Brief Description

Our own Joey Haber was made KaiMen (Open Gate) by the Cheng Baguazhang family in the Spring of 2024. As a KaiMen Joey is now formally a Shifu (a master endowed with the trust of the martial arts community to lineage is own students and perpetuate the Cheng Baguazhang line.) Shifu Joey is the first American elevated by the Cheng Baguazhang family to master in a generation. This is an exciting time for our school as now Shifu Joey will have even greater access to teachers and historical resources to further support our stateside school.

A Thank You

We would like to extend a formal thank you to the three students who attended the last trip. It was a challenge as these trips always are and you each performed your roles as ambassadors of our school. In the eyes of our broader Kungfu family, you are the proof of Shifu Joey’s hard work and dedication to perpetuating these arts. With his attention and endless negotiating with the Chinese families and your energy, resources and time, we were all able to vault our school to the next level of formal recognition.

Instruction While Joey is Abroad

While Shifu Joey is in Beijing, we keep classes running here with our increasingly deep collection of certified teachers (Assistant, Junior and Senior). The increase in teaching opportunity provided by Shifu Joey’s absence is a vital piece of our ecosystem because it allows new teachers to gain experience. Our mission is bet with abundance when we all work together as a community to maintain momentum and improve our skills while he’s gone in preparation for his return.

A Note About Lineage

Lineage in America is a tricky thing. Titles alone do not make for good kungfu. In our school Formal Beijing Lineage is the instructor equivelat of an Assistant Teacher certification. Folks who have reached the rank of Assistant Teacher may be given the opertunity for Beijing Lineage should Beijing pollitics permit. What you have to do to earn an Assistant Teachers rank with us is a more systematic form of what you must accomplish to get lineage in the eyes of the Masters in Beijing. The Chinese are interested in bearing witness to more of you. This will be done in the future via zoom or visit to China.