Background
In 2001, I started studying Kung Fu. My teacher also taught Chen Style Taijiquan from Chen Quanzhong. Watching my teacher perform Taiji at one of our demonstrations, I thought it was fantastic. I read “Chen Style: The Source of Taijiquan” by Davidine Sim and David Gaffney and thought I should really switch to Taiji, but I chose to continue down the path of Kung Fu since I had already started it.
After moving to Oregon in 2003, I decided that was a perfect opportunity to start studying Taijiquan. I tried to learn Chen Style from Mark Chen’s book, “Old Frame Chen Family Taijiquan”, but found it difficult. I ended up learning the Yang form from Fu Zhongwen’s book, “Mastering Yang Style Taijiquan”.
In 2005 I decided I had put enough time and effort into learning Taiji that I needed to find a teacher to move forward. Because I still wanted to learn Chen Style, I chose Bob Lau as my teacher and started studying Xinjia in January of 2006. Near the end of that year, Bob gave me permission to teach, and I began teaching one class a week.
Because Bob moved to Washington State in 2007 and switched his focus to Xinyi Liu He Quan, I returned to self-study through practice, teaching, reading and videos (primarily of Ma Hong and Chen Yu).
In 2011, I felt the need for a teacher again. I considered a Wudang teacher, Zhou Xuan-Yun, even though he is in Boston, MA, but I was not prepared to give up my Taiji. However, after much consideration, I decided to give up my practice for the Practical Method.
I have attended the 2011 and 2013 week long seminars in Edmonton. Unfortunately, I have been unable to attend any others.
Below I have highlighted a couple other details of my background.
Location
Beaverton, Oregon USA (southwest of Portland)
Employment
Senior Software EngineerSenior Software Engineer 2021-Present
Alatus Solutions
Web and System Administrator 2003-2021
Technology Department of Tigard-Tualatin School District
Information Technology (sales, technical support, software development) 1996-2003
U.S. Army Aviation 1992-1996
Martial Arts
Judo 1979-80
Tang Soo Do 1981-82
Jujitsu 1987-88
Nanquan, Changquan, Wing Chun, Five Animal Style 2001-2003
Yang Style Taijiquan 2003-2005
Xinyi Liu He Quan 2006-2011
Chen Style Taijiquan 2006-2011
Practical Method 2011-Present
(Sometimes, I still want be a ninja)
Education
B.S. Civil Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York 1992
