Sifu Anthony Stephenson Sifu Anthony started training in Tai Kwon Do at the age of
14. He continued his martial arts training through his teen years in Karate. Kung Fu was always the art that he wished to study, but Chinese martial arts were hard to find in the tobacco row area of North
Carolina in the 1970's. After leaving Fuquay-Varina, NC in 1985, he ventured to Charlotte, NC to continue his education. In 1987, a cousin saw three curious gentlemen and one humble Chinese man training
in a strange style of martial arts at the central YMCA. Luckily for Sifu Anthony, it was not a strange style, it was Kung Fu. He humbly asked if he could become a student of Sifu Li and after many
traditional rejections, Anthony was allowed to enter the Lai Tung family. He has been devoted to Lai Tong Pai
©
style ever since, opening and running three kwoons prior to the Kong Hoi Kung Fu Association - Mint Hill location, formerly Mint Hill Kung Fu School, on the east side of Charlotte, NC for Master Li. In 1993, he was promoted to US Instructor and was added to the Lineage of Lai Tong Pai
©. He is one of the highest ranked
practitioners of Lai Tong Pai©, next to
Master Li, in the US. He is also one of the first black sash students ever in the US and one of the first non-Chinese black sash students to ever be allowed to teach the Lai Tong Pai©
style. In addition, he is the Sifu of the Kings Mountain Branch, Kong Hoi Kung Fu Association – Sil Lum Mountain in historical Kings Mountain, NC just west of Charlotte, NC where he now resides. Sifu Anthony has entered and won his share of 1st place awards as well as a 3rd
place weapons div. award in an International Kung Fu Tournament in Baltimore, MD in 1989 while only a yellow sash practitioner of Lai Tong Pai ©. In 2001, during the traditional tea ceremony, Bai Si, in
Charlotte, NC, Sifu Anthony was awarded, by Master Li Chi Keung, the status of US Disciple of Lai Tong Pai ©, 6th
Generation outside the Sil Lum (Shaolin) Temple and was given the ranking of Senior US Instructor. He was the elder instructor at the Kong Hoi Kung Fu Association – Mint Hill just east of Charlotte. In June 2004, Sifu Anthony traveled to Hong Kong to study Lai Tong Pai in depth. There he received, by Grandmaster Kong Chui Hoi of Hong Kong, certification awarding him International Instructor
level and since he is now also a direct student of Grandmaster Kong Hoi, he is also a 5th Generation Disciple. Sifu Anthony is also a Co-Founder and current President of the
Carolinas Association of Chinese Martial Arts Association (CACMA). He has held various titles at the CACMA Regional Tournament throughout the years including Tournament Promoter, Tournament Director,
Director and Tournament Committee Chair. He has also promoted and hosted his own tournament in Kings Mountain, NC the Sil Lum Mountain Invitational. He is also the publisher of the CACMA Scroll Newsletter
published quarterly on their website. He is also a member of the United States Kuoshu Federation and serves as a judge on their behalf each year at their annual tournament in Baltimore, MD. He
is also certified to judge Lei Tai fighting by the USCKF and CACMA. Sifu Anthony has also been asked to join the instructor group, by Shi fu Steve Clark, at the Marine Base Camp LeJeune, NC,
for the Force Protection Seminars instructing Marine and Navy personnel. On July 30, 2005, Sifu Anthony received the honor of being inducted into the US Martial Arts Hall of Fame. Sifu Anthony
was accompanied to Chicago, IL by his wife Shawna and last year's NC area inductees, CACMA VP's Shi Fu Steve Clark and Shi Fu Doug Moffett.
You may contact Sifu Anthony at his e-mail address of sifuanthony@bellsouth.net
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