{"id":184152,"date":"2026-03-09T13:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184152\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T13:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:42:10","slug":"sifu-mimi-chans-kung-fu-classes-embody-chinese-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184152\/","title":{"rendered":"Sifu Mimi Chan’s kung fu classes embody Chinese tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Every step, flip, and punch inside the Wah Lum Temple<\/a> in Orlando is Mimi Chan\u2019s way of teaching the next generation history about the art form and Chinese culture.<\/p>\n

Chan carries the title of sifu, which is traditionally a powerful male leader in Chinese kung fu who leads the school by teaching and guiding students.<\/p>\n

She says a term for female teachers does not exist.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

Sifu Mimi Chan teaches Wah Lum Kung Fu at her family’s temple in Orlando
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Aside from teaching about the traditional Chinese art form, she has kept busy through many other accomplishments\u00a0
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Chan and her students have performed throughout Orlando at events, ceremonies, and festivals<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationship between a sifu and a student is very, very important and special, and so in traditional times, only males were sifus,\u201d Chan said.<\/p>\n

Instead, she finds it impactful for women to rebrand the word, allowing it to be inclusive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs time has progressed, so many women have risen through the ranks and worked really hard to achieve different statuses, and in this modern age,\u201d Chan said. \u201cWe also consider ourselves a sifu if we are a teacher of kung fu and we\u2019re certified within the Wah Lum system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wah Lum is a kung fu style, but it is also the name of the temple where Chan\u2019s father\u2019s master trained.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe keep that name and that lineage because we\u2019re rooted in honoring the system and our ancestry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It is a system Chan said her father brought to America.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father, of course, is the great grandmaster of our style,\u201d said Chan. \u201cAnd so, when he established the Wah Lum system here in the United States, I was born into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chan was in classes by the time she was 3 years old, but it wasn\u2019t until years later that she found it to be her calling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really decided when I was maybe 16, this is something I want to do professionally, but also just as a lifestyle,\u201d Chan said. \u201cI knew this is who I was, and it really grounded me to so many other things and has opened a lot of other opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next to the temple along Goldenrod Road is a cultural center. The walls are filled with not just Chinese history, but Chan\u2019s family history, too. She is an advocate for Asian American Pacific Islander history to be taught in schools. She directed an award-winning documentary on her father\u2019s life and was the model and martial arts video reference for Disney\u2019s animated feature, \u201cMulan.\u201d<\/p>\n

But back in the temple, Chan continues to teach Chinese traditions to her students.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou learn about the culture and the traditions that shape this martial arts system, and the people that have built it and the people who have continued on the traditions today,\u201d said Mila Taylor, who has been practicing kung fu for nearly three years.<\/p>\n

Student Evelyn Lam says Chan\u2019s leadership has helped her grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have learned a lot about myself and how to push myself to certain limits and extents, especially with Kung Fu helping my strength, mentally and physically,\u201d said Lam.<\/p>\n

Others find Chan\u2019s teaching inspiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of it has to do with them teaching leadership by being good leaders themselves,\u201d said Alic Tam. \u201cThey demonstrate a lot of respect and they show strength in their personalities, which is really inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n

While practicing a dragon dance, every student plays a role \u2014 either musically or from within the dragon. Chan said every drumbeat, every symbol, and every step comes down to this: \u201cThe content itself is very traditional and we really try to honor our ancestry and our lineage, and try to maintain a lot of the foundational aspects.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Every step, flip, and punch inside the Wah Lum Temple in Orlando is Mimi Chan\u2019s way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[767,1011,274,770,1015,1190,115,1335,139,141,140,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-184152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-app-community","9":"tag-app-human-interest","10":"tag-app-top-stories","11":"tag-community-news","12":"tag-emma-delamo","13":"tag-human-interest","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-orange-county","16":"tag-orlando","17":"tag-orlando-headlines","18":"tag-orlando-news","19":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}