan in Japanese — I have studied aspects of several older weapons traditions from Japan that are influenced by Taoism and esoteric Buddhism, especially a variant of Jiki Shinkage-ryū kenjutsu taught at the Hōbyōkan dōjō founded by Prof. David Hall.

I preserve a subset of those practices in a manner that is informed by my continued internal martial arts training. Please visit the dojo guide for pointers to where to train in Jiki Shinkage-ryū in the United States, including a practice in Seattle led by two of my students.