Sifu David Louie
Sifu David Louie was born and raised in San Francisco, California and credits his first martial arts experiences to kung fu movies. He remembers when he was young, his mother always took him to the theaters in Chinatown and back then, there were already special effects and magic in those kung fu movies.
His first martial arts training started in the ninth grade with the White Crane Kung Fu style, for apprximately one year. Earlier in high school, he took up wrestling. Later in his senior year, he heard about a new Kung Fu Master that just started teaching a class in the North Beach Area, only a few blocks away from where he lived, in which he joined. The instructor was Sifu Wong Cheung and some of the students there were Bill Lee, Lok Sang Lee, and Michael Lau.
In college, he took Judo as a physical education class. After that he was taught Wing Chun Kung Fu from a friend at work during their lunch breaks. Another friend at work later taught him the Filipino stickfighting style called Modern Arnis.
Sifu Louie rejoined Yau Kung Moon after he saw a lion dance performance by Sifu Lok Sang Lee. After some short term learning of other styles such as Choy Lay Fut, Thai Kickboxing, Ju-Jitsu, and Northern Shaolin (Buk Sil Lum), Sifu Louie decided to concentrate on one style and majored in Yau Kung Moon because of its variety and versatility, which included hand sets (hard style, external), soft technique sets (internal), Chinese weaponry and farm tools, northern and southern lion dance arts, dragon dance and their accompanying traditional instruments.
Sifu David Louie was taught by two Yau Kung Moon masters, Sifu Wong Cheung and later Sifu Wan Tak Kei.
In 1980, Sifu David Louie was asked by the KoDenKan Institute to teach at their school of multiple styles and arts. He accepted and in August, 1980 he taught his first class at the Ralston Intermediate School in the city of Belmont, CA. After moving from Belmont to San Carlos, he finally established his school at his home in Foster City.