Raphael Smith

Raphael Smith is a certified teacher and practitioner of Chinese internal martial arts through China's National Board of Sports. He's a current member of the Dalian city's Wushu Association, and Beijing city's Xingyiquan Research Association. He is also the co-founding member of the non-profit Wushu Revolutionaries. Raphael has been honored by numerous organizations for his knowledge of martial arts alone. The UC Davis Medical Hospital's cardiology department esteemed him as having an 'Honorary Achievement' in Tai Chi for his expertise in teaching the heart patients there. Raphael was requested by the Dalian Taijiquan Organization to assists with research and translation of Tai Chi testing methods. He was also selected as the only western practitioner to be apart of the Beijing Xingyiquan team of 2010/2011. He is a winner of taijiquan championships in China; as well as longfist championships. Raphael is a published writer of martial arts, and distributes 'e-manuals' for free via this website.

Brief History

Raphael began studying traditional Chinese martial arts while he was a teen in Atlanta, GA. He studied the arts of southern Shaolin longfist, southern praying mantis boxing, and qigong. After almost ten years, Raphael journeyed to China to further study traditional Chinese martial arts in Dalian, China. While there he studied lost track boxing, and taijiquan(tai chi). Raphael returned to the US and began teaching taijiquan in California after 3 years. While in the US, he began research and study on the art of xingyiquan. Raphael, at the request of his taijiquan master returned to China to complete taijiquan training.

Raphael is now a 'traveling coach' for the International College of Martial Science. When not teaching, he is busied with researching xingyiquan, researching and developing taijiquan, and writing on theoretical studies of Chinese martial arts and practical applications of Chinese internal martial arts.

Mission

To provide martial art knowledge that is applicable on each level of practice: physical, meditative, and spiritual. There is a vast difference between teachers who teach theory, and those who practice and evolve theories into martial axioms.