Introduction to Michel Diephuis

Michel’s first encounter with the martial arts was at age nine. His best friend at that time had been practicing Judo for a while and asked Michel to come try it out. Michel caught the martial arts virus and began to study Judo. However his experience with Judo only lasted a few months due to a move to another town.

It wasn’t until age 14 that Michel had his second encounter with the martial arts. He visited a new Kung Fu school that had just been opened in his town with a Chinese friend. He joined on-the-spot. The special atmosphere of respect and the increase in self-confidence and health convinced him to continue with perseverance.

After a few years of training Michel was appointed as an assistant teacher. This added an extra dimension to his martial arts life. It not only sharpened his practical knowledge but also the mental side of how to deal with fellow students. It was at this time he recognized his goal to become a martial arts teacher one day.

In 1992, however, it all came to an end. Due to a conflict with the school board, he decided to leave (together with his current co-teacher Kjeld Loozen, and a couple other students). With four of his closest friends Michel continued to practice what he had learned. Until that time his training had emphasized forms so many practical applications were added to refine the curriculum. This was the basis for a new style. After a year of hard training, the wish to open a school was finally realized. On September 10, 1993 a school by the name of Siu Lam Kuen was opened in Nijmegen. At that time there were three teachers: Winston Chin, Kjeld Loozen, and Michel Diephuis. From 1994 only Kjeld and Michel remain.

In April 1994 Kjeld and Michel were introduced to Evert van der Meulen. Evert gave the development of this new style a more concrete form. He advised to give the style a name that would give more clarity to the students and the outside world. Because the development of a new style takes time they named the style Jun Fa Kuen, or Evolving Fist.

To give more depth to his martial arts teaching, Michel followed a martial arts teaching course along with several seminars and workshops such as Traditional Chinese Medicine and vital point seminars which were organized by the Dutch Wushu Federation.

Michel currently practices the traditional way of Wushu (Hung Ga Kuen Kung Fu) at Siu Lam Wei T’o Moon and teaches both Jun Fa Kuen and the secondary forms of Nam Siu Lam Hung Ga Kuen in Nijmegen.

Contact on: michel@weito.org