GRANDMASTER YUANMING ZHANG

Grandmaster Yuanming Zhang was born into a traditional martial arts family in Sichuan province in 1963. His entire life has been devoted to Internal Kung Fu and Traditional Chinese Medicine. He traces his lineage through reknowned Zhang family ancestors back to the sage Laozi (Lao Tzu). One of his ancestors was Zhang Liang, who helped Liu Bang overthrow the Qin dynasty and form the Han dynasty. Zhang Liang later left his position with the court and retired to the mountains to continue his practice of Daoism. Grandmaster Zhang is a descendant of Zhang Daoling, the founder of Celestial Master Daoism, who began the teachings of monastic martial arts atop Mt. Qingcheng. The teachings and techniques were passed down through successive generations to Zhang Sanfeng, the founder of Daoist Taiji, who coordinated many of the movements and techniques into forms and styles known today.

For seventeen generations, Grandmaster Zhang's ancestors have studied, nurtured and refined these practices, acquiring knowledge for improving health and longevity, and this tradition was passed down to his grandfather. By the age of three, young Yuanming showed a special gift for these practices, and was singled out by his grandfather and father, for early instruction in calligraphy, martial arts, meditation and qigong. Mt. Qingcheng, where he grew up, has long been fertile ground for great martial artists and masters, and Grandmaster Zhang went on to study with twenty-four different masters and hermits, developing a broad, inclusive background in the traditional arts of Internal Kung Fu, Chinese Medicine, Acupressure Massage, Medical Qigong, Daoism and Tibetan Buddhism. He has been taught the ways of the mountain hermits, who were greatly persecuted during the time of the Cultural Revolution, when eighty percent of these hermits were murdered.

Grandmaster Zhang has earned international recognition for his expertise in a variety of martial arts systems, including Chenzhen, Emei, Wudang, and Shaolin. Among his teachers are Lu Zijian, Li Ziming, Yin Yi, Zhong Fanghan, and Zhang Wenguang. Since 1992, he has devoted himself to bringing these traditional arts to the Western world, teaching Medical Qigong and Internal Kung Fu seminars and private lessons and giving private Medical Qigong treatments. He has also produced over fifty instructional videos on Medical Qigong and Martial Arts and published numerous articles in Kung Fu Magazine and Qigong Journal. He is a professor of Chinese Medicine and has been a Consultant to the United Nations Qigong Society.

He continues to pass on the wisdom and experience of the mountain masters at his Mt. Qingcheng Center, the Palace of the Heavenly Dragon, which was featured in a PBS special: "Qigong - Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century." He leads bi-annual Qigong and Martial Arts practice and study tours to sacred sites in Tibet and China, using his center as a base camp. For serious students desiring to teach Qigong, he offers residential study programs at his centers.

Learn more about Master Zhang

• Kung Fu and Qigong Lineage
• Photo Albums
• Videos clips of Master Zhang
• Master Zhang's Retreat Centers