The Early Years
Keith Thomas started Kung fu in 1978 after hearing about a club from some friends, it was 3 days before his17th birthday – “I didn’t know what style of Kung fu it was, I didn’t know at the time that there were different styles! All I wanted to do was Kung fu, and I luckily picked Lau Gar Keun (Lau family fist)”.
Keith took his 1st degree black sash in Lau Gar in April 1985, and started teaching soon after that, first as an assistant teacher then on his own with his own school.
Even though Lau Gar is famous for it’s tournament fighters, it’s foundations and strengths are traditional in every way, from empty hand forms, traditional weapons, two person drills, hand and body conditioning. There is also Qi gong and meditation to strengthen the body from the inside.
As Keith moved up the grades in Lau Gar he became more and more interested in Chinese culture and Chinese medicine and after receiving some acupressure massage from Master Yau he decided a change of career was needed, so in 1991 he started a 3 year diploma in Acupuncture and Acupressure massage at the Northern College of Acupuncture in York.