[Sifu Johnson's] manner is inspirational and calming and one parts each class feeling a sense of accomplishment.”
-Charles Grode

“I feel more confident in handling any difficult situations I may be faced with.”
- Theresa Bragado

"... in a single afternoon, Matt Johnson
restored my faith in Ving Tsun kung fu."
- Neal H. Patel

VTSDA students observe Sifu Chris Damiano &
Sifu Anthony Warwick in chi sao during their Summer Visit.

The VTSDA is an open format school, which is customary throughout many schools in Hong Kong and even mainland China. During open classes, we have no formal "bow in," and absolutely no uniforms, no belts, no tests, no procedures, and no hierarchy.

Instead, we treat each other like family. This is not only tradition in Chinese kung fu, but it makes for a positive atmosphere where everyone can be constructively challenged and progress at their own pace. Sifu trains each student according to their own needs and abilities. Experienced students always train with beginners during open classes, serving as guides and mentors. Helping each other improve is an important part of our education. In this way, we learn to defend ourselves, but with the wisdom and compassion to do so responsibly.

This makes for a safe, comfortable, student-centered, and productive environment in which to learn kung fu, without sacrificing any of the intensity of our training. The VTSDA makes the development of each and every student into an elite, fully capable kung fu fighter an absolute priority.

Indeed, this egalitarianism, a freedom to question, experiment, pressure test, and seek a complete understanding the techniques we use for fighting is the cornerstone of our kung fu.

VTSDA students carry a sense of personal ownership over our abilities, driving us to work harder than we did in the more restrictive environments many of us came from. Our goal is complete and total confidence that our kung fu will protect us when nothing else can. We don't train for glory, we train to fight, and we fight to win.

This makes the VTSDA the ideal setting for those who want to learn practical fighting skills and solid self-defense training without all of the excessive, militaristic discipline common to most martial arts.

Several of our current students would like to tell you more about our school. These are some of their thoughts about their teacher and life at the VTSDA.

“Our school is more than just an average martial arts school. We're more of a family that supports each other at whatever level of Ving Tsun each of us is at. We strive to check unhealthy competition at the door and focus on helping each other become the best fighters we can be. The Ving Tsun I have learned from Sifu Matt has made me more aware of my surroundings and I feel more confident in handling any difficult situation I may be faced with.”

“In all my years of training in many different styles, I have never met an instructor like Sifu Matt. In just a few months after joining the VTSDA, he cultivated my skills as a Ving Tsun practicioner and as a fighter in general to a level that quite frankly blows my mind. Sifu Matt's instruction is of a very rare sort - he's the patient throrough and knowledgeable martial arts master that every prospective student wishes to find in their training, and I consider myself extremely fortunate for finding my way into his school.'

'What Sifu Matt teaches is invaluable. This is Ip Ching's Ving Tsun - the kung fu of a man who has devoted his entire long life to the art and to continually proving its effectiveness. The VTSDA has given me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to express myself as a fighter - to ask questions and get answers, to experiment with real-life self defense scenarios and to feel a personal connection with this extraordinary art. There is no cultish esoterica here. There is no dismissal of tough questions. There is only hard training, dedication, and the synergistic support and efforts of the class as a whole.'

'I hope that any prospective martial artist who truly desires a real understanding of this art gets the opportunity to train with the VTSDA family.”

“I have known Sifu Matt Johnson for almost ten years. Even the first lesson with Matt was a major learning experience. he’s a natural born teacher. His methods are direct and accessible. He demonstrates, explains and demonstrates again. He explains to the student how and when the technique should be used. he gives us ‘the Why’. He is generous with each and every student so that we can understand the techniques and ‘feel’ the movement and energy and be able to put it into practice.'

'His interpretation of technique is what I have come to understand as ‘original form’, like primary colors, red, blue and yellow….clearly minimal, direct and efficient. He has generated a well balanced and introspective approach to teaching by giving technique as well as passing on the history of the art. His manner is inspirational and calming and one parts each class feeling a sense of accomplishment.”

"I've studied, trained, and even taught Ving Tsun for more than a third of my life -- and I have never encountered anyone with knowledge of such depth, precision, and detail as Matt Johnson. Sifu Matt Johnson sets a standard that surpasses every single instructor I have ever trained under. He is a tremendously gifted teacher, thinker, and compassionate human being. I simply never imagined fighters of his caliber existed outside of Hong Kong. One week training with Matt, and I sent everyone I had ever trained to learn from him, like I do.'

'Before I joined the VTSDA I was at the end of my rope with Ving Tsun, completely fed up with previous instructors, disillusioned with the many dubious techniques I had been led to train that simply didn't work under pressure.'

'But in a single afternoon, Matt Johnson restored my faith in Ving Tsun kung fu. He answered every single question I asked, and then some. What's more, he answered me directly, completely and without equivocation. He simply knows his art, backwards and forwards. But more than that, he's fought with it, and he knows how to teach people to fight with it. In the academy Matt is proactive, accessible, and receptive to his students--he keeps it free of the antagonism, distrust, and machismo common in the martial arts.'

'It isn't even a matter of "faith" anymore. Ving Tsun works. Of this, I have no doubts. The VTSDA is a place where I see real results for the work I put in. I'm less than six months in and I can honestly say I am a better fighter now than ever before, and I'm only improving. All you need is a real instructor, and there are no limits. Matt Johnson has done more than expand my knowledge of Ving Tsun, he's resurrected my hope for the future of the art.'