Daoist Gate Teacher Certification

Teacher Certification

Teacher certification is how prospective instructors show their commitment to professional development as martial arts teachers. When you obtain the necessary teaching credentials, it doesn’t only convey your intention. Still, it also validates the level of mastery that you have achieved through dedication, time, and hard work—That’s true gōngfu. Our goal in offering teacher certification aspires to that. The certification process should demonstrate your physical skills and technique, knowledge of intent, proper body mechanics, and body and mind connection, including the cultural and historical origin of the martial arts you have decided to teach. In addition, it ensures and maintains the integrity of the discipline, which the teachers must pass on to their prospective students. In our commitment to maintaining the integrity of the forms, we require a recertification after three years.

If teaching is your passion, you can become a certified Daoist Wudang Arts teacher of Kung Fu, Qigong, and Taiji. Instruction and practice from Master Zhou or Wudang Daoist Gate certified instructors are required before the certification process begins.

If you reside in an area where there is no physical access to Daoist Gate certified instructors, then you can do the following:

Learn the lessons online where Master Zhou offers online learning.
Study under Shifu’s weekend, week-long, and month-long workshops at Daoist Gate Center Xuan Ju in NH.
Study and participate in workshops conducted regularly by Master Zhou in places around the country, such as in California, Delaware, or abroad in Poland and Hungary.

We consider aspirants of all levels: beginner and intermediate students, student practitioners who have already learned from other schools and disciplines, and existing instructors or instructors from other martial disciplines who wish to include the Wudang curriculum in their offerings. Students’ invested effort and time to learn will determine their progress. Read through the frameworks for each student level at the bottom of this page. These guidelines are frameworks; therefore, Master Zhou Xuan Yun may apply exceptions according to each student’s track of progress.

5 DISTINCTIVE WUDANG MARTIAL ARTS DISCIPLINES

The Teacher Certification consists of 5 distinctive Wudang Martial Arts disciplines:

Wudang Taiji
Four Season Qigong
Bagua Zhang
XingYi Quan
Wudang Kung Fu and Weapons

TEACHER CERTIFICATION IN A NUTSHELL

Inform Master Zhou of your interest.
Study and complete the required hours and classes to acquire skill proficiency according to Master Zhou’s teaching standard.
When hours are met, submit a personal statement.
Prepare and schedule testing.
Place teaching skills into practice by reaching out to the community to teach or online instruction through the teacher-in-training program by the Daoist Gate Center, our non-profit organization.

TEACHER’S STATEMENT

One of the essentials before certification or recertification is a written personal statement of your intent and purpose. Master Zhou believes that he can best mentor and teach you and meet your needs if he understands your goals, experiences, challenges, and aspirations as a student. Therefore, using a holistic approach, Master Zhou will look at your physical abilities and the overall journey you have taken to reach the road where you are now. The written statement should be typed in a double-spaced document no more than 3 pages long.

Include your unique background, identity, interest, or talent. Here are some questions that may assist you in writing your statement.

Describe a Wudang Martial Art movement that captivates you. The movement is so engaging that it has become your favorite. Why does it absorb you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
Reflect on a time when you questioned your training. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
Describe the time when you have put a personal mark on your training. There is no wrong answer here, no matter the reason and scale. It can be a novel movement that you incorporate to energize your training further. Or it can be doing your training in a garden or on a mountain top. Explain its significance to you.
In what other ways do you intend to use your knowledge of Wudang Martial Arts to assist yourself and others in the community?

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

To meet the certification requirement, Master Zhou believes that it is necessary to provide a forum for his student teachers in training to hone their skills, build their confidence, and develop empathy with learners who may struggle to learn these hard-to-understand and centuries-old practices. If the goal of the Daoist Gate is to spread these healing arts, what is even more appropriate than an outreach to the community where they reside? Concurrently, teachers-in-training have given hundreds of hours of teaching for free or by donation in the local community: introducing Taiji and qigong to seniors in senior centers and other public spaces like parks and libraries. In addition, our community outreach extends to Zoom teach-ins, which serve those who would like to learn across states.

What are the teacher-in-training classes?

The Daoist Gate Foundation offers this series of classes by our teachers in training. This series is part of the practicum requirement for students seeking teacher certification and planning to teach Wudang Martial Arts to the public. This initiative further promotes Master Zhou’s mission to pass the Wudang arts on to future generations.

Why are these classes called “Classes by Donation”?

When you take a class led by our teachers-in-training, you not only assist them in fulfilling the capstone of their many years of training, but you also support Master Zhou’s Daoist Gate Center, his non-profit organization. He hopes to encourage his students and supporters to take classes for their well-being while donating to his foundation. Financial support is crucial to maintaining and sustaining our center.

TESTING, DEMONSTRATION, and RECERTIFICATION COSTS

Every test with Master Zhou toward earning a teacher certification or recertification costs $300.00 per test for each category for which the student wishes to be certified. This modest fee guarantees that Master Zhou will carve out time and provide a thorough review, grading, and feedback to earn your certification.

TEACHER RECERTIFICATION

Teaching martial arts necessitates continuous time spent studying, understanding, and improving your practice and teaching. Therefore, recertification is essential to maintaining the integrity and highest quality of your Wudang martial arts teacher qualification. Daoist Gate requires that every teacher instructing Wudang martial arts be recertified every three years with a fee of $300.

Taiji Teacher Certification Requirement

WUDANG TAIJI FORMS
You should demonstrate proficiency in these 5 Taiji Forms

武当太极28式 Wudang Taiji i(28)
武当太极108式 Wudang Taiji (108)
武当太极13式 Wudang Taiji (13)
武当太极剑 Wudang Taiji Sword
太乙五行拳 Tai Yi Five Elements

1. REGULAR STUDENTS
REQUIRED NUMBER OF TAIJI CLASSES ATTENDED	216 hours of Taiji classes or an equivalent of 2 years of continuous classes
REQUIRED NUMBER OF FREE TEACHING CLASSES AS A COMMUNITY OUTREACH	Teach 60 Wudang Taiji classes
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2. *STUDENTS WITH PREVIOUS TAIJI EXPERIENCE IN ANOTHER STYLE*
REQUIRED NUMBER OF TAIJI CLASSES ATTENDED	108 hours of Wudang Taiji Classes or an equivalent of 1 year of continuous classes from a Daoist Gate Certified Instructor
REQUIRED NUMBER OF FREE TEACHING CLASSES AS A COMMUNITY OUTREACH	Teach 30 – 35 Wudang Taiji classes on the Daoist Gate Center online platform.
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3. *FOR INSTRUCTORS WHO WISH TO TEACH WUDANG TAIJI*
An accelerated program can be designed to meet the instructors’ specific needs.	Details on a case-by-case basis as assessed by Master Zhou.