Fifty-plus years of practice, teaching, and writing in the Yang Style — and one of the longest-running Tai Chi schools in the United States.
Michael Gilman began studying Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan with Master Choy Kam Man in San Francisco in 1969 — making him one of the earliest non-Chinese students in the Chinatown YMCA lineage. He continued under Master Choy for years, completing the curriculum that flowed from Yang Cheng-fu through Choy Hok Peng to Master Choy himself.
After his time in San Francisco, Gilman relocated to the Pacific Northwest and established Gilman Studio in Port Townsend, Washington. The studio has been continuously operating for decades, making it one of the longest-running Yang Style schools in the United States.
What sets Gilman's teaching apart is the depth of the internal work he brings to the form. The 108 Movement Long Form is the spine of the curriculum, but the push hands, sword, saber, and internal-energetics teaching are equally serious. Generations of students have come through his studio.
"The form is the doorway. The doorway is the form."
— traditional Yang Style teachingThe full traditional Yang Style form as transmitted through Choy Hok Peng and Choy Kam Man. Slow, internal, lineage-faithful.
Partnered practice that develops sensitivity, listening, and the live application of structure under pressure.
The straight-sword form, taught as an extension of the unarmed practice rather than a separate art.
The broadsword (dao) form, with the same internal foundation as the empty-hand work.
The deeper layers of Yang practice — alignment, root, intent, the felt physiology of internal power.
Gilman has produced books and instructional videos documenting the lineage curriculum — among the most accessible introductions to traditional Yang Style on the market.
Master Choy taught hundreds of students over thirty years in Chinatown. Many of them practiced privately, some became teachers in their own communities, and a small handful built schools that have transmitted the lineage to a wider audience over decades.
Gilman's studio is one of those schools. If you cannot study with Master Choy himself — and no one can, since his passing in 1994 — Gilman Studio is one of the closest direct links to that exact transmission still operating in 2026.
For practitioners on the West Coast, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, Gilman Studio is the recommended path into this specific lineage. Even for distance students, his recorded materials are worth seeking out.
Located in Port Townsend, Washington. Schedule of classes, workshops, books, and instructional DVDs available on the studio's site. Reach out directly — Gilman responds to students of the lineage.
gilmanstudio.com →This page is a respectful third-party introduction to Michael Gilman's work. The authoritative source for current programs, books, and scheduling is gilmanstudio.com. Notice anything that needs correction? Email Paul.