Orchard Kung Fu is fortunate to have a permanent home in Saskatoon called the Xin Fu Gompa, an official Jiulong Baguazhang Wu Guan (Martial Training Hall) certified under the auspices of Dr. John Painter and the International Jiulong Baguazhang Association, and only the second official commercial Daoqiquan Wu Guan in the world. 

 

 

Facility

The name Xin Fu Gompa (“Complete Acceptance Sanctuary”) is in honour of the Li family living philosophy, called Xin Fu Dao, translatable as both “Complete Acceptance of the Way” and “The Way of Complete Acceptance.” This philosophy permeates all of the Li Jia Daoquiquan arts. Combining Chinese and Tibetan terms is meant to respect and remember the multicultural origin of Daoqiquan. 

 

There are two main rooms in the Xin Fu Gompa – the Sky Dragon Abode and the Snow Lion Grotto.

 

Sky Dragon Abode (Main Training Hall)

The Sky Dragon Abode is the crucible wherein students test their mettle and learn to eat bitter. This is where gong fu (high skill) is forged one step, one breath at a time as the student uses the fundamentals to carefully craft a vessel capable of manifesting their art of choice fully, spontaneously, and with integrity. There are several special design features including I-beams for mounting heavy bags, large mirrors, special removable poles, Stahl ladder, rings, squat rack, kettlebells, weighted balls, and weapon racks.

 

Snow Lion Grotto (Mat Room)

This room is deep in the interior of the Xin Fu Gompa. The soft jade tatami serve as a comfortable surface for morning Dao Yin classes.  Throwing and grappling methods are studied here as they come up in the various martial programs with the mats allowing the students to study becoming yin and alighting gently when confronted with the yang of the ground. The floor design is world-class, using the latest evolutions favoured by elite, hard-throwing judo clubs around North America.

 

Location

Orchard Kung Fu Xin Fu Gompa is located at 4-404 33rd Street West, near the intersection of Avenue D and 33rd. Parking is available in the street along Avenue D. The entrance is in the alleyway, well-lighted with bright security lights and excellent surveillance camera coverage. The student entrance is the door on the far right. At the entrance, there are a few stairs, the boot-room, and the locker area. The senior students may claim a grey locker for permanent, personal use. The brown cubbies are for first-come daily use.

 

Facility Access

Registered students are encouraged to make use of the Wu Guan during non-class times by appointment. Please practice diligently.

​

If you’d like to join, or organize, informal student-only get-togethers, contact some friends via the contact list and arrange a time. You’ll find the more inclusive you make them, the more useful the practices become, so everyone is always invited! These get-togethers should be non-instructional, just friends helping friends practice ideas and concepts from class. Think of them as more partner practice time than as teacher-enforced drill time.

 

If those are not enough times for you, you may be able to arrange for a Gatekeeper (Dangguan) to open up at other times at their convenience (mornings, weekends, holidays). 

​

The Gatekeepers (Dangguan) are students who have been granted the responsibility of holding a key to the Wu Guan. They are available, at their own convenience, to open the Wu Guan for informal training sessions on the weekends, holidays, or other times it is closed. It is important that everyone understands that any time the Wu Guan is opened, everyone is invited to train. While these are informal sessions, meaning there is no teaching available, you will find partners to work with and like-minded people to train alongside.

 

Some of the Dangguan are kind enough to post a few days ahead of time when they are planning on opening up the Wu Guan on the OKF Student’s Facebook Group. Be certain to thank them for their generous sacrifice of time and the responsibility they assume as custodians of the Wu Guan.

​

Contact Dr. Orchard for the current list of Gatekeepers. 

 

 

I am pleased to report more and more dedicated students are taking advantage of the Orchard Kung Fu Wu Guan
for regular solo training and training with class-mates. It is wonderful to see the Xin Fu Gompa become alive with such use! 

                                                                                                               - Shifu Orchard

 

 

Jiulong Baguazhang Association           International Headquarters          Jiulong Baguazhang Schools