Ethan Rasiel founded Triangle JBGZ in 2003

His interest in martial arts goes back to his early youth. He started serious practice while in college, where he earned a Shodan (1st degree black belt) in Shotokan karate. He has also trained in taijiquan (Chen and Cheng Man-Ch'ing styles), Aikido, Gojo-ryu, Kendo, western fencing, and wrestling.

He came to Baguazhang via a round-about route. "I first met Dr. Painter at a seminar hosted by Jay Dunbar of Magic Tortoise Taijiquan. Shifu Painter was demonstrating martial applications of the 'Eight Directions' of taijiquan. I was so impressed by what I saw that, in 2000, I arranged to go down to the Gompa to learn more about the martial aspects of taiji and put them into my Chen Style practice. While there, I was introduced to Jiulong Baguazhang and immediately knew that that was where I wanted to go with my martial arts practice."

Ethan is an author, speaker, and consultant. He has two books currently in print and is working on a third. He has also been an investment banker, investment manager, and a management consultant. Apart from martial arts, his hobbies include cooking, politics, and history.