Everyone has heard of the health benefits of tai chi chuan. Not everyone realises that tai chi chuan was developed as an extraordinarily effective martial art. Moreover an art that taught a whole new way of using the body that didn't rely on physical force to gain great effect. Most tai chi schools now teach purely for the health benefits that tai chi practice offers (sometimes with a few basic applications thrown in for effect) but the old martial ways are in danger of being lost. The Jade Dragon school teaches the full tai chi skills. including comprehensive martial applications and full energy development exercises.

Lesser known in the West than tai chi chuan is the art of bagua zhang. Where tai chi chuan was developed as a martial art but then became known for its health and self development benefits bagua zhang has taken the opposite course. The art originally developed from an ancient Taoist meditation practice of walking in a circle. This was later developed into a very sophisticated martial art that emphasises circling an opponent so as to avoid an attack and counter attack from the least expected direction. Bagua zhang training involves learning to walk in a specific stance that develops great balance and internal harmony. It loosens and opens up the joints particularly in the spine and pelvis area. It also brings in huge amounts of qi energy. The bagua practitioner is able to quickly circle an opponent to avoid a direct attack and counter attack from a completely different direction. Bagua became famous for it's efficiency in dealing with multiple attackers at the same time. Added to that it has much the same health and self development benefits as can be found in tai chi chuan.

One of the greatest challenges for new students is that of coordinating the body so that the arms, legs and torso work together as one unit. Only by doing so can effortless power be generated. In the Jade Dragon system we teach the use of the staff from the beginning. This is because the staff teaches you to use your hands together as a team and to take power from the legs. The staff is a devastating weapon in its own right but you can also use the same moves without a staff for many martial applications.
The staff training can be physically hard but generates speed and power in the upper body, particularly grip strength and the ability to smoothly redirect incoming force in different directions.

The Jade Dragon system is a study of force and balance. Only when each part of the body is balanced and working together can we generate force efficiently. By following the key principles of tai chiyou can learn to overpower a much larger opponent with little effort. Those same principles also enable you to deal with stress and pressure in your life and remain calm and peaceful inside no matter what is going on around you.

The self defence aspects of the system (taught from virtually the first lesson) include defences against the most common types of attack found on the streets today. The skills and forms that are taught work for real - we teach no empty forms (forms that are movements only because the instructor doesn't know how to use them). This is the real deal for students who are serious about the study and eventual mastery of high level Chinese martial arts.

"The principles, techniques and applications presented in class are always clearly put across and enjoyable and it is easy to see how they can relate to real life"

"I have been attending Jade Dragon Kung Fu classes with Sifu Paul Chapman for 11 months, and have enjoyed every class so far! This I believe is because we are shown applications of the skills and movements we learn, so we know WHY we work towards perfecting them. "

""Although I have only been attending the Jade Dragon Kung Fu classes for a short time, I can already feel the benefits of this martial art. When I started, I was unsure I‘d handle the training due to my level of fitness, however the classes are designed to stretch each person just beyong thier comfort zone. Thus, each class has improved my confidence & health. Sifu Paul Chapman’s teaching style covers the practical as well as the energy & mind of Kung Fu."