Category: Lifetime Achievement Award
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Curtis Wong | 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award
Curtis Wong revolutionized the martial arts media landscape by taking a monumental chance when the rich world of Chinese martial arts remained largely invisible. While existing publications heavily favored Japanese and Korean systems, Wong saw a massive void. Operating out of his garage alongside his brother Doug, friends, and students, he founded Inside Kung Fu…
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Eddie Torres | 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award
Sifu Eddie Torres was a student and assistant instructor under Grandmaster Ark Yuey Wong at the Wong Ark Yuey Kung Fu Academy of Los Angeles which enabled him to carry on the authentic teaching of the Five Family/Five Animals Style. In addition to learning the Five Family System, he also learned Chinese herbal medicine and…
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Jason Tsou | 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award
Taiwan-born Sifu Jason Tsou began his martial arts training at eleven in 1960. He has studied Northern kung fu styles with many top masters, including Great Master Liu Yun Chiao and Grand Master Chang Dong-Sheng. He is featured in the Chinese government publication Who’s Who of Chinese Martial Arts and has been highlighted in numerous…
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Steven Baugh | (Posthumous) 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award
Born in East Los Angeles in 1953, Steven Baugh’s life was a testament to the power of martial arts as a path to strength, discipline, and spiritual growth. From an early age, growing up in the tough neighborhoods of South L.A., Steven sought a way to defend himself but found something far greater. Living near…
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Gordon Erquiza | 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award
Sifu Gordon Erquiza became a student of Grandmaster Bucksam Kong when he was 18 years of age in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was also a part of Bucksam Kong’s Siu Lum Pai Gung Fu Association lion dance team in 1991. He had since maintained a lifelong affiliation with Grandmaster Kong from 1973 until his untimely passing…
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Shum Leung 岑亮 | 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award
Sifu Shum started studying kung fu and tai chi at the age of eight until he was sixteen with Ng Wai Nung, his godfather, who had a school in Kowloon. When Ng Wai Nung was asked to teach Eagle Claw in Singapore for three years, Sifu Shum and his training brother, Shum Man Lock, were…
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Tom Farrar | (Posthumous) 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award
Grandmaster Tom Farrar overcame significant early-life health challenges to become a revered figure in the martial arts world, leaving behind a profound legacy through the students he trained and the disciplines he mastered. Beginning his martial arts journey at seventeen, Alongside his lifelong friend and business partner Darrell Gooden, opened their first Chinese Martial Arts…
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Johnny So | (Posthumous) 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award
Grandmaster Johnny So was a dedicated student of the great Grandmaster of Northern Shaolin style, Yim Sheung Mo. Master So was born in Zhongshan, GuangZhou in 1947. In the 1970’s he opened his first Northern Shaolin Kung Fu School in Los Angeles’ Chinatown. He went back to Hong Kong in the late 1970’s and passed…
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Ron Quan | 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award
Western Boxing – Developed & trained as an amateur boxer; rigorously trained 6 days a week. South China Lion-dance – Trained on weekends at the Los Angeles Lung Kong 4 Family Society under grandmaster Lew Wai; performed with the Lung Kong lion-dance team. Northern Kung-fu – Trained in Northern Shaolin, Mi-Tzung Lo Han, & Tai-ji…
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Lily Lau | 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award
Grandmaster Lily Lau is the eldest daughter of the 7th Generation Eagle Claw Late Grandmaster Lau Fat Mang. GM Lau Fat Mang passed away on March 17, 1964. Lily Lau rose to her father’s position at the age of 19 due to the circumstances and cultural expectations. Since kung fu has been regarded as an…
Traditional Chinese Martial Arts Federation 