Meet Hedison Mui of Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi of Dallas

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hedison Mui.

Hedison, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Being of Chinese descent, I was born in Caracas, Venezuela. As a child, I grew up watching kung-fu movies and idolizing martial art stars like Bruce Lee. Thanks to my parent’s hard work, I was blessed with the opportunity to seek higher education in the US in 1999 as the socialist; Hugo Chavez became the president of Venezuela. I received all of my education from Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL completing a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, as well as, a Master’s degree in Business Administration. It was during my early years in the university that I was able to fulfill my passion for martial arts.

I started training under Master Harry Lo at the Wah Lum Kung Fu and Tai Chi of Melbourne on my birthday in October of 2000. This was perhaps the greatest gift that I got for myself, not knowing that it would result in gaining a second father, making life-long friends, meeting my wife, and eventually starting my own school many years later. About a year after starting, I joined the school’s performance team and not too long after that, started to help assist in class. I always refer to my early training days as the golden years, where I met all my kung-fu brothers. We shared many experiences apart from learning, teaching and competing in many tournaments around the country. It was really a growing experience as Sifu taught us not only kung-fu and tai chi but he also taught us how to be good and professional leaders. I will always credit my professionalism and career achievements to him as my Sifu not only guided us in martial arts, but also helped us develop our skills to succeed at work. His dedication and passion to teach and help people through martial arts have also been my motivation and inspiration to follow in his same footsteps. As far as meeting my wife in kungfu, that’s another story for another time.

Fast forward fourteen years later; I received a career opportunity in Dallas that I could not pass, which also prompted me to become a certified instructor in the Wah Lum system and start teaching now in Carrollton, TX. Overall, I consider this to be my American dream story; immigrating from Venezuela, obtaining an engineering career, and now starting a new business. I hope to continue growing and inspiring other people through martial arts just like my master has done for me.

Has it been a smooth road?
Starting a new business is never easy. Since starting last year, the first struggle was to find a good location. What is also surprisingly hard is finding young people that would be interested in Martial Arts. In this day of technology and smartphones, young people are more inclined to playing video games than to learn an over 400-year-old art. How many kids over 8 years do you know that are able to touch their toes?

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi of Dallas story. Tell us more about the business.
Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi of Dallas started teaching in the City of Carrollton, Texas at the beginning of last year (2016). We teach traditional Chinese internal and external martial arts, specializing in the Wah Lum Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu System, and the Yang and Chen styles of Tai Chi. Our program focuses on many aspects within our style of Kung Fu and Tai Chi including forms, weaponry, self-defense, body strengthening, balance, and flexibility. We pride ourselves in the authenticity and rich cultural history that our style has to offer. Our students often participate in many national and international tournaments as well as performing lion dancing and Chinese drumming. I’m an 8th generation Wah Lum certified instructor and have over 15 years of experience teaching Kung fu and Tai Chi.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The Martial Arts industry has been roughly the same for many years. It has always been a leisure activity for people to get fit and be healthy. I think that as time passes, it will become harder and harder to preserve such cultural activity, which I hope to help preserve and promote through my school in the years to come.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1330 E Rosemeade Pkwy, Carrollton, TX 75007
• Phone: (508) 955-3823
• Email: hedison.mui@wahlumkungfu.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/wahlumdallas

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