About the Coach
My name is Troy Marquis and I am a self-taught martial artist who began studying Sil Lum Hung Gar kung fu in 1982 (at the age of 13) at a kung fu school in Montreal, Canada.
In 1985 my family moved away from Montreal to a town outside of Boston, Mass., USA. Fortunately, there were no kung fu schools in my area so I was forced into a self-study program that propelled my knowledge of self-defense far beyond most of the teachers I studied with in my early adulthood.
Not having anyone to teach me, I read all the martial arts books and magazines I could get my hands on, and was constantly practicing my basics, and imitating the advanced techniques of the kung fu masters in the old classic kung fu movies.
In essence, I followed the path of the founders of many of the great styles of martial arts in that I was forced to develop my own understanding of self defense through contemplation, continuous practice and trial and error. I conditioned my body through long sessions of stance training sessions, striking trees and forms training.
I remained steadfast in mastering my foundational art but benefited from training with martial arts from many different styles. Most of the exchanges were very valuable in that I got an insiders explanation of the self-defense philosophy of the major arts.
In 1992, I became a police officer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The RCMP training academy is an institution dedicated to producing police excellence and designed to prepare an officer to survive in the wilderness of Canada, with the nearest back up hours away.
Needless to say, self-defense class was no joke. It was “Ultimate Fighting”long before the current “Ultimate Fighting.” I continued to study on my own and incorporated the self defense theory and techniques taught at the RCMP academy in to my arsenal.
I opened a school but my commitments to undercover drug operations consumed most of my time so I had to pass the school to my partner. However, I continued to teach privately.
One day, quite by accident, I heard that a Chen Tai Chi master was teaching so I went to visit him and eventually became his student. Master Tong taught outside and divided his students into kung fu and tai chi. I had already mastered many kung fu methodologies, I decided to try the Tai Chi – a move which forever changed my art.
The study of Tai Chi and the principles of Tai Chi self defense forever changed my fighting style. Tai Chi brought a fluidity and power to my kung fu foundation that would have taken year and years to realize with kung fu alone.
In 2001/2002, I moved to Toronto, Canada’s largest city, and studied with another Chen Master, Master Li Laren for a short while before I moved away from Toronto. Before I left, Master Laren advised me to begin teaching because very few have my skill and the arts must be spread.
My road to martial arts mastery was hard and my mentors were few.
I have fought and trained with many, many black belts and very few have any real expertise. If anything, they just mimicked the moves of their teachers but had no independent knowledge of what they were doing, nor could they explain the theory behind their moves. Most of them could not even fight using their style; hence they might have been highly accomplished in their art but they fought like kick boxers. What a waste. They should have just studied kick boxing from the outset and sought to master that art.
I have shared techniques with masters of different arts and their superb technique and martial gentlemanship never ceased to impress me.
Based on my experiences with the “belts” and the masters, I learned a long time ago, how to spot a true master. Mastery is not found in a punch, kick or rank.
My martial arts career followed the path of the original masters in that I developed my own style based on understanding the principals of fighting, the effect of power and leverage, fluidity and grace, and watching, imitating, and thinking. I can teach anyone to attain the highest skill level they can attain is because I first had to teach myself – over the course of 24 years. Your journey does not have to be that long.
I am firmly committed to the principle that martial arts and self defense are unique to each individual and everyone has a personal style that must be identified and cultivated. I am dedicated to sharing the finer points of what I know so that others may develop the ability to not only defend themselves, but be able to do massive amounts of permanent systemic damage to any opponent, if they must.
No machoism, no animalism, no my-art-is-better-than-your-art stuff. It is not the art that makes the artist, but rather it is the artist that makes the art. Masters do not care about your belt, they care only about your skill. What matters is not what you know, but how well you can effect that knowledge.
I look forward to training with you,
Troy Marquis
The Self Defense Coach
coach [at] theselfdefensecoach [dot] com
