Tai-Chi with movement, mindfulness, and martial mechanics.

Dr. Mark Cheng, L.Ac., Ph.D.

Dr. Mark Cheng began his foray into martial arts as a child, learning Tai-Chi and some Kung-Fu basics from his father. During his undergraduate college years, he had the good fortune to train for a brief while directly under the legendary Tsutomu Ohshima (Shotokan karate master who translated some of the earliest karate manuals into English & taught notables ranging from Green Beret Tom Muzila to Warren G’s father, Warren Griffin).

Cheng simultaneously seized on opportunities to train with several Chinese martial arts luminaries, including the late Prof. Daniel Lee (Yang style Tai-Chi pioneer, Wing Chun, and Jeet Kune Do student of Bruce Lee), Dr. Chi-Hsu D. Weng (Chinese Shuai-Chiao wrestling), and the late Grandmaster Arthur Y.S. Lee (Sil Lum Fut Ga Kung-Fu). During his early undergraduate years, he was instrumental in establishing an accredited Tai-Chi class as part of the CalTech Physical Education curriculum for Prof. Lee and assisted him in teaching those classes. After transferring to UCLA, Cheng established the highly successful UCLA Kung-Fu Club, which represented itself well in both student enrollment and in competition.

After finishing his undergrad studies, Cheng found himself back in traditional Chinese martial arts related studies, earning a masters and then a doctorate in Chinese medicine and acupuncture with a focus on Tui-Na, Chinese manual medicine. During that time, Cheng also wrote for Black Belt Magazine as a contributing editor, penning perhaps a dozen cover articles and co-authoring a book on the Korean art of Hwa Rang Do with Chief Master Taejoon Lee.

During those years, he furthered his study of Chinese grappling methods with the late Grandmaster David C.K. Lin in Combat Shuai-Chiao, and became both a physician to and student of the legendary Dan Inosanto, the most distinguished and highest ranking of Bruce Lee’s students. Beachbody, the company that produced the iconic P90X workout system, approached Cheng to create a Tai-Chi based workout system for them, releasing it under the title “Tai Cheng”.

Dr. Cheng has served on the faculties of StrongFirst under his mentor, the former Soviet Special Operations trainer Pavel Tsatsouline, as a Master SFG instructor, Functional Movement Systems under physical therapy pioneer Gray Cook, and two of the Los Angeles area Acupuncture colleges. He also worked with the US Speedskating Team during the 2018 Winter Olympics on the ground in Pyeongchang, Korea in a variety of capacities, ranging from sports psychology to injury treatment to strength and conditioning methods. Dr. Cheng currently oversees a concierge style consulting practice based in Diamond Bar, California.