Everybody Wing Chun Tonight!

Valley’s First Kung Fu Academy Offers Fitness, Combat and Self-Defence



Sifu Corny Martens could probably beat you up.

As a certified Kung Fu instructor, he’s quite confident in his fighting abilities. But unless you’re attacking him in a dark alley, all he’s interested in smashing are your expectations.

Martens has just opened Comox Valley Kung Fu Academy, the first of its kind in the Comox Valley. As such, one of his primary goals is to educate people about the Wing Chun style of kung fu that he teaches, which combines striking and grappling techniques designed for close-range combat and self-defence.

“This isn’t what most people expect from martial arts,” says Martens. “Its heritage ensures that Wing Chun offers more than just tough-guy aggression. The movements are accessible to all ages, and the culture is welcoming to everyone.”

Comox Valley Kung Fu Academy offers a broad range of options, including women’s self-defence classes, programs for children and teens and hardcore training for people who are serious about learning combat techniques.

“I was attracted to Wing Chun because of the options it offers,” says Martens. “Even someone who isn’t committed to learning the whole art can still benefit from learning some basic skills.”

Women in particular, he says, will love the Kick Classes, a cardio program done to music that he’s launching this spring. “You learn a few martial art skills,” he explains, “but it’s mostly a workout. You could call it a bag-slamming, aggression-releasing, self-defence workout for those bored with the spa scene.”

Wing Chun kung fu was developed in 17th century China by an 80-year-old Shaolin nun named Ng Mui. Certainly not your average grandma, Ng Mui was a grand master of two different fighting styles who collaborated with four other grand masters to create the Wing Chun style.

Anyone who has ever watched a Bruce Lee film knows that Wing Chun is an extremely effective fighting discipline. But more important, says Martens, is its teachings on avoiding violence.

“The art is 99 per cent self-defence,” he says. “We learn how to deal with confrontation and how to make a physical stand in order to stop further violence.”

Martens, who recently moved to the Comox Valley from Vancouver, has been a kung fu practitioner for 15 years, including four years under the tutelage of Canada’s leading Wing Chun grand master. He’s also a certified yoga instructor and has studied intensively with personal trainers.

In his 12 years of teaching Wing Chung, Martens has seen kung fu transform his students from flabby to fit, from hesitant to confident and from apathetic to passionate. He’s also heard stories about how kung fu has supported women through childbirth, helped ordinary people foil robbery attempts and, perhaps most remarkably, gotten teens to do their chores.

Comox Valley Kung Fu Academy is located at 3-1492 McPhee Avenue (across from Courtenay Elementary). For more information, contact Corny Martens at 250-702-3780 or cvkungfuacademy@gmail.com.



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