In a world that moves faster every year, few teachers manage to slow things down long enough for people to truly breathe, focus, and grow. Sifu Michael Shaman is one of those rare guides. Known for his calm presence, precise technique, and deeply human approach to teaching, he has helped students of all ages discover strength, balance, and purpose through martial arts.
Early Journey into Martial Arts
From an early age, Michael Shaman was drawn to stories of warriors, healers, and wandering masters who dedicated their lives to discipline and service. As a teenager, he began formal training in traditional Chinese martial arts, spending countless hours in small community dojos and larger city schools, learning not just how to strike or block, but how to stand, breathe, and focus.
Those first years were not about medals or titles. They were about repetition, humility, and respect. Under demanding teachers, he learned that martial arts begin with character: arriving on time, bowing with sincerity, listening carefully, and leaving ego at the door.
The Making of a Sifu
“Sifu” is a Cantonese term that means more than just “teacher.” It suggests a guide, a mentor, and sometimes even a parental role in one’s martial journey. Michael did not accept this title lightly. Before he ever agreed to be called Sifu, he spent decades as a student—refining forms, studying anatomy, reading classical texts, and exploring the philosophy behind the movements.
His training spanned:
• Traditional Kung Fu – emphasizing structure, rooting, and fluid power.
• Tai Chi and Qigong – focusing on breath, internal energy, and gentle yet profound movement.
• Self-Defense and Practical Application – translating forms and drills into realistic scenarios.
Over time, students began to seek him out not just for physical training, but for guidance on how to navigate stress, conflict, and everyday challenges. That’s when Michael truly stepped into the role of Sifu.
A Teaching Style Built on Respect
Sifu Michael Shaman’s classes are known for being both demanding and deeply supportive. On the training floor, he insists on correct form, clear focus, and honest effort. But he also recognizes that every student walks in with a unique story—different bodies, different fears, different goals.
His core teaching principles include:
• Presence over perfection – It’s more important to be fully engaged than to perform a technique flawlessly.
• Consistent practice – Small, steady effort over time matters more than short bursts of intensity.
• Inner calm, outer strength – True power grows from a quiet, centered mind, not from aggression.
• Community and responsibility – Senior students are encouraged to help newer ones, creating a culture of support rather than competition.
In his school, it is common to see advanced practitioners quietly correcting stances, encouraging beginners, and modeling humility. This atmosphere is a direct reflection of Sifu Michael’s belief that martial arts should build better people, not just better fighters.
Philosophy: The Martial Path as a Way of Life
For Sifu Michael Shaman, martial arts are not confined to the walls of a training hall. He teaches that what happens on the mat should transform how we live, work, and relate to others.
Some of the ideas he often shares with students include:
• Balance in all things – Just as a stance must be balanced, so must rest and work, speaking and listening, effort and recovery.
• Respond, don’t react – In self-defense and in life, there is a difference between impulsive reaction and deliberate response.
• Discipline as freedom – Routines, structure, and practice create more options, not fewer—because a trained mind and body are capable of more.
• Respect without fear – Respect for teachers, partners, and opponents is grounded in understanding, not intimidation.
Through discussions, short talks at the end of class, and one-on-one conversations, he encourages students to carry these lessons into their families, workplaces, and communities.
Training for All Ages and Levels
One of the distinguishing features of Sifu Michael’s school is its inclusivity. Children, teenagers, adults, and seniors often share the same space, each working at an appropriate level.
• Children learn focus, coordination, and respect in a structured but playful environment.
• Teenagers gain confidence, resilience, and healthy outlets for stress and emotion.
• Adults discover strength, flexibility, and mental clarity—often finding relief from long hours at desks and screens.
• Older students use gentle forms and breathing practices to maintain mobility, balance, and vitality.
Sifu Michael emphasizes safety and longevity. Rather than chasing short-term intensity, he aims to help students build a practice they can sustain for decades.
Beyond the Dojo: Service and Community
In addition to regular classes, Sifu Michael Shaman has been involved in community outreach—offering workshops on:
• Personal safety and situational awareness
• Stress relief through breathing and movement
• Mindfulness and emotional regulation for students and professionals
He views these efforts as a natural extension of his martial path. Strength, he believes, should be used to protect, uplift, and support others.
A Living Legacy
For Sifu Michael Shaman, legacy isn’t about trophies on a wall. It lives in the quiet confidence of a student who no longer startles at every loud noise, in the improved posture of someone who used to be in chronic pain, or in the teenager who chooses to walk away from a fight instead of escalating it.
Every bow at the beginning and end of class is, in his eyes, a reminder: we are here not only to train the body, but to refine the mind and soften the heart.
As he often tells his students:
“The real test of your training is not how high you kick or how hard you punch. It’s how you move through the world when no one is watching.”
In an age of distraction and hurry, Sifu Michael Shaman offers something rare and valuable: a grounded, time-tested path to strength, clarity, and compassion—one disciplined step at a time.
His principle arts include:
- Tai Chi Chuan ( Taijiquan ),
- Hsing-I Chuan ( Xing Yi Quan )
- Traditional Chinese Qigong ( Chi Kung )
- Tui Shou: Internal Style Grappling, Wrestling
- San Shou: Free-fighting, Inner Boxing
- Traditional Hand Weapons:
- Sword, Staff, Saber, Knife, Spear
Since 1987, Sifu Michael has taught ongoing classes in his native California, primarily in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas. He has worked with students from age 5 to 95.
He has conducted workshops and demonstrations around the US as well as in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
He has studied and trained in the US, China and the Himalayas for over 3 1/2 decades under the direction of some of the most accomplished Masters in the World.
He has been a training coordinator for the Los Angeles chapter of the International Yan Xin Qigong Association, is an active member of the San Francisco Chapter of the Jing Mo (Ching Wu) Athletic Association, has certification to instruct Cheng Hsin Tui Shou and is certified as a Tian Gong Healer.
In 2011 & 2012 he was a Presenter at the World Congress on Qigong & Traditional Chinese Medicine.
He has had articles by or including him published in a variety of esoteric periodicals including Inside Kung Fu and Internal Dialogue. He has appeared in a number of feature films and TV shows, and has been featured in several US and Chinese TV specials and news reports on Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong.
His direct Lineage Masters and principal instructors include:
WILLIAM C.C.CHEN – Grandmaster from the Cheng Man-Ching lineage, (Author: “Body Mechanics of Tai Chi Chuan”).
WONG JACK-MAN – Northern Shaolin Kung Fu and Internal Martial Arts Grandmaster; Founder of the San Francisco Jing Mo Athletic Association (Ching Wu).
DR. YAN XIN – World Famous Qigong Healer and Researcher, (Author: “60 Characters on Traditional Chinese Qigong” and numerous articles on Traditional Chinese Qigong in medical and scientific journals).
GESHE TSULTIM GYELTSEN – Tibetan High Lama; Representative of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to the US.
WAYSUN LIAO, Temple Style Grandmaster (Author: “Tai Chi Classics”, “CHI – How To Feel Your Life Energy” and “The Essence of Tai Chi”).
Sifu Michael was the only Westerner specifically invited to attend the festivities in Sichuan Province, China, celebrating the “legalization” of Qigong in China (under the Sports Authority) in 1996.
Michael Shaman’s obituary
The last few years of his life Michael Shaman had made many new friends with the people, plants and animals of Globe, Arizona after relocating in 2020 from Gilroy, California. He enjoyed remodeling his Hackney Hill home, planting trees, flowers and vegetables in his garden, and feeding the birds. He worked part-time at the Golden Hills Nursery and Feed Center, and often traveled back to California to visit his friends and Tai Chi students in Gilroy, San Francisco and Los Angeles, California.
Born Allan Marston Thomason on May 10, 1948 in San Bernadino, California, he graduated from Pacific High School and went on to attend UCLA and the University of Wisconsin. He had many interests and after obtaining multiple masters degrees he worked in many careers in his young adult life. One of his career paths was as an actor, and he went by the professional name Michael Shaman for most of his adult life. Once he discovered Tai Chi it became his main passion. For many decades he taught martial arts in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Gilroy, California at his Pacific Light and Power Dojo as the Chief Instructor.
After a nearly four month battle for his life, Michael succumbed to complications from Legionnaires Disease on November 25, 2022 at the Northwest Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. He is predeceased by his parents Ryland and Evelyn Thomason. He is survived by his two brothers, Neil from Melbourne, Australia and Douglas from Paris, France, his former wife from 1969 to 1982, Rosemary, his three daughters Leise, Josephine and Taymar, son Christopher and grandchildren, Michelangelo, Caspian, Lilandra, Reyna, Atticus and Benjamin from Tucson, AZ and Santa Barbara, CA. He also leaves behind many wonderful friends and students from all over the world, as well as his beloved cat Sherbet who now resides with his daughter’s family.
Michael was cremated in a witness and final blessing ceremony at Adair Funeral Home in Tucson, Arizona on December 12th.
A memorial will be held December 21st at 2pm at the Wat Buddhametta Buddhist Temple located at 11133 S Swan Rd, Tucson, AZ 85711. Donations can be made in person or online at https://www.tucsonbuddhistcen…
There will be a celebration of life January 12th at 1pm PST at the Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling, 3500 E. Fourth Street, Long Beach, California, 90814 Donations can be made in person or online at https://www.gstdl.org
