Media Coverage

What drew you to start teaching kung fu in Australia?

It's actually an interesting story, full of coincidence. I started learning kung fu as a child, and began training seriously after finishing secondary school. I trained for a long time, studying many different schools and styles — both Chinese martial arts and Western martial arts.

I came to Australia a few years ago, right around when the pandemic had just ended. I noticed that the number of people teaching kung fu in Australia — especially Chinese people, even Hongkongers — was shrinking. It used to be more common, maybe back in the 80s and 90s, when there were a fair number of instructors. But these days, the people teaching kung fu are often no longer Chinese, or even Hongkonger. That was one of the things that pushed me to start teaching.

The second reason is personal — I have two children, both daughters. Seeing all the different incidents online these days, sometimes conflict-related events, I felt I should also be teaching my own kids how to handle themselves. That's part of why I started running classes. Teaching at home was never going to be systematic enough — but running a proper class, training kids together as a group, makes it far more structured. Those are the two main reasons I started teaching here.

Who actually shows up to learn kung fu in Australia?

Honestly, all kinds of people. At my school, Chinese students make up the majority right now, but there's a real mix of other backgrounds too — Latin American students, even Australian-born white students.

Do students arrive with preconceptions about kung fu?

Some of them do. Some people ask things like, "How is this different from Tai Chi? Is it Wing Chun?" — because those are the two styles most people are familiar with. They also tend to assume there'll be a lot of "forms" or set routines, like in a lot of Chinese martial arts. So yes, there are definitely some preconceptions.

Is there a formal certification pathway for kung fu instructors in Australia?

Actually, the situation here in Sydney is quite similar to Hong Kong. What matters most is your own background and credentials — what style you teach, and what teaching experience you have. That's the most important thing. There are some organizations in Australia that offer certifications related to teaching martial arts, but they don't carry the same authority as something like an accounting certification. There's no mandatory certification of that kind in Australia at the moment.

For myself — since I teach children — I hold myself to certain standards. I have a current First Aid certificate, and I also hold a Working with Children Check, which is a basic legal requirement. On top of that, the masters I trained under in Hong Kong were very well known. I myself hold a sixth-degree instructor qualification from the Hong Kong China Athletic Association (精武體育會), an organization with over a hundred years of history. That's the kung fu teaching credential I earned in Hong Kong.

What age groups do you teach, and what are they hoping to get out of it?

I have both adults and kids. For adult students, the goals I've observed tend to be fairly clear-cut. Right now, in my classes, the main goal is self-defense skills — that's what they tend to focus on. The second area of interest is traditional techniques and forms. As for age range, it's actually very broad — from 18-year-olds right up to people in their fifties. Some of the older students have genuinely been passionate about martial arts for a long time, having studied various other martial arts in Australia, and they come to continue developing their skills with me.

For kids, parents usually want them to build more discipline and improve physical coordination — that's one goal. The second goal is usually also related to self-defense.

Any memorable experiences from your time teaching?

Not long after I started running kung fu classes, people actually reached out to me on their own initiative, asking me to come teach at kindergartens — daycares, childcare centers. That's somewhere I never imagined I'd end up teaching.

Even in my own children's classes, I tend to only take students aged six and up. By that age, their physical coordination and ability to understand instructions are much better, which makes teaching a lot easier. But I never expected that daycare staff would actually find my videos online, browse my website, and then directly invite me to come teach at their centers. It really caught me off guard. I've been to their centers many times since, and the kids there are genuinely very enthusiastic.

Of course, the teaching approach at a daycare is quite different from my regular classes — there's a lot more music and play-based elements involved. For kids aged 3 to 5, self-defense isn't really the focus. The focus is on their coordination, focus, and discipline. Beyond that, I also teach a bit about culture — our traditional Chinese culture. Things like why dragons exist, why we do lion dances, and traditional Lunar New Year customs. I also teach some very basic Cantonese — words like "Sifu" (師傅) and "good morning." And I try to get across the idea that kung fu isn't for hurting people, but for self-defense.

I instill that kind of philosophy into the kids. In every class, I spend about three to five minutes explaining these ideas. Of course, for kids aged 3 to 5, how much they actually absorb is hard to say — but I try to gradually instill these important values in them over time. As for the parts where they practice movements along with music, I consider that relatively secondary. The most important thing is passing on culture and values; physical coordination and exercise come second.

Can teaching kung fu actually sustain a living?

Can it make money... well, enough for a McDonald's meal, at least! Just joking — but yes, you can get by on the basics. Honestly, my pricing model is a bit different from a lot of others out there. I lean toward smaller class sizes. I want to have enough time to look after each student individually and give guidance based on their own progress. I try to avoid large-scale, big-class teaching. So honestly, this teaching model isn't going to make anyone rich.

For me, it's purely something I do out of passion, and as a way of passing things on — spreading something good to more people. That's my goal.