Shane Escher
Champion Golden Glove Boxer
I am writing in reference to Pragmatic Martial Arts. I had the pleasure of meeting Adam 4 years ago
through a mutual friend by the name of Cristian. I worked with Cristian for many years and he kept
telling me about Adam and his exceptional street fighting techniques. Being in martial arts myself
(boxing), I was skeptical with Cristian's stories at first but vowed to meet Adam and see what all
the hype was about!
I come from a family with mixed martial art backgrounds but my primary focus was on boxing due
to the nature of the sport and it¡¯s simplicity when it comes to picking up techniques and putting
them to immediate use. I boxed competitively for many years and although I enjoyed the competitive
nature of the sport, my primary initiative when joining was for discipline and self-defense.
Adam is well versed in martial arts and takes a pro-active approach in training. Many of times,
you find yourself in a bully or multiple assailant situations. Unlike a competitive sport,
your primary focus is to beat your opponent to the punch and get to a safe place to avoid further altercations.
Adams approach is just this. His style and techniques are unique and 110% effective.
Upon initially meeting with Adam, I fell prey to his demonstration! Having a boxing background,
I was over confident and immediately thought size does matter when I implemented my boxing skills.
Adam implemented a counter-attack and I did not know how to react. His flow and style was always a
step ahead and prior to me initiating an attack, he had already implemented his counter strike!
I was very impressed with his methods and became a true believer in what Adam is trying to teach.
He [Adam] is no nonsense and picks his students wisely. He is not willing to train those
who do not have the desire to learn or are just interested in becoming fit or getting a good
workout. For this, you can go to a fitness center. Adam¡¯s interest is in picking individuals
who have a keen interest in learning effective self-defense and discipline skills.
Ian Sinclair
Tai Chi Instructor, 9X Push Hands champion
ONE OF THE GREAT MARTIAL ARTISTS OF HIS GENERATION!
..and a really nice guy! Once you have had the opportunity to meet and train with Adam,
you will agree that he embodies what is best about martial arts. He righteous, courageous,
compassionate, humble, intelligent, and very very very skilled. He had achieved skills when
he was in his 20\'s that few masters ever achieve.
He has spent years training 6 -12 hours
per day, and has looked for knowledge wherever he could find it, training with many of the
best. If I were still living in Vancouver, I would be picking his brain constantly, and
training with him every chance I got. He is not yet well known, and has just recently
returned to teaching martial arts. But I expect that there will soon be a waiting list to train with him.
Earl Flormata
Jujitsu / Taek Won Do Instructor
My name is Earl Flormata, I've been training in martial arts since I was 10
starting from Shotokan Karate and moved to Tae Kwon Do at 14. I've been an
assistant instructor at 2 different schools and a head instructor at another
one. I've also dabbled in Judo, Aikido, small circle jiujutsu, and arnis in
the past as well. In the tournament scene, I didn't do too badly in either
the forms or fighting divisions. However even after earning the rank of 1st
degree black belt at my school, it felt as if there was still something
missing, and a long way to go in my training. It was shortly after this time
that I met Adam Chan at the Chapters at Metrotown in 2000.
His fighting ability is only overshadowed by his humility. When introducing
ourselves in hindsight, now I realize that learning so many different styles
and taking each of the moves in only one light left me with less knowledge
than a man standing before me with only the knowledge of 4 moves. Adam
invited me to his "school" which doubled as his living room :-). After
sparring a little bit, and letting me execute a few moves, Adam demonstrated
his idea of "closing" in on an opponent. I've never seen anyone move so
fast, trap both my hands and stand on my lead foot all at once while pulling
a punch millimeters from my face. Since then, I've seen him effectively trap
a golden glove boxer, singlehandedly defeat a sparring partner of mine who
always beat me in close quarters, and enhance his style, training techniques
and methodologies the entire time I've known him.
Only now after training with him all of these years do I actually feel
comfortable with my abilities to defend myself in a streetfight. The beauty
of it all was that in 6 months with proper training and practice, he can
take someone with no experience in martial arts and have them do fine in a
match against someone with many years of training elsewhere, as well as
against an aggressor on the street. Beyond fighting ability - his
philosophical lessons in class are actually applicable to many different
parts of life, and my personal experience in applying them to business has
rewarded me greatly and is something I do consider part of what has allowed
to me retire at the early age of 26.
I am both proud and privileged to be named his student and friend - and I
wholeheartedly believe that he is a scholar, a gentleman, and a living
definition of a true martial artist.