Sifu Louis Diaz, Justin Le, Richie Nguyen, Khaleel Jackson, Eugene Zhylinski and Riana Davis practice at the Southern Shaolin Academy in April. Photo by Diccon Hyatt. Now you don’t have to go to a secluded mountaintop monastery to learn kung fu from a Shaolin master. Sifu Louis Diaz (Sifu is the Chinese word for “master”) has set up shop at the Southern Shaolin Academy on Scotch Road in Ewing. Diaz has been practicing kung fu for 30 years, and it’s quite unlikely that your Tiger Style is a match for his Dragon Style. Diaz has won 72 gold medals as a member of the U.S. wushu team. He has mastered martial disciplines like wushu drunken-style sword forms and five animal five family Kung fu, which features moves like the “fire arrow punch.” Diaz has also been featured in 17 magazines, and portrayed Sub-Zero, Scorpion and Reptile in Mortal Kombat 3, a 1995 video game. Now he is in Ewing to teach martial arts alongside Tony Jackson, a former U.S. Army Ranger and corporate executive who is managing the corporate consulting side of the Shaolin Academy. Yes, corporate consulting. While Diaz teaches kung fu classes and an after-school kung fu program for kids, Jackson teaches corporate executives how to apply kung fu relaxation and focus to the boardroom. “We help people integrate that into what they do in business. How many times are you going to go out there and use martial arts to beat somebody up? Not many,” he said. Jackson said kung fu has helped him in his corporate life, where he was the vice president of branded pharmaceuticals branding at AmerisourceBergen. He credited Diaz with showing him how to take martial arts into the business setting. “He helped me take the martial arts and helped me to eliminate the stress that I was getting at work and apply the same principles of kung fu whether I was deflecting a whole bunch of stress coming my way because of deadlines, or whether it was outwardly attacking business problems,” Jackson said. Diaz said learning kung fu can be a valuable way of self-improvement. “You can learn discipline, self-confidence, self-control and leadership. Basically, you come here and it will develop you spiritually physically and mentally.” Diaz also teaches the smooth, focused movements of Tai Chi in addition to the more fighting-oriented martial arts. Asked what sets the Southern Shaolin Academy apart from other martial arts schools, Jones said it’s Diaz. “Sifu – he sets us apart from other academies – when you look at his credentials -that’s one of the reasons – if you look at his credentials compared to other martial artists, no one can compare. If you look at quality instructors, the fact that he’s been on the U.S. wushu team and trained in China – how many other instructors can say that?” So far, the Southern Shaolin Academy, opened winter, has 45 students. Located at 29 Scotch Road, the academy is planning a move down the street to a location next to CVS. For more information, call (609) 883-0303 or visit
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