Vital Breath of the Dao: Chinese Shamanic Tiger Qigong
Master Zhongxian Wu was born on China’s eastern shore in the city of Wenlin in Zhejiang Province, where the sun’s rays first touch the Chinese mainland.  He began practicing Qigong, calligraphy, and Taiji at an early age. Inspired by the immediate strengthening effects of this practice, Master Wu committed himself to the life-long pursuit of the ancient arts of internal cultivation. He devoted himself to the study of Qigong, martial arts, Chinese medicine, Yijing science, Chinese calligraphy, and ancient Chinese music over the next thirty years, studying with some of the best teachers in these fields. Master Wu is the lineage holder of four different schools of Qigong and martial arts: • 18th generation lineage holder of the Mt. Wudang Dragon Gate style of Qigong (Wudang Longmen Pai) • 8th generation lineage holder of the Mt. Emei Sage/Shaman style Qigong (Emei Zhengong) •  7th generation lineage holder of the Dai Family Heart Method style of Xin Yi (Dai Shi Xinyi Quan) • 12th generation lineage holder of the Wudang He style of Taijiquan.  In China, Master Wu served as Director of the Shanxi Province Association for Somatic Science and the Shaanxi Association for the Research of Daoist Nourishing Life Practices. In this capacity, he conducted many investigations into the clinical efficacy of Qigong and authored five books and numerous articles on the philosophical and historical foundations of China’s ancient life sciences. Since he began teaching in 1988, Master Wu has instructed thousands of Qigong students, Eastern and Western.   In 2001, Master Wu left his job as an engineer in Xi’an, China, to come to the United States to teach Qigong. For four years he served as Senior Instructor and Resident Expert of Qigong and Taiji in the Classical Chinese Medicine Department at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM) in Portland, Oregon. In addition to his work at NCNM, Master Wu was a sub-investigator in a 2003 Qigong research program sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Currently, Master Wu presents trainings and workshops for professionals and the general public in Qigong and Taiji and on topics related to the classical Chinese arts. Vital Breath of the Dao—Chinese Shamanic Tiger Qigong (Laohu Gong 老虎功) is Master Wu’s first Qigong book in English. Master Wu is committed to bringing the authentic teachings of Chinese ancient wisdom tradition such as Qigong, Taiji, martial arts, calligraphy, Chinese astrology, and Yijing science to his students. In addition to his classes, workshops, and seminars, he offers a long-term Qigong and Taiji training program that provides a strong foundation for the study of shamanic Qigong, internal alchemy, Taiji and Qi-healing skills, including classical Chinese energy techniques, medical Qigong, and martial arts applications.