Dragon Gate is the mythical gate in which the novice passes through to become transformed into a master—the “carp” into the “dragon.”
Welcome to Dragon Gate. The information on this site will help start you off on the right foot. We hope it will give you, the new student, some knowledge of the style, the family, and your teachers, as well as what is expected from you as a student and where you are headed as a member of Dragon Gate Kungfu Academy.
Our mission is to be the premier provider of professional martial arts training to adults and children in the central Massachusetts area. We motivate every student, teacher, child and parent to continually strive to better themselves.
New Info
Dragon Gate Family Fist Style of Kungfu develops a very strong foundation in Chinese martial arts and concepts.
This style was created by shurfu Umar Arrastia, shurfu Eric L’Ecuyer, shurfu John Bradley and Shurssu Eric Matta who have combined over 90 years of Chinese martial arts knowledge. Dragon Gate Fist Kungfu was developed from a core of Bai Long (White Dragon) Pai Family Kungfu Method. As well as an extensive background in various Chinese martial arts.
Dragon Gate Fist specifically consists of five traditional animals: Tiger, Mantis, Crane, Snake, Leopard, as well as Dragon Gate Fist Five Elements: Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and Metal. Students are also introduced to the technique and concepts of Internal Chinese martial arts such as Tai Ji Quan, Xing Yi, and Ba Gua Zhang. Dragon Gate also teaches the joint locking and ground fighting arts of Shuai Jiao and Chin Na.
At Dragon Gate all students are encouraged to improve themselves as individuals. Constantly being challenged to set and reach their goals, our students make a habit of success. Each student is evaluated at their own level and based on his/her own strengths and weaknesses. Those that chose to compete consistently place high in open competition and are well respected as competitors and hopefully good human beings.
Our youth programs teach and constantly reinforce good qualities by focusing on a specific positive attribute at every rank level. These qualities are referred to in Chinese martial arts as WuDe (woo duh) or martial virtues. They are broken into two categories:
The Five Virtues of the Mind:
The Five Virtues of the Deed:
Will
Endurance
Perseverance
Patience
Courage
Humility
Respect
Righteousness
Trust
Loyalty
In understanding and teaching these concepts we hope to have a positive influence on the lives of our students whether they stay with us for a short while or a lifetime.
Curriculum
The curriculum is broken up into two phases. The 5 Element Phase and the 5 Animal Phase.
The 5 Element Phase is designed to teach specific methods of movement that are critical to continued martial arts training. This phase consists of Technique, Forms, Weapons, Drills, and Fighting concepts and execution. Core movement skills are set in this phase to help the student progress and adapt to the next phase.
The 5 Animal Phase incorporates traditional 5 animal training. It also includes advanced concepts as well as Technique, Forms, Weapons, Drills, and Fighting. Internal arts training is also incorporated into training.
LEAPING THE DRAGON GATE
The Dragon Gate
On the Yellow River at Hunan there is a waterfall called the Dragon Gate.
It is said that if certain carp, called Yulong, can climb the cataract, they will transform into dragons.
Every spring, when the third month comes, the carp rise from the sea and gather in vast numbers at the base of the falls. Most are swept back by the current, but the few who reach the top ascend beyond their former nature. Their leap is not only through water—it is through limitation itself.
This is the foundational training methodology of Long Men Quan — Dragon Gate Fist.
The Dragon Gate symbolizes the student’s journey.
In our school, the Dragon Gate symbolizes the path of practice. The training hall has structure and order, as the river has its banks. Discipline and Form gives direction, repetition builds strength, and tradition provides the current that carries us forward. Yet no master, no class, no teaching can make the leap for you. Each student must find their own way to climb. The leap cannot be given. It cannot be copied. It must come from within.
The purpose of our teaching is not to make obedient followers but thinking dragons — individuals who question, reason, and grow.
The movements, the forms, the drills — these are tools, not cages. They train the body so that the mind may become free. To transcend structure is not to abandon it, but to understand it so deeply that it no longer confines you. From that freedom comes true martial skill, true art, and true wisdom.
At the Dragon Gate, there is no single path to the top of the waterfall.
Each current is different, each leap unique.
What matters is the will to rise — to question, to learn, to transform.
