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Black Dragon Retreat 2026

Every year, once again, we take the leap — leaving, like Zhen Wu Da Li, our own inner kingdom in order to face what truly lives within us. On this path we may encounter the Five Dragons, just as Zhen Wu Da Li did on his journey to the North. His legend shows us a way of cultivating the Dao within ourselves, so that we may return to our own true nature. The Black Dragon stands for our natural desires.

How difficult it is to truly look at the habits that shape and control our daily lives. Food is deeply personal. Sleep feels non-negotiable. And yet, not all habits lead us toward balance and happiness. Often, they bind us. They chase us — like a dragon at our heels. Some people run from these dragons. Others turn around and begin to mount them. To mount a dragon rarely begins with joy. It usually starts with bitterness — with hunger, exhaustion, and the taste of failure. But this is how we learn. This is how Heaven slowly becomes part of our natural environment. This year, thirteen students chose to walk this demanding path with me. For two nights without sleep and three days without food, we turned around together and honestly observed what remains when so many beloved habits are taken away. It was not easy — and yet it was profoundly powerful. Many times I found myself on the edge of giving in, and then I looked around and saw eyes without doubt.

In this sense, I want to bow deeply and say thank you from the heart to everyone who joined.

And I want to invite all others to the next retreat at the beginning of 2027. It will be the first retreat by me held in nature, in Bavaria. If you feel called, please preregister early — you will then receive all information as soon as we begin preparing.

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TRADITION INTO FIGHTING INTENSIVE

Cloth is just cloth… Tradition is just tradition…

Are you ready to let go of separation?
Then join us for our upcoming “Tradition Into Fighting Week.” Over five days—eight hours each day—we will dive deep into this seemingly paradoxical topic. We will explore traditional movements and investigate how they can be applied in real combat situations. Along the way, we’ll uncover how modern fighting arts and traditional practices may not be so different after all. When we stop dividing the world into “traditional” and “modern,” we may begin to see more clearly. After all, cloth is just cloth—it just covers our human body. With an open mind, modern practices can benefit from the creativity and wisdom of older traditions, while traditional practices can be dusted off and brought into the present moment.

The only way back… is forward.

This intensive week is open to all levels and ages. The training and exchange will take place in a friendly, playful environment—ideal even for students who are gently stepping into the world of fighting.

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ABOVE THE EARTH – Wu Dang Sword

Get ready for this year’s Sword Seminar Tour with my teacher, Ismet Himmet! As an absolute expert in Wudang Sword Arts, he will share his deep knowledge with us across multiple locations, covering various aspects of his craft.

I’m especially excited to host him at his first stop in Berlin at our academy, where he will deepen our understanding of the essential foundations of Wudang Sword. He’ll also be teaching the 8 Postures of Sung Wei Yi. These postures help us wield the sword as if it were an extension of our body, enhancing flexibility and adaptability during exchanges with opponents.

Check out more information about his upcoming Sword Seminars and Intensive sessions below!

01.-02. March 2025 – Wudang Jian – 13 Principles – The Foundation of Wudang Sword – Berlin, Germany

08.-14. March 2025 – SWORD CAMP – School of the 5 Dragons, Nuremberg, Germany

12.-14. April 2025 – ‚ESSENCE OF SWORD‘ CAMP – WDP Türkiye – BEYKOZ MOVIE PARK, ISTANBUL

https://www.loft46.com/

Wudang Deutschland

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What Is Tai Ji Quan?

Tai Ji Quan (Tai Chi Chuan) is a meditation, health and martial art.

Especially in times like these, when wars are spreading, societies are becoming more divided, and technology is leading us to increasing disconnection from our own inner nature, it has become more important than ever to have a tool that can help us to reconnect with our physical and inner selves. Join us in this interview and discus with us, why Tai Ji Quan is an art for everyone, that is not just about learning to fight, but even more about expressing ourselves and reconnecting us with a healthy way of living.

Move slowly with us in our upcoming Tai Ji Basic Seminar, Intensive Full-Time Month, or Summer Camp:

Basic Seminar: 06-07.07.2024

Intensive Month: 06.07.-04.08.2024

Camp: 01-04.08.2024

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Xing Yi Quan – Internal Skills and Speed

Often it is questioned, how we can use Xing Yi nowadays in a realistic combat situation… While this question can be answered in my option also with the very basic techniques of Xing YI Quan, it can even more simply answered by the speed and power development principles of Xing Yi Quan. If we understand how we can generate power through center control and timing, through releasing and step work, we can apply these skills very directly also into fighting arts like Boxing or Wrestling…
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Xing Yi Quan – Close Range Fighting Concepts

Xing Yi Quan is an ancient internal Chinese martial art that offers us numerous concepts for health, spiritual development, and fighting practices. Often, practitioners of other martial arts don’t understand how traditional arts are applied in real fighting situations. The basics may seem abstract and too distant from practical application. However, just as an MMA fighter builds strength through power training, a Xing Yi practitioner utilizes traditional basics to develop power while simultaneously fostering healthy movement habits and various skills. This doesn’t imply that a fight should mimic the basics; after all, an MMA fighter doesn’t do push-ups inside the ring. Therefore, in our recent Xing Yi Camp, I explained how we progressively integrate basic exercises into more realistic fighting scenarios within close-range combat. I hope you enjoy.
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Xing Yi Quan – Striking from Emptiness

In the very moment we expect something, we tend to overextend. This is very normal. Xing Yi Quan, can be a great tool to improve our skills in “non-expectation”. By observing our overextending reactions we can learn step by step to release from them. What is very useful for our daily lifes, is also very necessary for building up a relaxed and efficient striking method. How can we get soft and powerful at the same time, when we stuck in old body habits and expectations? The art is to let go of “winning and losing” and instead give our self to the hidden values (xuan de) of our practice. In these we start to embrace failure as an important way companion and give our self to an endless, targetless journey… that ultimately leads into emptiness.

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What is Xing Yi Quan? – Interview

Xing Yi Quan (Hsing I) is one of the primary internal martial arts practiced in Wudang. It is an art that emphasizes the concept of softness and releasing in order to generate fast and direct motions. Originating from ancient spear fighting techniques, it also integrates principles from eagle claw Kung Fu and Chinese medicine.

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Meditation is Simple!

Maybe the first question should be… how you define meditation?
But maybe also simply not…
Because meditation should not be about defining nor about doing anything.
Yes, we aim to find a state of quietness.
A state of observing and entering into emptiness.
But how to aim for a target, which disappears in the very moment we start to look at it?
It seems very paradox, but as difficult as it is, as easy it is at the same time.
We need to learn to give space.
Space to aim… and space to not aim.
Space to do… and space to not do.
We think through knowledge, we can short cut all this, and save some time.
It is difficult for us to accept that meditation is actually all about wasting time.
Not being productive. Not getting anything from it.
And yet to do it, simply for the sake of doing it.
What a relief…
To simply sit and to do nothing.
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The Legend Of Zhang San Feng – Performance 2023

There are several legends of the origin of Tai Ji. One of them tells the story of a Martial Artist who retreated to the Wudang Mountains to cultivate the self. His name was Zhang San Feng. (Three Times Crazy Zhang). In our “End of the Year” celebration, we shared with our friends, family and students this little story… with movement… music.. and a lot of heart inside the chest…

Heart that can only be there, because of the people in and around this place, that make XUAN what it is. In this sense, thank you to everyone! For being part of this place, in one or the other way… Thank you for an amazing year of training!

To watch the full video click here: https://youtu.be/YwF96FIdXQw