Debra Kang Dean is a senior student of Almanzo "Lao Ma" Lamoureux, Senior Teacher with the Magic Tortoise School. She studied Wudang Shan 108 Taijiquan intensively with him from 1997-1999, and returns regularly to NC to continue her studies. She also practices the eight brocades, taiji fan, and taiji stick, and has participated in other workshops sponsored by the Magic Tortoise School, including some study with the late Grandmaster Jou, Tsung Hwa. She is the author of News of Home (BOA Editions, 1998), a collection of poems.