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Mission

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Mission

The mission of the North American Tang Shou Tao Association Cooperative (NATSTA) is the preservation, research, and dissemination of the traditional Chinese martial and medical arts. The traditional Chinese internal martial arts that NATSTA focuses on include xingyiquan, baguazhang, taijiquan, and liuhebafa (water boxing). Traditional Chinese Medicine practiced and researched by NATSTA includes all aspects of tuina, acupuncture, herbal medicine, qigong, and dietary medicine. NATSTA’s focus on research, preservation, and dissemination of these arts ensures their viability for future generations. The North American Tang Shou Tao Association Cooperative is a fully-recognized 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization in accordance with Arizona State and IRS guidelines.

NATSTA celebrates and embraces the rich, complex history and the intrinsic value of the Chinese internal martial and medical arts. We aspire to respectfully preserve these arts in their purest context by honoring the founders and inheritors of the appropriate lineage through research and historical documentation. We are also committed to training the arts (both martial and medical) by adhering to the unique expression of their spirit, application, and intent. To this end, our vision is simple: to build a viable community of individuals dedicated to the research, practice, preservation, and dissemination of the traditional Chinese internal arts, both martial and medical. We insist on excellence in instruction of these arts so that they do not become diluted from one generation of practitioners to the next. In order to accomplish these goals, NATSTA continues to:

  • Preserve the purity of each system of Chinese internal martial arts in the lineages that we proudly represent. Through the preservation of each system we remember our benefactors, keep the definitions of the lineages and practices clear for the historical record and for posterity, and to prevent the blending of one art into another as so often happens as time passes.
  • Develop qualified instructors to provide the highest level of competence in the practice, understanding, and teaching of the traditional Chinese internal martial arts of xingyiquan, baguazhang, taijiquan, and liuhebafa.
  • Develop qualified practitioners to provide the highest level of competence in the practice, understanding, and teaching of the traditional Chinese medical arts including acupuncture, herbal medicine, qigong, and tuina.
  • Attract highly qualified students dedicated to the study and advancement of these arts.
  • Foster and disseminate the value of both martial and medical arts through an international network of NATSTA schools.
  • Provide opportunities, such as conferences, for students and instructors to meet, exchange information, train together, and expand the community of dedicated practitioners.
  • Continue to research these arts via trips to China, interviews with knowledgeable individuals, and historical documentation to ensure the preservation of their lineage for future generations.
  • Continue to cultivate our lineage connections and deepen our understanding and expression of our martial and medicinal arts by inviting teachers from China to visit the US and work with NATSTA members across the country.
Vince Black with Liu Shuhang and Li Cang

Preservation

These arts, both the martial and the medical, are cultural treasures. Working to preserve them is a joy, an honor and a privilege.

Developing Practitioners and Instructors

The preservation of these arts can only be achieved through the medium of people practicing and sharing with each other. Much of the association’s energy is focused on providing the opportunity for members to develop into dedicated and accomplished practitioners and for those that have the skill and desire, to develop into competent instructors.
Class practicing with nine-ring broadsword
Two instructors exploring martial arts applications

Research

Our teachers can only hand us the directions and the clues, it is for each generation to spend the time practicing and researching the arts to make them come alive.

Community

Cultural activity can only happen in a group of people. Boxing and medicine are both about relationships. Development and support of our ‘ohana, our family and our community has always been an important part of the association’s activities.
NATSTA celebrating Chinese New Year

Dissemination

Teaching and introducing people to the treasures hidden in these practices and making them available to a wider community is an important part of our mandate. The essential physical practice of our arts is supported and enriched by written material and the association has a growing publishing department.

The North American Tang Shou Tao Association is a 501c3 organization dedicated to the research and cultivation of internal Chinese martial arts and medicine.

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