Shifu Lorne Bernard

Lorne Bernard was born in Montreal, Canada in 1964. Although he had been exposed to western boxing and some Judo at a young age, he did not commence serious martial arts training until 1982. In that year, he met Shifu Augustine Ngu and commenced his training in the rare Fukien White Crane (Fukien Bai he chuan ) system -flying crane style. In time, Lorne Bernard came to be Shifu Ngu's most senior student, eventually becoming the first Caucasian instructor in the history of the Flying Crane style. In 1989, Lorne was sent by his teacher to visit White Crane Grand-Master Lee Kiang-Ke and his son Lee Joo-Chian in Malaysia. During his five month stay, he was fortunate enough to further his understanding of the system's history, theory, fighting applications, and weapons techniques.

Upon his return, Mr. Bernard took charge of his Shifu's original school in downtown Montreal. The following year, he arranged for the flying crane system's present leader, Shifu Lee Joo-Chian, to come and teach in Canada for a period of three months. Shifu Bernard continued his closed door lessons with master Lee and went on to honor the latter by winning two first places medals at the Canadian Chinese Kuo Shu federation’s new tournament.

Shifu Bernard kept up his training and even sent one of his best students to train with the Grand-Master and his son in 1991. Since then, he has returned to Malaysia on numerous occasions thereby forging very close bonds with his Kung fu family and learning directly from the highest ranking Fukien White crane masters in the Orient. The head of the system, Grand-master Lee Joo-Chian has also returned to Canada for several extended stays.

In 1993, Shifu Bernard wrote the first english language book on Fukien White Crane Kung Fu. Ten years later, he wrote a second work entitled “Shaolin White Crane Kung Fu: A rare art revealed”. Shifu Bernard continues to sponsor visits from senior White Crane Masters to the Western hemisphere. These and other efforts have helped him develop a reputation as one of top western experts on the rare Fukien (Fujian) White crane system. At present, his Academy is the north-American headquarters of the flying crane style. Shifu Bernard is also actively promoting White Crane kung fu by helping Grand-Master Lee publish a series of DVD’s and a new book on his family’s white crane heritage.

In addition to his White crane training,Shifu Lorne Bernard has had the privilege of studying the northern Cha chuan system with Master Xu Gong-Wei from 1995 to 2000.He has also trained in the Wing Chun system. He was introduced to Wing Chun Kung Fu by Shifu Ngu in 1988 and furthered his studies under the guidance of his friend and instructor Shifu Roy D.Anthony. Finally, Shifu Bernard has had the honor to study under the guidance of famed Bak Sing Choy Lay Fut Master Chiu Kwok-Chung. Although Shifu Bernard does not teach the rare and highly aggressive Bak Sing Choy Lay Fut style, he does enjoy practicing Choy Lay Fut assiduously.

Despite his varied studies in the Chinese martial arts, Shifu Bernard continues to focus most of his energies upon the mastery, preservation and propagation of authentic traditional White Crane Kung Fu. He presently teaches at the “White Crane Kung Fu academies” in the cities of Montreal and Laval, Canada. He also offers seminars worldwide. Finally, several of his students have excelled in martial arts and have opened their own clubs in the Montreal area and in the United States.

Shifu Bernard’s students have distinguished themselves by winning several first place medals in Canadian and international Kung Fu tournaments. They have won medals in forms, weapons, light-contact and full contact fighting. In 1989, Shifu was elected vice-president of the Eastern Canada Chinese martial arts federation. In 1994, he became the federations' president. In these capacities, he has played a prominent role in promoting traditional Chinese martial arts in Eastern Canada. Although he does possess a Master's degree in political science, he has decided to consecrate most of his time to the study and dissemination of authentic traditional Chinese martial arts. Besides teaching, he is also the owner of a well known martial arts supply store called “Kontact sports”.

Shifu Lorne Bernard interviewed by Falling Leaves Kung Fu

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