Shifu Aaron Chen

Aaron “Shifu” Chen has always loved martial arts. He was always drawn to the fluidity, grace and power. He grew up in the Pasadena, CA, area where he began his contemporary dance career. First he studied dance in Los Angeles, then moved to Philadelphia (where he met his wife Abigail). After living in Chicago, He continued his education at Belhaven University, where he also taught as a specialty instructor in Jackson, Ms. They lived there for several years, where he and his wife owned and operated 4 gourmet coffee shops.

It was in Jackson, 15 years ago, that Aaron began his martial arts journey.

Aaron has 22 years of dance and martial arts instruction. He continues his own education by continuing to expand his knowledge of martial arts through his studies in Tae Kwon Do, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Aikido, Wing Chun, Shaolin, and Tai Chi. Shifu Chen attends competitions to expand his exposure and test his skills continually. He currently holds a rank of 4th Degree Black with the Lung Shou Pai Federation.

Shifu Chen loves martial arts and its philosophies of hard work, no fear of failure, skill, respect, and excellence. He stresses the importance of these virtues in his classes, and more importantly his everyday life.

“I want to convey two things in my heart to students in every class. One: the world is a tough place to live, so in the classroom, we work to develop a thick skin to handle life but keep soft hearts to offer grace and mercy to those we interact with. Two: Life is not easy and it’s not fair. So, we learn to Try, fail, adjust, and repeat. To overcome life’s adversities.

• Try. Because you’ll never know what you can do until then.
• Fail. It’s a vital part of the process and we should promote it to increase perseverance and character.
• Adjust. Learn from your mistakes, cultivate wisdom and don’t let the mistakes define you.
• Repeat. Perhaps most importantly, don’t give up…”