Grandmaster Henry Look was an internationally renowned and respected Internal Martial Arts Master. He studied with three of the top Internal Martial Arts Masters of their time, Han Hsing Yuen, Kuo Lien Ying & Yu Pung Shi. Grandmaster Look has been featured numerous times in prestigious martial arts magazines including Tai Chi Magazine and Inside Kung fu. He was named in 1997 and again in 2004 to Inside Kung fu Magazine’s Hall of Fame and was included in their "100 Best, Greatest, and Most Influential Martial Artists of the Twentieth Century". Sifu Dug is Grandmaster Look’s fifth most senior student.

Sifu Jim had studied Chinese Kempo for more than a decade when he began to teach a few private students out of his home. He also was a Northern Long Fist student of Sifu John Zhang. He was dedicated to his martial arts training for personal development and self defense and was not interested in competitions. In addition to being a skilled martial artist, Sifu Jim was also an accomplished stained-glass artist. Sifu Jim introduced Sifu Dug, to Sifu John Zhang for Dug to continue his martial arts training under Sifu Jim’s teacher. It is unknown where Sifu Jim studied kempo.

Master Kevin Coogan (Wu Po Tien) was featured in the Third (1987) Edition of the Who’s Who in American Martial Arts in recognition for his dedication and contributions to the martial arts in America. Master Kevin was the adopted grandson of Grandmaster Wu Sung-feng and the sole heir to his teaching methods. He began studying martial arts in 1963 and continued training until his passing in 1992. He began teaching in 1974 and won numerous awards during his career. Master Kevin was an early pioneer in the introduction of Chinese Martial Arts in America. He was a member of the Chinese Kuoshu Worldwide Promotional Association and the International Chinese Boxing Association. Sifu Dug is Master Kevin Coogan’s Senior Student and lineage holder.

Han Xingyuan was a prominent disciple of Wang Xiangzhai, the founder of Yiquan (Dachengquan). Han studied Xingyi and Yiquan directly with Wang as well as his father Han You San, whom he had studied with since childhood. Han was known for practicing and teaching Xingyi within the straightforward Yiquan framework. Xingyi is an Internal Martial Art known for its direct, linear movements and emphasis on integrating mind and body. Wang Xangzhai’s style, emphasizes the same principles, but is simplified even further. He developed a reputation of being a very skillful player of Xingyi and Yi Chuan – and earned the nickname “Tiger Guard” due his many successful challenge matches. After many years of teaching and operating as an assistant of Master Wang Xiang Zhai – both in Shanghai and Beijing – he moved to Hong Kong in 1949. In the 1970´s a lot of his students immigrated to the US, Canada, England, et al, which contributed to his teaching being spread to the West. On many occasions he visited these countries and taught Xingyi and Yi Chuan for various lengths of time.

Sifu John Zhang was an exchange student from Beijing, who had studied Wushu, Taijiquan, Xingyiand Bagua while in college in China. He founded the UNM Wushu Club and taught there until he returned to China. Sifu Jim Salmon introduced Dug to Sifu John Zhang. Who John Zhang's teacher was was unknown.

Kuo Lien-ying was one of the most distinguished and revered martial artists of the twentieth century. He introduced Guang Ping Yang Tai Chi to the United States and to the west. In 1965, he immigrated to the United States and settled in San Francisco's Chinatown, leaving his young wife behind in Taiwan. At the request of his first U.S. student, David Chin, Kuo began teaching a few students on the roof of a local hotel. After less than a year, Kuo returned to Taiwan to bring Simmone Kuo to San Francisco. While he was in Taiwan, his students in San Francisco located an empty storefront at 11 Brenham Place, an alley which faced Portsmouth Square Park, which was unfortunately adjacent to a funeral parlor. The empty storefront was available due to the superstitions of the local residents who did not want to inhabit a place next to a mortuary. But according to one of his later students, Henry Look, Kuo often told him, "Don’t worry about dead people, worry about live ones." The students converted the storefront into a martial arts studio, with living quarters in the rear. Kuo named his new school, "Lien-Ying Tai-Chi Chuan Martial Arts Academy". Notable students of Master Kuo that were largely responsible for the transmission of his art include Masters Peter Kwok, Henry Look, Y.C.Wong, and Y.C. Chiang.

Few westerners had heard the term Kung-Fu in 1963, when an old man named Wu Sun Feng a Shaolin Kung-fu and Taijiquan Master, who had fought his way to America through Indochina during the years following World War II, arrived in Oil City Pennsylvania. Grandmaster Wu employed his deadly skills fighting alongside the Americans against the Japanese during the war. Finally, as a veteran of one war already, he used his Kung-fu skill to gain his own freedom from the communists and immigrate to the USA. Grandmaster was originally Shanghai where he had learned Northern Mantis Kung fu, Tai Chi Chuan, Xingyi and Bagua. He had fled to French Indochina in 1932 when the Japanese invaded China and joined the resistance when the Japanese invaded his new home in 1940. Grandmaster Wu taught privately in Pennsylvania and accepted only a very few students.

Professor Yu Peng-Si (1902-1983) was born in Wuxi City of Jiangsu province, China. He was very famous in the Chinese martial arts world. He studied shaolin kung-fu from a famous master named Mi Jian Hua in Shanghai. In 1928, he was introduced to the study of Xingyi & Yiquan by the famous great grandmaster, Wang Xiang Zhai. Yu turned out to be master Wang's closest disciple. Wang taught Yu Peng-Si the true heart of internal martial arts practice and refrained from teaching him anything that was not practical. During the Cultural Revolution in China (1968-1978), Professor Yu Peng Si Yu was imprisoned and tortured by the Red Guards. Following his release from prison, his renown as a chi kung medical practitioner led to an invitation from the Stanford University Research Institute to conduct medical research in California. In 1981 Professor Yu moved to California with his wife, Madame Min Ou-Yang.

Master Huang Gin Yin was one of the most highly skilled students of Kuo Yun Shen, and a senior classmate of Wang Xiang-Zhai. He was reputed to be the best Hsing-l fighter of his time.

Ma Gui was Yin Fu’s first disciple. He started training in several hard styles like Tiangangquan and Shaolin Shiba Luohanquan before beginning to train in Baguazhang as a teenager with Yin Fu. Dong Haichuan founder of Baguazhang, took a liking to Ma Gui and would supervise intensive daily training for Yin and Ma. Ma had a reputation as an awe-inspiring master from his fighting skill and was highly respected in Chinese martial arts society. Ma worked with the palace guard. He was very fast and nimble. Ma Gui’s gongfu skill was know for being very powerful it is said that he once bested Yang Banhou in a match. His favorite weapon was the broadsword. Dong Haichuan and Yin Fu helped him create the famous broadsword form known as the Eighteen Interceptions.

Wang Jiaoyu, was a stableboy for the Imperial family. The story handed down relates that one day Yang Banhou heard a noise over the fence and looked to see Wang Jiaoyu practicing the Guang Ping form. He confronted Wang Jiaoyu and demanded an explanation. Wang Jiaoyu told him he had been secretly watching Yang Banhou practicing the Guang Ping form. Yang Banhou told Wang Jiaoyu that if he could put his chin to his toe in the chin-to-toe exercise within 100 days, he would teach him. Jiaoyu succeeded. Yang took Wang as his student and trained him in the closed-door Guang Ping style Tai Chi, and made him promise not to teach this secret art as long as the Qing dynasty was in power. Wng kept his promise and Wang Jiaoyu and the Qing dynasty fell in 1912, but by this time Wang Jiaoyu was a very old man and was said to be over 100 years of age at the time that he accepted Kuo as one of very few disciples.

Wang Xiangzhai was born in Hebei province, China. As he was a very weak child, his parents decided to send him to the famous Xingyiquan master Kuo Yunshen to improve his health. Great Grandmaster Guo taught him Zanzhuang (post standing postures) that the young Xiangzhai had to maintain for many hours. Wang Xiangzhai at the age of 33, he traveled all around China, studying martial arts with many famous masters including the monk Heng Lin, Xinyiquan master Xie Tiefu, southern white crane style masters Fang Yizhuang and Jin Shaofeng, Liuhebafa master Wu Yihui. Wang taught many influential martial artists including Hong Lianshun, Zhao Daoxin, the Han brothers, (Han Xingqiao and Han Xingyuan), Yu Peng-si, Yao Zongxun, Zhang Entong, and others. Wang first named his teaching Yiquan, in reference to the Xingyiquan and Xinyiquan styles, from which it had evolved. Later, in the 1940s, one of his disciples who was a journalist publicly called it Dachengquan, which means "great achievement boxing". It is known by both of these names today.

As a teenager, Zhang Zhaodong studied Xingyi Quan with Liu Qilan, a highly skilled master of the art. He trained diligently and became a respected Xingyi master as well. Zhng met and began to study with Cheng Tinghua. Cheng also introduced Zhang to Dong Haichaun, the founder of Bagua Zhang, although most of Zhang’s training was with Cheng. Zhang Zhaodong ran a very famous martial arts association in Tianjin. Zhangis said to have required his closed-door students to study Xingyi before they began studying Bagua and Zhang’s Bagua naturally had a Xingyi flavor. Zhang’s Bagua form and applications were direct, powerful and simple, not as evasive compared to other Bagua masters because of his Xingyi background. Zhang was famous from coming to the aid anyone who was being bullied. As his reputation grew, government officials recognized his talent for dealing with criminals and employed him as a bounty hunter.

Cheng first martial art was Shuai jiao (Chinese Wresting) which he studied as a young man. Cheng Tinghua was an avid wrestler. He practiced hard and made a name for himself as a skilled wrestler. At 28 years old he began to study with Dong Haichaun the founder of Bagua Zhang. Cheng Tinghua was a very open martial artist who would teach his bagua to anyone who cared to learn it. He enjoyed meeting other martial artists to compare styles and share the techniques and theories of martial arts. He also enjoyed sharing his bagua skill with other martial artists. Cheng Tinghua was killed during the Boxer Rebellion when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing (1900). It turns out that a group of German soldiers were forcefully recruiting locals for a work detail near Beijing's Chung Wen gate, were Cheng's shop was located. They tried to press Cheng into their service. Cheng resisted and fought back. After beating several German soldier, he was shot by the Germans as a leapt over a wall and tried to flee.

Guō Yúnshēn 1829 - 1898 was a famous xingyiquan master. He prefered to become highly proficient with only a few techniques rather than to be less proficient with many techniques. His skill with one technique Beng Quan was legendary and he earned the nickname "Divine Crushing Fist Kuo”. He is said to have fought Dong Haichuan, the founder of baguazhang, where neither was able to defeat the other. The outcome the match was that the masters of both arts each highly respected the other’s art. Guo Yunshen had learned with Li Luoneng and was also a member of the Hebei xingyiquan school. He taught famous students like Qian Yantang, Xu Zhanao, Li Kui Yuan and his disciple Sun Lutang. Wang Xiangzhai, founder of dachengquan was his last closed door disciple. Wang Xiangzhai was Guo Yunshen's nephew. Wang was taught Guo's traditional xingyiquan. It is stated that Master Guo would instruct young Wang to hold the San Ti posture, without explanation, until a puddle of perspiration formed at his feet. This latter has been publicly revealed "zhan zhuang" by Wang Xiangzhai, a term commonly in use throughout the martial community today.

Yang Ban-Hou (1837-1892) was the Second child of Yang Lu-Chan and had started training Tai Chi from a very young age. Under the strict and watchful eyes of his father, Yang Ban-Hou would achieve a very high level of skill and be also known as Yang Wu-Di. Although Ban-Hou was of an upright character, he was somewhat short tempered and therefore had very few disciples. Like his father he would accept and defeat all challenges with other martial art masters and was retained as a martial arts instructor by the Manchu imperial family. As a young boy, Yang Ban-Hou was exceptionally talented in martial arts with outstanding natural abilities. However, he hated the tough training that was forced upon him by his father, Yang Lu-Chan, and would often run away from home. Each time his father would find him and bring him home. Although Ban-Hou hated his daily training, his natural abilities helped him, and his martial arts improved very rapidly. In a few short years his martial arts abilities were unequaled. Thus, his name became very well known throughout the China. Yang Ban-Hou taught the Yang family Tai Chi fighting secrets to his nephews Yang Shou-Hou and Yang Cheng-Fu (sons of Yang Jian-Hou), Wu Quanyou, and Wu Quanyou's son Wu Jianquan, they became co-founders of Wu-style tai chi, and Wang Jiaoyu the patriarch of Guang Ping Tai Chi.

Dong Haichuan is regarded as a skillful martial artist and widely credited to be the founder of Baguazhang one of the three Internal Martial Arts referred to as Wutang Kungfu. In his youth, he intensely trained in the martial arts of his village. His family was been so poor that Dong left Hebei Province to seek work elsewhere. Dong continued to study martial arts intensely during his travels. He studied Taoist training methods that included some kind of circle walking practice. He synthesized his previous experience with his village arts, what he had learned in his travels, and his Taoist studies to create a unique art originally called Zhuanzhang (Turning Palms). Zhuanzhang in later years became called Baguazhang. Dong began to teach publicly, giving up all other occupations to fully devote himself to developing and teaching Baguazhang. By the late 19th century, Baguazhang had become a well-known fighting style in Beijing and northern China, and Dong Haichuan and his students became famous.

Yang Luchan also known as Yang Fukui (1799–1872), was an influential Chinese practitioner and teacher of the internal style tai chi martial art. He is the founder of Yang-style tai chi, the most popular and widely practised style of tai chi and the most popular martial art in the world today. He developed Yang Styke Tai Chi from Chen Style Tai Chi taught to him by Chen Changxing.