Early Training Influences

From 1989 to 2001, while living in New York City, I practiced at an independent Aikido dojo that focused on self-defense methods – goshin-jutsu – incorporating striking methods from Nippon Shorinji Kempo as its atemi-jutsu. The school marketed itself as a traditional form of aiki-jujutsu when that art was popular in NYC due to the teaching of Yonezawa Katsumi and others.

During that time, I remember fondly attending several seminars in classical and traditional martial arts while living in NYC – including Daito-ryū Takumakai and Yagyu Shinkage-ryū. A good friend of mine from Flushing was a practitioner of Chinese martial arts, and I told myself if I ever had the opportunity, I would learn a form of Baguazhang or Bajiquan.

In 2004, after I received my final teaching license in modern goshin-jutsu, I visited a koryū enbu, a demonstration of classical Japanese martial arts, at the St. Louis Botanical Garden. Schools such as Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto-ryū, Shindo Muso-ryū, Araki-ryū, Toda-ha Buko-ryū, and Yagyu Shinkage-ryū were represented. Each of these seemed to have a more subtle and refined method of weapons practice than the rough and tumble practice I had been taught along side our modern jujutsu.

There, while talking with Ellis Amdur, he asked me what was next for me, since I had recently been awarded the highest rank in my current style of modern jujutsu. I told him about my desire to learn Baguazhang, and he told me he knew of teachers in Maryland – in fact, he had practiced Xingyiquan while in Japan under Su Dongchen, and was interested in its sister art of Gao Lineage Baguazhang.

Ellis introduced me to Bob Galeone, a Karate and Aikido teacher who had learned Gao Bagua from Allen Pittman and Paul Cote in the lineage of Hung Yimien, a student of Zhang Junfeng. I began training in Gao Bagua with Bob in 2004. I subsequently received feedback on my training from Paul Cote and also Su Dongchen during his Essence of Evolution seminars in Minneapolis.

Visiting sacred places has been an important component of my martial arts training over the years — later in 2005, while visiting the Gassan Dai Jinja ( 月山大神社 ) shrine on Mt. Haguro in the Dewa Sanzan ( 出羽三山 ) area of Yamagata Prefecture, and the Hagurosan Kōtakuji Shōzenin ( 羽黒山荒沢寺正善院 ) in Haguro-machi, I decided to commit my full efforts towards learning Chinese Internal martial arts. I decided also to redirect my weapons training efforts to classical Japanese swordsmanship (koryū kenjutsu), so I could better be connected to weapons arts as practiced in the past.

As part of this process I decided to resign from the NYC dojo I had first trained at. Since that time I have concentrated my efforts on developing skill at internal martial arts, including Gao lineage Bagua and the arts taught in Yin Cheng Gong Fa North America by Zhang Yun and his senior students, as well as the classical Japanese sword methods I have access to in the Capital region.