Yizong · The Moral Dragon · Bath, UK
About The Moral Dragon
Lineage, training philosophy, and instructor Ollie Smith — The Moral Dragon kung fu school in Bath, Somerset.
What's with the name? Why The Moral Dragon?
The kung fu taught at The Moral Dragon is Gao-style Baguazhang, Hebei Xingyiquan, and Chen Panling Taiji. Lessons are taught in person in Bath, following the Taiwan Yizong lineage from Master Luo Dexiu.
Our lineage
We trace a direct line of masters from the origins of Baguazhang through the Taiwan Yizong school — from Dong Haichuan to Cheng Tinghua, then Gao Yisheng (founder of Gao-style Baguazhang), Zhang JunFeng, the Hong brothers (Hong Yixiang, Hong Yimian, and Hong Yiwen), Luo Dexiu, and Ollie Smith (龍德館). Read the full Yizong lineage →
Ollie Smith is Yizong-certified and a senior student of Kung Fu Master Luo De Xiu of Taiwan.
In 2010 I left Taiwan after 8 years of training Internal Kung Fu with my teacher and some impressive classmates for a new life in Japan. Setting up to teach kung fu there proved very difficult and the local community centre said that I would need official certification of my right to teach. I contacted Luo for help and he mailed me a teacher’s certification with his stamp; my given school name was Long De Guan (龍德館). Breaking it down:
- 龍 (lóng) — dragon
- 德 (dé) — virtue, morality, goodness
- 館 (guǎn) — hall, building, pavilion, academy, or establishment (depending on context)
While the certificate was impressive to the Japanese officials, my Japanese was not and I was rejected. From that day on I taught in all weather in front of the Heian Shrine in Kyoto for two years straight.
The name of my school just remained Long De Guan, and I never tried to adapt it. One day a student asked me what my school name meant and I said something like “The Moral Dragon”, so that was the first time I had the idea to call my school ‘The Moral Dragon’.
How we train
Training philosophy
The Moral Dragon follows traditional training as it was taught to our teacher. That means a very practical approach — you won't find too much discussion on esoteric aspects of internal kung fu. Be prepared for physically demanding exercise.
Internal kung fu doesn't mean standing about daydreaming about generating Qi. It means developing whole-body power, structure, and fighting application through consistent, focused practice.
Ollie's kung fu story
From Monkey Magic and boxing to eight years training with Master Luo Dexiu in Taipei — the path behind The Moral Dragon.
Read the full story