The Church family is a martial arts family consisting of 4 black belts. The family earned their black belts through training in Shaolin Kempo with Quintin Dernham in Titirangi. As a combined family effort we attended 23 classes a week both on personal training and instructing not only at club level but also at provincial and national levels. Our experience has been enhanced by attending many National Seminars, Competitions and Events. We still attend seminars by leading international martial artists from around the World with very high profiles in both Kempo and Tai Chi so we can pass these new skill sets on to our students and for our own personal development.

The Instructors are:

Chris — 4th Degree -Chief Instructor

As parents of young children our purpose for getting involved in martial arts is probably similar to many parents. We wanted our children to stay safe and we felt that Martial Arts offered self discipline and a proactive way of looking after themselves, not only as far as self defence is concerned but also all the other attributes and advantages that martial arts practice brings.

I took our sons along “for a look” and came home to say I was starting Martial Arts with the boys

We seem to have come full circle as we now have a similar situation with fathers and mothers having joined up as they can see a way to stay connected with their children and like the idea of challenging themselves both physically and mentally.

Teaching martial arts is a wonderful gift, as is often said the more you teach the more you learn. The harder style martial arts (Kempo) keeps us fit and the softer style martial arts (Tai Chi and Ba Gua) are great for the mind and soul. We have been extremely lucky with our students, they are a great bunch of people, with our senior students training in both kung fu and tai chi and making fantastic progress in both. When we can we train with Tai Chi Master Zhu Tian Cai, one of the four gems of Chen Village. His internal power is awesome to behold, and his push hands knowledge and technique are simply mind blowing.

Levon —4th Degree - Senior Instructor – 23 years of age

I started training with Dad and Travis when I was 9. Its been my dream to someday become a full-time instructor. I love to teach and I love to learn about people. I believe in 100% effort and its something I’ve always strived to do. I enjoy a good laugh and good friends and like to bring in a personal element into the school. I enjoy free-fighting and can show you the power that I have built up over my many years of training. Within the Gwoon I specialise in the technical aspects of the syllabus and thoroughly enjoy passing on my knowledge.

Travis —3rd Degree - Senior Instructor – 21 years of age

I’ve been training since I was 7 and was the youngest person to achieve black belt with my former instructor at 11 years of age. I was also accepted as the youngest and founding member of Ba Gua New Zealand . My specialty is Self Defence and I particularly enjoy working with the juniors. I am now in the New Zealand Army training at Linton Camp. You may see me in the Gwoon from time to time. Whenever I can, I make every effort to be present at Grading days. Note from Mum:   Travis has been busy this year and away with the army to  Antartica, Singapore, Australia, Noumea and Vanuatu.  He's hoping to head down to Christchurch and assist down there so we wont see him so often over the next 9 months.

Annette — 3rd Degree - Senior Instructor – Branch Administrator

It was a lifelong goal for me to achieve the level of black belt since becoming interested in martial arts at the age of 18. I remember going to all night movies in Wellington on a Sunday night to watch the old Kung Fu movies and thought to myself – one day I want to do that. My grandmother taught me the values of “hard work” and I believe that Kung fu training can bring out the best performance in ones self if you are prepared to put in the effort. Martial arts gives you a great deal of personal satisfaction and the ability to pass on your learning to others is an unparalleled way of learning yourself.To know the lengths we have gone through to achieve black belt level, the dedication, commitment, loyalty and training that we have all put in to the art makes me extremely proud of my family. We are committed to our students and will work with them all closely to achieve their own personal goals.  Its a real buzz for me to watch the children develop, get strong and they are all so much fun in their own ways.