DR. JAMES Y. (JAY) DUNBAR

Dr. Jay Dunbar, founder and director of the Magic Tortoise Taijiquan School in the Triangle area of North Carolina, began Taijiquan studies in 1975 with Ruby Blaurock.

In 1978 he began a discipleship with Jou, Tsung Hwa which was to span the next 20 years. Dr. Jay's studies with Master Jou included Chen and Yang styles, meditation, qigong, neigong, San Shou, and Xiong Yanghe's sword form; he also learned the Wu/Hao style as an "indoor" student, and was the last to whom Master Jou taught that form, the culmination of the progression from hand to torso to mind method.

Dr. Jay has also studied with Kuo Lienying, John Painter, Henry Look, Zhu Tian Cai, Liang Shouyu, Yang Jwing Ming, Yang Zhenduo, Shi Zheng Zhong, Huang Chien-Liang, Susanna DeRosa, and Sam Masich. He received his Ph.D. in Education from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1991, with a dissertation entitled "Let A Hundred Flowers Bloom: A Profile of Taijiquan Instruction in America." In 2001 he established the Jou, Tsung Hwa Memorial Dantian Challenge.

He has judged in numerous tournaments since 1989. He was technical editor of Tai Chi for Dummies (Hungry Minds, 2001), and contributed the foreword to Exploring Tai Chi, by John Loupos (YMAA, 2003).

He has presented courses or workshops, at many venues, including UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, Elon College, A Taste of China, the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, the N.Y. Open Center, The American Dance Festival, the Guang Ping Annual Conventions, and the Zhang San Feng Festival.