Guiding You On A Journey Through Self-Discovery And Healing
In the Chinese tradition, lineage is not simply a record of who taught whom. It is a living transmission of skill, discipline, and understanding. Passed hand to hand, breath to breath, across generations.
I am Sifu Karen Schlachter, founder of the An De Institute of Peaceful Virtues, and for nearly 40 years, I have carried that transmission forward.
My path has spanned multiple disciplines of martial and energetic arts, all of which support and amplify each other. From Okinawan self-defense arts to Usui and Karuna Reiki, and Tai Chi, I’ve been blessed to open and strengthen channels of energy flow in these ethereal yet grounded styles of movement and meditation.
I began my Qigong training in 1997, which energetically supported my early Taiji study. I began both these disciplines with Sifu Frances Farrell. I spent three years at Compton College to attain my completion certificate.
In 1989, I began to train under the personal instruction of Master Peter Pernigotti, in the Sun Moon Fist System. The name itself carries meaning: in Chinese, sun and moon together form the character for “bright” — the union of two great sources of light.
It was in that system that I first learned to move energy with intention, and where the foundation of everything I teach today was built.
Master Pernigotti elevated me first to Sifu, then to Professor level, as his own health began to fail. Before he died, he gave me his blessing to carry his teachings forward — and named me the inheritor of the Sun Moon Fist Chinese Boxing System.
In 1999, I began training further at the personal direction of Grandmaster Ken Cohen, author of “The Way of Qigong,” widely credited as the first teacher to bring Qigong into North American medical school lecture halls. Studying under him sharpened a practice that was already decades deep, and connected my own lineage to one of the most respected names in the field.
In 2002, I began further training with Sigung Sunyata Saraswati, immersing myself in week-long, in-person Qigong seminars several times a year. Sunyata was a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda, author of The Jewel in the Lotus, and a master of Snake Style Kung Fu, White Crane Taiji, and Qigong — a breadth of mastery he generously passed on to his students, myself included.
My path has also included:
- Induction into the Warriors Legacy Hall of Fame (2026)
- Radio Show: Professor Gary Lee’s Sport Karate Museum “Parts Unknown” (2016 – present)
- Featured Writer: “SETVR Unleashed Magazine” (2024 – present)
- Radio Show: Wolverine Nation Martial Arts Podcast “Outspoken” (2018 – present)
- Podcast: “The Martial Perspective” with John Barhoover (2026)
- Podcast: “Bloomed Within” hosted by Andrea Cennington (2026)
- Awarded: 9th Degree Black Belt, Sport Karate Museum (2025)
- Guest Writer: “SWIFT Magazine” (2025)
- Guest Writer: “Masters Magazine” (2025)
- Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award: Sport Karate Museum (2024)
- Member: Board of Directors, National Qigong Association (2007–2019)
- Awarded: 8th Degree Black Belt, Sport Karate Museum (2017)
- Featured Columnist: “Official Karate Magazine” (2012 – 2015)
- Earned: 1st Brown Belt, Aikido, under Sensei Erick Saia (1995–1997)
- Earned: 5th Degree Black Belt, Alliance Martial Arts Federation (1996)
- Master Instructor Level, Usui and Karuna Reiki (1994)
- Founded: The Eclipse Tournament Team (1990)
- Earned: 5th Degree Black Belt, Okinawan Shorin Ryu, under Master Jim Flaherty, 1983 (deployed in 1989)
- Earned: 1st Brown Belt, Okinawan Shorin Ryu, under Sensei S.L. Martin (1965–1968); trained with Ishikawa Sensei; promoted by Judo Yudanshakai Council (1969)
- Judoku: first began Judo with Sensei Richard Cavalucci (1959)