Who is Brian Lee McMahon?

      Brian began his training in martial arts in his early teens, attaining a brown belt in Taekwondo Chung Do Kwan by age 15. At 15 he began training in the school of Master Peter Lee in the Ji Do Kwan of Taekwondo. At 20 years old, now a black belt he opened his first school in Santa Fe, New Mexico teaching Taekwondo in the Jido Kwan. Before the age of 35 he was recognized as 5^th dan black belt.

      At 24 years old he founded the KiDo Institue, Inc a 501c3 non-profit educational organization. The KiDo Institue not only provided instruction for children and adults but also held lecture programs covering a variety of mind/body trainings and therapies, including Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Movement, Trager Approach, various yoga traditions, the Bioenergetics of Alexander Lowen and the Body Psychotherapy of Willhelm Reich. Brian was eventually certified in Reichian Therapy but never saw patients in this capacity privately, though he worked for a period at the St.Vincent’s Hospital Behavioral Sciences Center, the Family Recovery Center and the Adult and Adolescent Psychiatric wards providing therapeutic activities. These years of experience provided a hands on understanding of the development of the mind-body connection and the physiological components of human behavior.

      It was in his mid 30s that Brian began his study of internal martial arts. He had learned some Yang style forms before this but he began his more serious study with Bruce “Kumar” Frantzis, a now fairly well known teacher and author about Taoism and Internal Arts. He studied the Wu style of Tai Chi Chuan with Mr. Frantzis as well as Hsing I Chuan in the lineage of Wang Shu jin. Brian also assisted Mr. Frantzis in the writing of his first book, Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body.

      Following this training Brian was accepted as an inner door student of Zhou Qintsai of Taiwan. This was in the Gao Yi Sheng lineage of Ba Gua Zhang. He taught with and for Master Zhou during this time, and left his organization after 2 years. After this he taught Wu Tai Chi Chuan and qi-gung courses for the International Institute of Chinese Medicine until it’s closure in 2003. He continued teaching medical students, later teaching continuing education in 5 element theory for Acupuncturists.

       In 2006 Brian opened the Dragonwell Kung Fu school in Santa Fe after a hiatus from the school business. He continued his explorations into Internal methods working with Masters Xu Guo Ming, (Chen Style TCC), Wang Hao Da (Wu style TCC), Lu Gui Rong (Yang and Hao TCC) as well as noteworthy American Instructors such as Mike Sigman (Chen style) and Tim Cartmell (TCC, BGZ, BJJ).

      When Brian’s sons, Bleys Lee and Quanah Lee had gained enough experience and attained a high enough level of practice to teach, he gave the teaching responsibilities over to them and stopped his regular commuting to Santa Fe, only teaching privately to advanced practitioners. Being outside the city he has been inaccessible to most learners for a number of years now. At the request and encouragement of several motivated students and with the advent of Zoom erasing distance from the formula, he has agreed to teaching these Introductory Live Online Classes.

     Here Brian explains a bit of his history….