coralvillekungfu@gmail.com (319) 321-4365
Sifu Andrew Knapp
Coralville, Iowa
Sifu Andrew Knapp has been training Ving Tsun Kung Fu for over 25 years, and teaching since 2004. He delights in sharing his experience and insights with students of every age and background. Sifu Knapp’s philosophy is that Kung Fu is best designed to help practitioners maximize their individual potential and to protect their lives. The principles of Ving Tsun Kung Fu can work for anyone. They can be applied inside the school and beyond, in self defense and in navigating any of life’s challenges.
It has been a source of joy for Sifu Knapp to watch his students grow through their training. Everyone who practices increases their health and physical capabilities. Many of his students share stories with him of how Kung Fu has helped them to improve their lives beyond the physical training they receive. Sifu Knapp continues to enjoy sharing the most fundamental lessons with beginners as well as guiding advanced students to the discovery of the more complex, subtle, and powerful details of traditional training.
Sifu Knapp delights in teaching. He has given lectures and directed training at numerous local and national workshops within the Moy Yat/Moy Tung Family of schools. An Inner Circle student of Sifu Rob “Moy Yat Tung” Squatrito, Sifu Knapp works relentlessly to deepen his connection with his training. Even after all these years, he actively trains with his Sifu and with his close training partners. He has never flagged in his interest or enthusiasm for training, and he strives to provide his students with world-class opportunities to find that same passion and enjoyment.
Sigung Rob
"Moy Yat Tung"
Squatrito
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Master Squatrito began his martial arts journey in Oakland, New Jersey where growing up he learned traditional karate and rose to the black belt level. In the 1980's he relocated to Richmond, Virginia to attend medical school. While in Richmond, he began teaching karate and soon one of his students told him about a local martial artist, Moy Tung, who taught a Kung Fu style called Ving Tsun. Master Squatrito decided to meet this Ving Tsun instructor and had the opportunity to "touch hands" with Moy Tung. Master Squatrito immediately felt the effectiveness of Ving Tsun and began training it that day. He suggested his other karate students follow him to Ving Tsun. As a sign of his devotion to the art, he burned his old black belt and became a member of Moy Tung's MY3 association of students dedicated to the art and education of Ving Tsun.Master Squatrito trained hard while in Richmond and became one of Moy Tung's top students. His Sifu introduced him to Grandmaster Moy Yat, and Master Squatrito became a member of Moy Yat's GSS Grand Special Student association. Under the guidance of his Sifu, Master Squatrito spent time training and living the Kung Fu Life with Grandmaster Moy Yat. Eventually, Master Squatrito was given the Chinese name Moy Yat Tung.Master Squatrito's medical career took him to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa to pursue a fellowship in oncology in 1992. While in Iowa, he began teaching the Moy Yat system of Ving Tsun and quickly established a dedicated group of students. Soon thereafter, he founded the Moy Yat Kung Fu Academy of Iowa City on South Dubuque Street, in June of 1993.In 1995, Master Squatrito moved to Burlington, Vermont where he trained a small group of students and continued to oversee training in Iowa City. Shortly thereafter, Squatrito settled in Virginia Beach, Virginia where he is a partner at Virginia Oncology Associates. In 2001 he opened Virginia Beach Kung Fu and continues to instruct there along with his wife, Sifu Jennifer Squatrito. Master Squatrito's dedication to the art of Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu can be seen in the students he trains. His students oversee Ving Tsun schools around the country and continue to study the finer details of Ving Tsun under their highly respected Sifu, Moy Yat Tung.
Grandmaster Moy Tung
Richmond, Virginia
Grandmaster Anthony "Moy Tung" Dandridge has had a lifetime influenced by the martial arts from a very young age. Born in Richmond, Virginia, he grew up in New Jersey and Philadelphia when his childhood was not spent traveling to different military bases where his father was stationed throughout the United States and abroad. He achieved high ranking in certain martial arts and even became an instructor of Karate. In 1980, his continuing search for superior martial arts brought him to New York City and Grandmaster Moy Yat. During his first years of training at the Chinatown School in New York City, Moy Tung commuted from Philadelphia. After a very short time training, he was pleased and amazed to find the incredible power available in even the most basic of the Ving Tsun techniques he had learned. He noticed that sparring partners who had previously been formidable opponents could now be bested easily. Moy Tung realized that such a powerful system deserved and required his complete dedication. He became a student in the truest sense of the word, looking at this new martial art as a beginner despite his vast previous experiences in other martial arts. Within three years Moy Tung embraced the training of Ving Tsun Kung Fu as a full-time commitment.Two of Moy Tung's first six years of training were spent living with his Sifu as a close personal student, a practice carried out only by certain members of Moy Yat's group of special students, the SSA. During this time he also maintained a residence in Philadelphia so as to be able to give his Sifu space and privacy when necessary. However, he spent the entire time living the Kung Fu life: training constantly and intensely, and being a devoted student and constant companion to his Sifu. This was a period of great personal effort and sacrifice on the part of Moy Tung. He made it a cornerstone of his training to spend as much time with his Sifu as possible while always being able to support himself and to take care of business and personal matters for his Sifu.Upon deciding to dedicate himself to the study and teaching of Ving Tsun Kung Fu, Grandmaster Moy Tung realized that, in order to carry out this discipline faithfully with respect to his Sifu's teachings and to maintain the purity of the Ving Tsun System, he must cease his teaching of other martial arts. He had done so early in his training, and at the end of this cycle of live-in training with Grandmaster Moy Yat he had planned to open a Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu school in northern New Jersey. However, after the death of his father, Garrett Randolph Bates, Moy Tung moved to Virginia to attend to family matters and to help support his mother, Ida Florence Dandridge-Bates. In this way, after six years of training, Moy Tung was able to open the Richmond, Virginia branch of the Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu Family Association.His school grew quickly, with enrollment exceeding 50 students within the first year of being open. This was due, in no small part, to Grandmaster Moy Tung's continued dedication to and constant contact with his Sifu. His efforts to make frequent visits back to the Chinatown headquarters and to support the greater Moy Yat Kung Fu Association were a testament to his dedication. Eventually Grandmaster Moy Tung opened an Inner Circle of his own, the MY3. After a time a number of these personal students of Grandmaster Moy Tung became members of the GSS, a special student organization for the grandstudents of Grandmaster Moy Yat. Grandmaster Moy Tung worked selflessly to establish this organization so that his students could have the same complete immersion in the Kung Fu culture of Grandmaster Moy Yat that Moy Tung had experienced. One of the senior students among this group was Robert "Moy Yat Tung" Squatrito, founder of the Iowa City Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu Academy, and Sigung of the Coralville Academy.Today, Grandmaster Moy Tung oversees the training of hundreds of students, grandstudents, and great-grandstudents throughout the country. The training of these students is carried out at a number of existing Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu Schools, and now within a growing network of Moy Tung Ving Tsun Kung Fu Schools as well. He is a great believer in the saying, "Theory Teaches, Practice Proves," making it a point to continuously practice Kung Fu and improve his own personal skills while maintaining an active schedule as a teacher and lecturer in the Ving Tsun System. Grandmaster Moy Tung is also a proponent of the system through his work as an author and producer of instructional materials on Ving Tsun Kung Fu. He continues to lead the Kung Fu Life he learned to live under his highly respected Sifu, applying Kung Fu principles to those things in life that are important to him. He is in frequent contact with his Sifu's widow, Simo Helen Moy, as well as other members of his Sifu's family and Kung Fu family. All of Grandmaster Moy Tung's personal success has not changed his priorities. On the contrary: he attributes his success to the fact that the training and strengthening of the Moy Yat Kung Fu Family Association continues to be his foremost commitment.
Grandmaster Moy Yat
1938-2001
Born in Toi Shan, in the province of Canton, Grandmaster Moy Yat moved to Hong Kong with his family in 1953. He began learning the Ving Tsun System in Hong Kong under Grandmaster Yip Man, who was chiefly responsible for Ving Tsun Kung Fu being brought into the modern world. At 24 years of age, Moy Yat became the youngest Ving Tsun Sifu under Grandmaster Yip Man.
After years of being a close student and frequent companion of his Sifu, Grandmastser Moy Yat came to the United States. He eventually established the Chinatown Headquarters in New York City where his son, Grandmaster William Moy continues to teach to this day. Grandmaster Moy Yat's students and grandstudents number in the thousands and can be found throughout the world. Many are now sifus in their own right. Among those fortunate enough to call themselves his direct students and grandstudents, there are a number who joined his inner circles of special students (the SSA for his direct students, including Grandmaster Moy Tung and the GSS for his grandstudents, including Sifu Moy Yat Tung).
A true renaissance man, Grandmaster Moy Yat was a master of the arts of calligraphy, painting, and seal-making. He was also recognized as an expert in massage and acupuncture. Grandmaster Moy was known the world over as a leading expert in the field of Ving Tsun Kung Fu and published several books on different aspects of the system. He maintained an active teaching and lecturing schedule until his passing in January, 2001. His students, grandstudents, and great-grandstudents continue to teach the system as he taught it: passing it down unaltered through the generations.
Grandmaster Yip Man
1893-1972
Acknowledged as the man chiefly responsible for bringing Ving Tsun Kung Fu into the modern world, Grandmaster Yip Man was a disciple of Chan Wah Shuen. He grew up in the Fat Shan province of southern China, where he had the good fortune to train with his Sifu from a very young age. Grandmaster Yip brought the complete Ving Tsun System out of China when he immigrated to Hong Kong during the communist revolution. There, his family eventually became most famous for the peerless level of his Kung Fu.
Much is owed to Grandmaster Yip Man; he saved Kung Fu from being lost to history and his teachings brought the world many famous students (the most famous probably being Bruce Lee). Grandmaster Yip Man trained many famous Kung Fu masters, including William Chung, Victor Kan, Yip Ching, and Yip Chung. One of his close personal students, and the youngest Ving Tsun Sifu under Grandmaster Yip Man, was Grandmaster Moy Yat. Grandmaster Yip Man died in 1972 at the age of 81.
