Nine Dragon or Jiulong Baguazhang is part of a family system of martial arts, health practices, meditation, and philosophy collectively known as Daoqiquan. The history of Daoqiquan is an oral one, passed down from generation to generation of the Li family of Sichuan province, China and it is said that the family art originated with a Tibetan monk. According to the Li family history, it was some time in the late 15th or early 16th Century that Lama Zurdwang, already an accomplished student of medicine, painting, philosophy, poetry, and martial arts, left his monastery in Chando Tibet to journey through China on a quest for knowledge.
It was during his stay at a Daoist monastery on Wudang mountain, reputed to be the birthplace of Taijiquan, that he began to use the knowledge he had been acquiring to develop a system of training that he named the Five Circles, Six Stances, and Four Virtues. He believed that repeated practice of not only the physical exercises of the Circles and Stances but also the virtues of Honesty, Humility, Patience, and Sincerity were the keys to integrating mind, body, and spirit.
He continued his travels, refining his understanding of Daoist philosophy, herbology, martial skills, and the internal boxing principles that he brought with him from Tibet. Legend has it that he spent time with the monks of Emei mountain, the place where the art of Baguazhang is thought to have been founded some 200 years later.
After years of travel, Lama Zurdwang settled down in the village of Daofu in northwestern Sichuan, a mountainous region not far from Chando where he began his journey. It was there he become tutor to a family called Li who took his training methods to heart. They named him Sitsang Hsuey Che (or Scholar of Tibet) and passed his methods on while adding to them over succeeding generations. The Li family became famous Baobiao or bodyguards and renamed their system of training Daoqiquan. Each successive head of the family added his own methods of expertise to the core art of Daoqiquan, integrating qigong, Baguazhang, Taijiquan, and Xingyiquan under the same umbrella.
As passed down to the current head of Daoqiquan, Dr. John Painter, by his teacher, Li, Longdao, Jiulong Baguazhang was incorporated into the family’s system by Master Li, Ching-yuen and further refined by Li, Zhang-lai during the late 1800’s in Sichuan. Li, Zhang-lai (Li, Longdao’s grandfather) is credited with introducing standing meditation qigong methods to the family art. It is uncertain whether Jiulong has any connection to the lineage of Dong, Hai-chuan who is often credited as the founder of Baguazhang.
The Daoqiquan arts made their way to the west in the 1940’s after the communist victory in China when Li, Longdao brought his family to the USA, settling in east Texas. Unable to convince his sons to continue the family tradition of being bodyguards, he decided that in order for Daoqiquan to survive, it would for the first time have be taught to outsiders. It was this attempt to keep the art alive that saw Master Li, Longdao begin to teach two of the young boys in his neighborhood. One of them went on to become the current head teacher and lineage holder of the Li family system of Daoqiquan – John P. Painter.
Dr. Painter (also given the formal title Shigong) began his studies in the late 1950’s and in the 1970’s, opened the first school of Daoqiquan in America. Fulfilling his promise to Master Li to keep the art alive, Shigong Painter has taught the family methods to law enforcement organizations and military personnel as well as developing a teacher training program that has led to the opening of a network of schools in Canada, England, and the USA. Combining his study of Daoqiquan and his work with medical researchers, he developed Yi Xin Gong (Intention/Attitude Skill), a method of training that uses mental imagery to enhance power and performance. This method is now part of the core curriculum of all Daoqiquan arts.
Currently, Dr. Painter still personally teaches his advanced students who are instructors in their own right. He has devoted himself to the creation of an online university accessible to all, containing a library of instructional videos for the entire Li family system including Yi Xin Gong, Baguazhang, Taijiquan, Xingyiquan, Snake boxing (a ground fighting method), Blue Heron boxing, traditional and modern hand weapons, health/longevity practices, meditation, and philosophy.
To learn more about the online university and Daoqiquan, please go to: www.internalartsuniversity.com