Born and raised in the USA, Bruce Frantzis spent a total of 11 years in China in the 70s and 80s. He was one of the few foreigners studying martial arts in this part of the world at that time.

In China, Frantzis trained in taijiquan, bagua zhang, xingyiquan, Taoist meditation, qigong and qigong tuina. Fluent in Mandarin, Frantzis also trained as a Taoist priest and received lineages in the Taoist Water tradition of Laozi. He studied with some of the country's top masters and brought his knowledge back to the West.

To this date, Bruce Frantzis has taught martial arts to more than 15,000 students in North America and Europe.